Special Sauce with Ed Levine

On this episode we talk to Cherry Bombe founder, Kerry Diamond. Cherry Bombe is a media company celebrating women in the world of food  and drink. Her mission from day one has been to support women in the industry by shining a spotlight on them, sharing their stories, and bringing them together in person and virtually. As you will hear, it hasn't been easy, but according to Kerry, it's all been worth it.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

We decided to leave 2025 behind by reheating an episode from 2023 that features the remarkable Hamissi Mamba, who came to Detroit from his native Burundi searching for a better life, leaving his wife Nadia behind not knowing she was pregnant with twins. Despite not speaking English and knowing no one in the motor city Mamba has in a few short years opened a successful restaurant Baobab Fare, a food truck Waka by Baobab, and Soko, a retail business selling East African curated sauces, coffee and beverages, chocolate jewelry, and apparel. Mamba's story is especially resonant given the cruel anti-immigrant policies of the Trump administration.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

ICE invaded Charlotte a couple of weeks ago and have wreaked their usual havoc on the vibrant food community there. Charlotte food business owner (Manolo's Bakery) and immigration activist Manolo Betancur courageously shared his own experiences dealing with ICE. ICE has completely devastated what is a thriving immigrant population in Charlotte. Joining Manolo is the terrific food writer Kathleen Purvis, who was the longtime food editor of the Charlotte Observer.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The world's gone mad for matcha, and the The New York Times's Pete Wells has the scoop on today's episode of Special Sauce.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

On this week's Special Sauce the Washington Post's Tim Carman and Warren Rojas explain how ICE Raids and the National Guard deployment in the nation's capital have terrified immigrant restaurant workers and owners.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Kenji Lopez-Alt and Smitten Kitchen's Deb Perelman discuss (what else) how they deal with Thanksgiving leftovers in this classic Special Sauce episode from 2023. Leave the meat on the bone or in the fridge or slice it off right away? Stuffing waffles, anyone? Is pie the only thing to have for breakfast after Thanksgiving? They don't always agree, but Kenji and Deb always have a great time when they get together.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

This year for Turkey Day we reheat a gem of a Thanksgiving call-in show featuring two of the biggest turkey lovers I know; Kenji Lopez-Alt and Stella Parks. Also known as "Brave Tart". They answered serious eater's questions about anything and everything about cooking a Thanksgiving meal. Like, "Is it dangerous to cook your stuffing inside the bird?" (Kenji says the answer is yes) Or "What kind of salt to use in your pie dough?" Stella even suggests how to toast sugar to make your desserts a little less sweet!  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Many beloved candy bars are now being made without cocoa butter and here to tell us why and how the likes of Rolo, Mr. Goodbar and Almond Joy have been reformulated to exclude the plant-based fat is The New York Times climate reporter, Claire Brown. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Over the summer we checked in with LA Taco's Javier Cabral about the scary ICE raids  in L.A. and their terrifying effect on the food community there. But the situation in Chicago is in many ways equally dire. ICE raids as part of Trump's Operation Midway Blitz have terrified Latino neighborhoods in Chicago. Street vendors are scared to set up shop and many restaurants find themselves with many empty tables that were previously filled. Here to keep us up to speed about what's happening in the Windy City is the Chicago Tribune's Zareen Syed and Marcos Carbajal, the second generation Mexican-American owner of Carnitas Uruapan. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Are Yemeni coffee shops the next big thing? On this episode serious eaters will meet Mokhtar Alkhanshali, who has braved gunfire and jail and AK-47s as he tries to bring single origin Port of Mokha Yemeni coffee to the world. His story is the stuff of movies.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

On this episode of Special Sauce we talk to Kenji Lopez-Alt and his partner concert violinist Tessa Lark about their Reese's obsession. Just in time for Halloween.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Former Serious Eats editor and writer Sho Spaeth talks to us about his new book, Homemade Ramen. Sho is the most passionate and knowledgeable Ramen geek I know. He truly believes in the power of ramen.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

How and when and why did sushi become one of America's most popular convenience foods? The Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times food reporter Julia Moskin explains all on this episode of Special Sauce.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

On this episode of Special Sauce we talk to the terrific Southern food writer John T. Edge about his memoir House of Smoke: A Southerner Goes Searching for Home. His journey from a childhood in a small town in Georgia that in many ways still celebrated the Confederacy to running the Southern Foodways Alliance is a remarkable one.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

On this episode of Special Sauce we talk to Island Grown Initiative (IGI) co-executive director Caroline Pam about her organization's efforts to combat food insecurity on Martha's Vineyard during the Trump era. As much as 20% of the island's year-round population suffers from some form of food insecurity.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

On June 27th we posted a great conversation I had with L.A. Taco editor-in-chief Javier Cabral about what's going on in California with the cruel, inhumane and dangerous ICE raids that have had a devastating effect on L.A.'s vibrant and diverse taco culture. I haven't been able to stop thinking about the situation both in California and all over the country. So I thought that this week would be an appropriate and even necessary moment to reheat Javier's episode. Obviously much has happened in LA and elsewhere in the ensuing weeks and months, none of it good, in fact all of it truly awful. And L.A. Taco continues to do some incredible reporting on the situation in L.A. It's also aggregating reliable news stories about the nightmarish anti-immigration crackdown from elsewhere. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

On this episode of Special Sauce we talk to the restaurateur's restaurateur Drew Nieporent about his lifelong love affair with restaurants. Nieporent partnered with Nobu Matsuhisa and movie star Robert DeNiro to open Nobu in NY. And even before Nobu, Nieporent played a leading role in establishing NYC's Tribeca neighborhood restaurant scene when he opened Montrachet in 1985.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Brazilian immigrants, who now comprise 20% of the year-round population, have added immeasurably to the quality of life on Martha's Vineyard. On this episode of Special Sauce we talk to Brazilian grocer, owner and compulsive entrepreneur, Elio Silva, about Brazilian foodways and life on the island. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Labor Day weekend is here and for many serious eaters that means it's burger time. Most of my favorite burger recipes come from today's guest on Special Sauce is the James Beard Award-winning chef and food writer J. Kenji Lopez-Alt. You'll hear really helpful cooking tips for all kinds of burgers; smashed, turkey, black bean, and vegan. So listen up to get the most out of your cookout this weekend!  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

As Labor Day approaches my thoughts invariably turn to burgers. In fact, I have embarked on a quest to find the best burger to be had on Martha's Vineyard. And when I think of burgers the first person I think of is burger scholar and Hamburger America owner George Motz. George was such a great guest on Special Sauce a couple of years ago that listeners have been clamoring for us to reheat one of his episodes, so that's what we're posting this week. I just texted George, who told me that the fourth completely revised and expanded edition of his terrific book Hamburger America will be published next year. That's great news for burger lovers! Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices