Tinfoil Swans

Food & Wine's restaurant editor Raphael Brion talks about the tremendous impact that the Best New Chefs accolade has had on people's careers, why each member of the 2024 class was selected, his time working in New York City kitchens, the time Anthony Bourdain gave him a paper bag full of $100 dollar bills, and what it does to the human body when you spend months on the road eating nonstop. For more info visit: foodandwine.com/tinfoilswans Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ti Martin — along with her cousin and co-proprietor, Lally Brennan — is ensuring that the family's 131-year-old New Orleans restaurant Commander's Palace is living up to its legacy and moving into the future. At the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen this past June, Ti joined Tinfoil Swans for a spirited conversation about kicking down doors, the gift and responsibility that comes with running an iconic family business, why hospitality and service are NOT the same thing, and how to get people dancing in the dining room. For more info visit: foodandwine.com/tinfoilswans Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Cheetie Kumar is — by pretty much everyone's accounts — one of the coolest people ever. At the 2024 Food & Wine Classic in Aspen, the Raleigh-based chef, restaurateur, and Birds of Avalon guitarist made time for a quick chat about how she had to rethink restaurants through Covid, created the structure of her new restaurant to make sure it benefitted the neighborhood and the people who work there, the joy of introducing new flavors to a population that maybe hadn't experienced them before, and the bands she absolutely will not play in the dining room. For more info visit: foodandwine.com/tinfoilswans Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Former NBA powerhouse turned winemaker Channing Frye nerds out about moving from slap the bag to the nuances of terroir, what it's really like to drink baller wine on the team jet, and how therapy got him out of his depression sweatpants For more info visit: foodandwine.com/tinfoilswans Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When Priya Krishna was a little kid — a blob, as she calls herself — she started traveling the whole world with her family because her mom worked in the airline industry. As it turns out, the wildly successful reporter, author, and video host had a truly wild and wonderful journey ahead. Though it wasn't public at the time this was recorded, she was also about to be tapped as interim restaurant critic at the New York Times. Right before going on tour for her brilliant new kids cookbook Priya's Kitchen Adventures, she opened up about her musical theater background, the importance of seeing yourself reflected in media, and why your weirdness is your greatest asset. For more info visit: foodandwine.com/tinfoilswans Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Recorded live onstage at the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen: David Chang Unfiltered — and with a face full of wasp stings. The notoriously opinionated chef shares some raw talk about the chili crunch controversy, failure, living life under a microscope, Guy Fieri (spoiler alert — they're BFFs now), and why people are so weird about microwaves. For more info visit: foodandwine.com/tinfoilswans Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Outgoing New York Times restaurant critic Pete Wells gets personal with his longtime friend about his path from high school cheerleader to college dropout to the pages of Sassy magazine — all the way to the most prestigious critic's seat in the country. Plus, he's got a little challenge for Thomas Keller. For more info visit: foodandwine.com/tinfoilswans Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode, executive features editor Kat Kinsman gets raw with Gregory Gourdet. You might know him from "Top Chef," "Iron Chef," or playing himself on "Portlandia." You might be a fan of his cookbook "Everyone's Table: Global Recipes for Modern Health." Perhaps you've read Korsha Wilson's profile of him in the August issue of Food & Wine or spent months scheming to get into his James Beard Award-winning Portland restaurant Kann. Gregory Gourdet is — and should be — at the forefront of restaurant cuisine in America. And he's pretty surprised to be here and takes none of his life for granted. Gourdet didn't hold back about being a chef in recovery, learning to swim, his nerdy passions, and why De La Soul is so important. Note: This episode contains mentions of substance use disorder and suicide. For more info visit: foodandwine.com/tinfoilswans Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

