A Hungry Society

Today’s guests are chefs Sicily Sewell Johnson and Mavis Jay Sanders, founders of Food + People. Food + People operates on the belief “every community should have access to quality food and every person deserves the dignity of a hot meal composed of ecologically responsible ingredients that nourishes their body from the inside out.” On the show we talk about food memories, MJ shares stories of being a queer, masc presenting Black woman in kitchens and Sicily shares how being surrounded by women, people of color and the LGBTQIA community throughtout her career has helped her see how things should be done instead of just sticking to the status quo.In March, HRN began producing all of our 35 weekly shows from our homes all around the country. It was hard work stepping away from our little recording studio, but we know that you rely on HRN to share resources and important stories from the world of food each week. It’s been a tough year for all of us, but right now HRN is asking for your help. Every dollar that listeners give to HRN provides essential support to keep our mics on. We've got some fresh new thank you gifts available, like our limited edition bandanas.Keep A Hungry Society on the air: become an HRN Member today! Go to heritageradionetwork.org/donate. Image courtesy of Mavis Jay Sanders & Sicily Sewell Johnson.A Hungry Society is powered by Simplecast.  

Chef Adrian Lipscombe, Texas native and owner of Uptowne Cafe & Bakery in Wisconsin, is a very busy woman. She’s a wife, mother of four, city planner and business owner and the founder of the 40 Acres & a Mule Project, which she launched in June to preserve, research and celebrate Black foodways. On today’s show we talk about the goals of the project and the importance of legacy which Adrian shares from her own personal, familial stories and from the point of view of a Black culinarian, interested in passing on knowledge about Black foodways to the next generation of Black chefs. If you’d like to support the 40 Acres and Mule project, head here.Image courtesy of Adrian Lipscombe.In March, HRN began producing all of our 35 weekly shows from our homes all around the country. It was hard work stepping away from our little recording studio, but we know that you rely on HRN to share resources and important stories from the world of food each week. It’s been a tough year for all of us, but right now HRN is asking for your help. Every dollar that listeners give to HRN provides essential support to keep our mics on. We've got some fresh new thank you gifts available, like our limited edition bandanas.Keep A Hungry Society on the air: become an HRN Member today! Go to heritageradionetwork.org/donate. A Hungry Society is powered by Simplecast.

Today’s episode is an interview with Derek Kirk, founder of soulPhoodie, an online community that celebrates black food and beverage culture. Derek founded soulPhoodie in 2016 to share timely and compelling content about all facets of Black foodways in a way that is fun, intelligent, nerdy, and at times provocative. Derek is a graduate of North Carolina Central University & The Wharton School of Business and is a restaurant branding and marketing executive with 20 years of experience.Image courtesy of Derek KirkA Hungry Society is powered by Simplecast.

Today's show is an interview with Karla Vasquez, founder of SalviSoul, food writer, recipe developer, and food stylist based in Los Angeles. Karla’s writing has been published by The Los Angeles Times, The San Francisco Chronicle, Teen Vogue and Eater LA among other publications and her recipe development work has been on Buzzfeed Tasty and Tastemade. Salvi Soul, which she founded in 2015 is a Salvadoran cookbook storytelling project focused on recipe documentation, cultural memory, and intergenerational healing for the Salvadoran diaspora and it is the only dedicated food platform for Salvadoran cuisine with weekly online cooking classes, events, and a forthcoming cookbook.A Hungry Society is powered by Simplecast.  

On today’s show I talk to chef, artist, model, photographer DeVonn Francis about food as art, the idea of expansiveness and hospitality. DeVonn runs Yardy, a pop-up series where he uses food, space, music and art to explore Blackness, queerness, immigration and more. He’s a first-generation Jamaican American and his cooking is influenced by the Caribbean.Image courtesy of DeVonn Francis.A Hungry Society is powered by Simplecast.  

What does the COVID-19 crisis mean for women-run food businesses? On today’s show I speak with Shaolee Sen, CEO of Hot Bread Kitchen, about the unique challenges women-run and immigrant-run food businesses face at this time. Hot Bread Kitchen is an organization in Harlem that’s a culinary incubator program and workforce development program that trains women for jobs in the culinary industry. You can support by visiting hotbreadkitchen.org.And here are some of the businesses that were mentioned during our conversation:Janie Bakes: website / instagramPabade: website / instagramGinjan: website/ instagramImage courtesy of Hot Bread KitchenA Hungry Society is powered by Simplecast. 

On this special show I speak with Irene Lei of Mei Mei Restaurant in Boston about what running her business has been like since the coronavirus crisis started and the Unsung Restaurant Fund, a fund that she and a friend started to highlight the immigrant owned and run restaurants in Boston.Photo courtesy of Irene Li.A Hungry Society is powered by Simplecast.  

In this special episode, I chat with chef Erick Williams, owner and executive chef at Virtue Restaurant & Bar in Chicago’s Hyde Park neighbourhood. Williams is a Chicago native with a storied career, and this year was named a semifinalist for the James Beard Foundation Award: Best Chef Midwest. On the show we talk about why Chicago is such a great food town, Erick’s unique path and inspiration for his cooking, and what he hopes diners walk away with after they eat at Virtue. Note: this show was recorded in March before restaurants and businesses nationwide shut down because COVID-19 and if we sound happier about the state of things it’s because we were. I hope you will listen to this episode and support independent restaurants like Virtue who need your help now more than ever.A Hungry Society is powered by Simplecast.

Today’s show is going to be a continuation of the series of interviews from the Soul Food Sessions dinner which was held at the James Beard Foundation house in Manhattan earlier this month. Soul Food Sessions is a dinner series that started in Charlotte, North Carolina as a way to acknowledge and support people of color in the culinary arts, restaurant and hospitality industries, and beverage services. Chefs Jamie Barnes and Greg Williams of What the Fries, Michael Bowling of Hot Box Next Level Kitchen, Gregory and Subrina Collier of The Yolk, Jamie Turner of Jamie's Cakes & Classes, Justin Hazelton of SB&J Enterprises, and friend of the show, Omar Tate were part of the dinner and each made a course for the evening. The name of the series hints at what the founders want guests to experience: dishes that act as an exploration of what we think of as soul food and pushing the boundaries on that definition. Dishes like pork pate with apple buttermilk and warm farro salad with smoked peaches ask what is soul food and what isn’t it? Who cooks it and who doesn’t? If a chef is black is what they’re cooking automatically soul food? Before the dinner service I asked the Soul Food Sessions chefs these questions.A Hungry Society is powered by Simplecast.

Today’s show is going to be a series of interviews from the Soul Food Sessions dinner which was held at the James Beard Foundation house in Manhattan earlier this month. Soul Food Sessions is a dinner series that started in Charlotte, North Carolina as a way to acknowledge and support people of color in the culinary arts, restaurant and hospitality industries, and beverage services. Chefs Jamie Barnes and Greg Williams of What the Fries, Michael Bowling of Hot Box Next Level Kitchen, Gregory and Subrina Collier of The Yolk, Jamie Turner of Jamie's Cakes & Classes, Justin Hazelton of SB&J Enterprises, and friend of the show, Omar Tate were part of the dinner and each made a course for the evening. The name of the series hints at what the founders want guests to experience: dishes that act as an exploration of what we think of as soul food and pushing the boundaries on that definition. Dishes like pork pate with apple buttermilk and warm farro salad with smoked peaches ask what is soul food and what isn’t it? Who cooks it and who doesn’t? If a chef is black is what they’re cooking automatically soul food? Before the dinner service I asked the Soul Food Sessions chefs these questions.A Hungry Society is powered by Simplecast.

Today’s guest is Jose Garces, Father, farmer, food and drink lover, restaurateur, James Beard Award winner, author and Iron Chef. A second-generation Latin American, Garces was born to Ecuadorian parents and raised in Chicago. His culinary passion was cultivated at a young age by his paternal grandmother,, who taught him the Latin way of cooking. After graduating from Kendall College’s School of Culinary Arts, Garces worked in top-rated professional kitchens fromSpain to New York City before moving to Philadelphia and opening his first restaurant in 2005. He has since emerged as one of the nation’s leading chefs; owning and operating over a dozen restaurants, a thriving event/catering division and non-profit organization as well as a 40-acre organic farm in Bucks County, PA. Chef Garces is also the author of two cookbooks, The Latin Road Home and Latin Evolution. It's HRN's annual summer fund drive, this is when we turn to our listeners and ask that you make a donation to help ensure a bright future for food radio. Help us keep broadcasting the most thought provoking, entertaining, and educational conversations happening in the world of food and beverage. Become a member today! To celebrate our 10th anniversary, we have brand new member gifts available. So snag your favorite new pizza - themed tee shirt or enamel pin today and show the world how much you love HRN, just go to heritageradionetwork.org/donate A Hungry Society is powered by Simplecast.

Today's guest is Krishnendu Ray, Chair of the Department of Nutrition and Food Studies at NYU. He was a faculty member and the Associate Dean of Liberal Arts at The Culinary Institute of America and is the author of The Migrant’s Table (2004), The Ethnic Restaurateur (2016), and the co-editor of Curried Cultures: Globalization, Food and South Asia (2012). His most recent work is on street vending in global cities with attention to questions of law, livelihood, and liveliness of cities. It's HRN's annual summer fund drive, this is when we turn to our listeners and ask that you make a donation to help ensure a bright future for food radio. Help us keep broadcasting the most thought provoking, entertaining, and educational conversations happening in the world of food and beverage. Become a member today! To celebrate our 10th anniversary, we have brand new member gifts available. So snag your favorite new pizza - themed tee shirt or enamel pin today and show the world how much you love HRN, just go to heritageradionetwork.org/donate A Hungry Society is powered by Simplecast.

Today’s guest is Rahanna Bisseret Martinez, a talented fifteen-year-old chef and finalist on Top Chef Junior. Rahanna has been featured on the Today Show and has cooked in some of the best kitchens in the world including Alice Waters’ Chez Panisse in Berkley California, Nina Compton’s Compere Lapin and Emeril Lagasse’s self named restaurant in New Orleans. It's HRN's annual summer fund drive, this is when we turn to our listeners and ask that you make a donation to help ensure a bright future for food radio. Help us keep broadcasting the most thought provoking, entertaining, and educational conversations happening in the world of food and beverage. Become a member today! To celebrate our 10th anniversary, we have brand new member gifts available. So snag your favorite new pizza - themed tee shirt or enamel pin today and show the world how much you love HRN, just go to heritageradionetwork.org/donate Photo courtesy of Top Chef Junior. A Hungry Society is powered by Simplecast.

Chef Chris began his culinary career in Philadelphia when the city was in the midst of a culinary revolution. He worked alongside notable chefs such as Al Paris, Michael Solomanov, and with the Starr Restaurant Group as sous chef to Franklin Becker and Marcus Samuelsson. After honing his skills in Philly for 15 years, Chef Chris moved to New York City where he led as the Executive Chef for CNN and Time Warner. There he cooked for international dignitaries such as Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, South African President Nelson Mandela, as well as many actors, professional athletes and top media personalities. In November 2010, Chef Chris opened Brooklyn Commune with his wife Eugenie. They both shared a love for food and community and embarked on a mission to bring people together around food. They developed socially responsible programs including kids cooking classes that benefited a local women’s shelter, free monthly meals and healthy recipe sharing in underprivileged neighborhoods, and other local as well as international efforts. They were honored with the Community Leader Award by CAMBA for their work and commitment to raising the community. Chef Chris continues his social advocacy work as a brand ambassador for the Institute of Culinary Education, inspiring up and coming chefs, and also with the Food Bank of NYC in their mission to eradicate hunger. In April 2016, they opened Butterfunk Kitchen, a soul food restaurant that is heritage cooking at its finest. The restaurant was recognized by Brooklyn Magazine as one of 10 BEST New Restaurants in 2016 and received high praise from the New York Times. Chef Chris also competed on season 15 of Bravo’s Top Chef and earned his place as a top four finalist, showcasing his family’s migration soul food. The recognition from the series has amplified his mission to give soul food the respect it deserves as honorable American cuisine. In February 2018, Chris spearheaded a dinner at the James Beard House for Juneteenth Day, commemorating the date when slavery was finally abolished in all of the United States. This was an historic event for the James Beard House, being the first to ever honor an African American holiday and will proudly continue as an annual dinner. Chris continues to share the history and development of African American culture through a cookbook, sharing his family’s recipes and stories across seven generations and with the recent opening of his third restaurant BIRDMAN in Bridgeport CT. It's HRN's annual summer fund drive, this is when we turn to our listeners and ask that you make a donation to help ensure a bright future for food radio. Help us keep broadcasting the most thought provoking, entertaining, and educational conversations happening in the world of food and beverage. Become a member today! To celebrate our 10th anniversary, we have brand new member gifts available. So snag your favorite new pizza - themed tee shirt or enamel pin today and show the world how much you love HRN, just go to heritageradionetwork.org/donate A Hungry Society is powered by Simplecast.

Michael W. Twitty is a culinary historian and food writer from the Washington D.C. area. He blogs at Afroculinaria.com. He’s appeared on Bizarre Foods America with Andrew Zimmern, Many Rivers to Cross with Dr. Henry Louis Gates, and has lectured to over 400 groups. He has served as a judge for the James Beard Awards and is a fellow with the Southern Foodways Alliance and TED and the first Revolutionary in Residence at The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. Southern Living named Twitty, one of "Fifty People Changing the South and the Root.com added him to tbeir 100 most influential African Americans under 45. Beyonce beat him out as number one.” HarperCollins released Twitty’s The Cooking Gene, in 2017, tracing his ancestry through from Africa to America and from slavery to freedom, a finalist for The Kirkus Prize and The Art of Eating Prize and a third place winner of Barnes&Noble's Discover New Writer's Awards in Nonfiction. THE COOKING GENE WON the 2018 James Beard Award for best writing as well as book of the year, his piece on visiting Ghana in Bon Appetit will included in Best Food Writing in 2019 and was nominated for a 2019 James Beard Award. Image courtesy of Johnathan M. Lewis. It's HRN's annual summer fund drive, this is when we turn to our listeners and ask that you make a donation to help ensure a bright future for food radio. Help us keep broadcasting the most thought provoking, entertaining, and educational conversations happening in the world of food and beverage. Become a member today! To celebrate our 10th anniversary, we have brand new member gifts available. So snag your favorite new pizza - themed tee shirt or enamel pin today and show the world how much you love HRN, just go to heritageradionetwork.org/donate A Hungry Society is powered by Simplecast.

"Lazarus Lynch is an entrepreneur, chef, musician, author and multi-media host. He is a two-time Chopped champion, host of Food Network Digital’s Comfort Nation, and author of the cookbook, Son of a Southern Chef: Cook with Soul. Born and raised in New York City, Lazarus learned to cook at an early age under the tutelage of his late father, who shared traditional recipes from his family’s southern heritage. Inspired by his father, Lazarus developed a joyful, bold approach to food and vibrant aesthetic that put a modern spin on the soul food of his father’s kitchen. Lazarus' passion for cooking led him to create the culinary content platform and brand, Son of a Southern Chef— a 2017 Saveur Blog Awards nominee. Lazarus has appeared on The Food Network, NBC, ABC, NPR, BuzzFeed, Tastemade, The Cooking Channel, and The Today Show. He was also the host of Snapchat’s first cooking show, Chopped U. Lazarus is a World Food Prize Borlaug-Ruan International Recipient, an alumnus and supporter of Food & Finance High School in New York City, and a 4-H Luminary." It's HRN's annual summer fund drive, this is when we turn to our listeners and ask that you make a donation to help ensure a bright future for food radio. Help us keep broadcasting the most thought provoking, entertaining, and educational conversations happening in the world of food and beverage. Become a member today! To celebrate our 10th anniversary, we have brand new member gifts available. So snag your favorite new pizza - themed tee shirt or enamel pin today and show the world how much you love HRN, just go to heritageradionetwork.org/donate A Hungry Society is powered by Simplecast.

This episode is part-interview with Zella Palmer, educator, food historian, author and filmmaker who serves as the Chair and Director of the Dillard University Ray Charles Program in African-American Material Culture in New Orleans. This episode is also a tribute to the late chef, Leah Chase and a discussion of her legacy and impact on New Orleans and America. It's HRN's annual summer fund drive, this is when we turn to our listeners and ask that you make a donation to help ensure a bright future for food radio. Help us keep broadcasting the most thought provoking, entertaining, and educational conversations happening in the world of food and beverage. Become a member today! To celebrate our 10th anniversary, we have brand new member gifts available. So snag your favorite new pizza - themed tee shirt or enamel pin today and show the world how much you love HRN, just go to heritageradionetwork.org/donate A Hungry Society is powered by Simplecast.

Today’s show is an interview with chef Mashama Bailey and John O. Morisano, the duo behind The Grey and Grey Market in Savannah, Georgia. The Grey is located in a former Greyhound bus station on Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard in Savannah which operated until 1964, through the Jim Crow era, segregating black and white passengers. Today this space is home to one of the most celebrated restaurants in America, where Mashama serves dishes inspired by her upbringing in Savannah and Queens, NY. On a recent Friday afternoon I met with both of them at a Johno’s Manhattan apartment near Gramercy Park to talk the pressures of running such a historic restaurant and what a business partnership between a black chef and a white co-founder looks like. A Hungry Society is powered by Simplecast.

Chef Leigh-Ann Martin talks Trini upbringing meets NYC Born and raised in Trinidad and Tobago, Chef Leigh-Ann Martin lives in the New York City area creating dishes merging her Trini upbringing with NYC’s culinary landscape. She currently contributes to Ark Republic. She is also the curator of a private dinner series called “A Table for Four” and has worked at events from the James Beard House to the Bowery Resident’s Committee, teaching healthy eating. Photo courtesy of Andy Johnson. A Hungry Society is powered by Simplecast.

Clay Williams is a Brooklyn-based photographer specializing in food, drinks and events. He photographs assignments for The New York Times, The James Beard Foundation and The Wall Street Journal. Clay is a member of the board of Slow Food NYC and with Colleen Vincent is a co-founder of Black Food Folks, a fellowship of Black professionals in food media, service, and events. His latest book, “111 Rooftops in New York That You Must Not Miss” written by Leslie Adatto comes out this month from Emons and is available for pre-order on Amazon. Photo courtesy of Bill Wadman. A Hungry Society is powered by Simplecast.