There's a good chance you know chef and author Kevin Gillespie from his fan-favorite stint on Season 6 of Top Chef or his return on the All Stars Season 20, but the Georgia native's talent can't be reduced to the small screen. His new Atlanta restaurant, Nàdair, is a full-throated love letter to his Scottish heritage — something Gillespie's family had always been made to feel ashamed of. But in the aftermath of renal cancer, doctors begging him to retire, and the loss of multiple family members in the past year, he's put life on fast-forward and opened the restaurant that would make his ancestors proud. Gillespie got raw and real about a childhood split between Appalachia and aristocracy, how facing death has changed his relationship to fear, and what the next chapter holds for him — no matter how long it lasts. For more info visit: foodandwine.com/tinfoilswans Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Chef Asma Khan is a bolt of lightning to the senses. Born a second daughter, she felt dismissed by society, but Asma Khan has always known her worth. With her restaurant Darjeeling Express in London, she takes pride in her all-women staff, cooking food they'd serve at home. Her contributions to the culinary world were recognized on the Time 100 list of people who are deeply influential in the world and she was featured in an episode of Chef's Table. Khan spoke with Tinfoil Swans about how change happens in restaurants and the power of ganging up with good souls. For more info visit: foodandwine.com/tinfoilswans This episode contains mentions of abuse. If you or someone you know needs help, please refer to the link for resources. https://www.foodandwine.com/fwpro/the-food-wine-pro-guide-to-mental-health-and-sobriety Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Season 3 of the smash hit FX/Hulu show “The Bear” roared to life just days ago, but Will Poulter (the actor who plays fan-favorite Luca) and 2014 F&W Best New Chef Dave Beran had been prepping for weeks. Poulter — like his co-star Jeremy Allen White — staged with Beran at his Santa Monica restaurant Pasjoli to learn how to accurately portray a professional chef onscreen. The lessons went so well, Beran says he’d hire Poulter as a cook — even despite a messy mishap with a pastry bag. The two dished all about getting kitchen culture right on and offscreen, what it takes to be at the top of your craft, and the pure magic of a great restaurant service. For more info visit: foodandwine.com/tinfoilswans Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In 1999, when Food & Wine named Rocco DiSpirito as one of its Best New Chefs he was only in his early 30s, but he'd already been in the industry for a couple decades. At 10 years old, Rocco started working at a local pizzeria – a natural fit for a kid whose Italian American family grew most of their own food and started talking about lunch before breakfast was over. His innovative cuisine at Union Pacific made him a darling of both industry peers and jaded New York diners, but it was his cookbooks and stints in front of the camera that made him a household name. In this episode of Tinfoil Swans, DiSpirito opens up about the pressures of being a public figure, what's changed in the restaurant world since he started, the dream restaurant he'd like to own, and what he'd tell that younger version of himself. For more info visit: foodandwine.com/tinfoilswans Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Say the name "Claudia Fleming" and those who know will probably deploy the word "legend." And if you don't recognize her name, you definitely have benefitted from her groundbreaking pastry creations and flavor combinations that plenty of people now just take for granted. Original copies of her cookbook "The Last Course," went for huge sums of money on eBay and cookbook stores until it was reissued in 2019, and her book "Delectable" made pretty much every "best cookbooks of 2022" roundup. Some of the most notable pastry chefs in the game cite her as a mentor and inspiration and she remains a huge force in the way we all eat sweets today. And if things go right — it's going be that way with sandwiches next. Fleming spoke about her days as a ballet dancer, the magic of Gramercy Tavern, getting through tough times, and the privilege of working with freaks.  For more info visit: foodandwine.com/tinfoilswans Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

At the end of 2015, Dan Giusti shocked the culinary world by walking away from his position as head chef at Noma. Not for another restaurant job, but to feed school children, senior citizens, incarcerated people, and hospital patients through his new company, Brigaid. Food & Wine named Brigaid as one of its 2024 Game Changers for its goal of not only feeding some of the country's most vulnerable people — but also giving professional restaurant chefs a chance at a sustainable career. In this episode, Giusti explained why he made the radical move, how he deals with the haters, and why he believes everyone on earth deserves a good meal. For more info visit: foodandwine.com/tinfoilswans Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the 10 years since Cody Rigsby joined Peloton as an instructor, the former McDonald's drive-thru worker, backup dancer, and cater waiter's life has changed in unimaginable ways. He's competed on Dancing with the Stars, written the bestselling memoir XOXO, Cody, and built a massive fanbase of indoor cyclists who are as invested in his hot takes on ranch dressing and snacks as they are in his cardio-challenging HIIT and hills rides. In this episode, Cody Rigsby goes deep on anxiety, working in the service industry, the power of brunch, and the correct sauce-to-chicken-finger ratio. For more info visit: foodandwine.com/tinfoilswans Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices