Your Last Meal with Rachel Belle

Best known to her millions of followers as What’s Gaby Cooking, the Los Angeles-area chef is a best-selling cookbook author, creator of the Dalkin & Co spice blend line and you can eat her food at Gaby’s in Neighborly food hall.   Gaby tells Rachel Belle how she went from being a tragically picky eater to having a career as a chef, shares which celebrity she private cheffed for, and the dish that literally broke her website when said celebrity gushed over it on a late-night talk show.   Gaby wants to cook and enjoy her last meal in the Sonora region of Mexico, so Rachel interviews the owner of Caramelo, an artisan, Sonoran-style tortilla maker out of Lawrence, Kansas. Yes, Kansas! And Rachel swears there are no better tortillas in America!   Become a Cascade PBS member and support public media! Watch Rachel’s Cascade PBS TV show, The Nosh. Sign up for Rachel’s (free!) biweekly Cascade PBS newsletter for more food musings.  Follow along on Instagram.  Order Rachel’s cookbook Open Sesame.  Support Cascade PBS: https://secure.cascadepublicmedia.org/page/133995/donate/1/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Prolific, five-time James Beard Award-winning cookbook author Dorie Greenspan is the queen of sweets, and she just released her 15th cookbook, Dorie’s Anytime Cakes.  Famous for her beloved World Peace Cookies and many baking books, including one she wrote with Julia Child, it's not surprising that Dorie wants to start and end her last meal with dessert. What's wrong with eating dessert first, anyway? Rachel chats with Ayurvedic counselor Jodi Boone about the life-bettering benefits of starting your meal with sweets.   And when Dorie told Rachel she ate the same exact lunch every single day for years, the first person we thought of was Donald Gorske. Gorske has eaten almost nothing but McDonald's Big Macs since 1972, putting his current Big Mac count at over 35,000. Rachel called the Fond du Lac, Wisconsin native on his flip phone to learn why the man eats two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun ... Every. Single. Day.  Become a Cascade PBS member and support public media!  Watch Rachel’s Cascade PBS TV show The Nosh with Rachel Belle.  Sign up for Rachel’s (free!) biweekly Cascade PBS newsletter for more food musings.  Follow along on Instagram.  Order Rachel’s cookbook Open Sesame.  Support Cascade PBS: https://secure.cascadepublicmedia.org/page/133995/donate/1/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Comedian Atsuko Okatsuka’s last meal, and the reason why she sometimes carries cooked scallops in her bag, trace back to her unstable, unpredictable childhood. She talks about being kidnapped by her grandmother and why a gluten-free spaghetti dinner brings her comfort, even as someone who doesn’t have a gluten sensitivity.  Atsuko’s first foray into entertainment was working at an ice cream chain that made employees sing and dance for tips. Atsuko loved it, but host Rachel Belle interviews two other folks who had no idea they had to perform at their restaurant jobs, until they saw it happening on their first day. One at Chicago’s famous Wiener’s Circle and another at a now-defunct steak house chain.   Atsuko is on tour now! You can also watch her standup specials on HBO and Hulu.   Get tickets to Rachel's event: Food Fight x America’s Test Kitchen in Seattle, November 8!  Become a Cascade PBS member and support public media!  Watch Rachel’s Cascade PBS TV show The Nosh with Rachel Belle.  Sign up for Rachel’s (free!) biweekly Cascade PBS newsletter for more food musings.  Follow along on Instagram.  Order Rachel’s cookbook Open Sesame.  Support Cascade PBS: https://secure.cascadepublicmedia.org/page/133995/donate/1/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on The Leftovers, never-before-heard audio from rapper Rico Nasty, who is on tour now with her latest album, Lethal! In a lightning round, Rico Nasty tells host Rachel Belle about her first concert, and how embarrassing it was to attend with her mom, her ideal 'girl dinner,' her top five favorite things to buy at Trader Joe's and her favorite hiking snacks.  Get tickets to Food Fight x America’s Test Kitchen in Seattle, November 8! Become a Cascade PBS member and support public media! Watch Rachel’s Cascade PBS TV show The Nosh with Rachel Belle. Sign up for Rachel’s (free!) biweekly Cascade PBS newsletter for more food musings. Follow along on Instagram. Order Rachel’s cookbook Open Sesame. Support Cascade PBS: https://secure.cascadepublicmedia.org/page/133995/donate/1/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sweet and boisterous, rapper Rico Nasty professes her love for making music; cooking for the people she adores most; and her grandmas, all while promoting her new album, Lethal. Her conversation with host Rachel Belle bounces from Maryland boardwalk fries (we’ll tell you what they are!) to Taco Bell (we learn what the Cinnamon Twists are made from) to a popular Puerto Rican party snack her grandma makes her, and only her, as a treat.  Did you know those little strawberry candies, the ones with the cute strawberry-print wrapper and squishy center, most often found in grandmas’ candy dishes and purses, have a name? We didn’t either! Learn their name, their history and a bit more about “grandma candy” with the author of the Snack Stack newsletter.    Get tickets to Food Fight with Rachel Belle x America’s Test Kitchen in Seattle, November 8! Become a Cascade PBS member and support public media! Watch Rachel’s Cascade PBS TV show The Nosh with Rachel Belle. Sign up for Rachel’s (free!) biweekly Cascade PBS newsletter for more food musings. Follow along on Instagram. Order Rachel’s cookbook Open Sesame. Support Cascade PBS: https://secure.cascadepublicmedia.org/page/133995/donate/1/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on The Leftovers, never-before-heard audio from Tilly Ramsay, host of the new Amazon Prime show, Dish It Out. She also happens to be the only one of Gordon Ramsay's six children who's pursued a culinary career. A recent graduate of both university and culinary school, Tilly gives advice to young people looking to build their first kitchen and shares a dish she loves making for friends. And she talks about what family meals were like growing up, having a celebrity chef for a dad and a cookbook author for a mum.   Get tickets to Food Fight x America's Test Kitchen in Seattle, November 8! Become a Cascade PBS member and support public media! Watch Rachel’s Cascade PBS TV show The Nosh with Rachel Belle. Sign up for Rachel’s (free!) biweekly Cascade PBS newsletter for more food musings. Follow along on Instagram. Order Rachel’s cookbook Open Sesame. Support Cascade PBS: https://secure.cascadepublicmedia.org/page/133995/donate/1/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Yes, food TV host Tilly Ramsay is the daughter of famed chef and TV host Gordan Ramsay, but she is working hard to pave her own way! Tilly recently graduated from culinary school, which she paid for herself, thank you very much, and she tells me about her fateful first day of school, where she was faced with eating her three least favorite foods.   Host Rachel Belle asks Tilly the elephant-in-the-room question: Does her dad shout at his family like he shouts at TV contestants? And Tilly explains why a classic Sunday roast is so special to the people of England.   If you want to be a chef, do you need to go to culinary school? I chat with two chefs, a sister and brother – one who went to culinary school and one who didn’t – about the pros and cons. And they share a bit about their creative takes on Navajo cooking.   Tilly’s new Prime Video cooking show is called Dish It Out.   As Heard on the Episode: Listen to the Gavin Rossdale episode to learn more about the history and culture of the British roast! Get tickets to Food Fight x America's Test Kitchen in Seattle November 8! Become a Cascade PBS member and support public media! Watch Rachel’s Cascade PBS TV show The Nosh with Rachel Belle! Sign up for Rachel’s (free!) biweekly Cascade PBS newsletter for more food musings! Follow along on Instagram! Order Rachel’s cookbook Open Sesame  Support Cascade PBS: https://secure.cascadepublicmedia.org/page/133995/donate/1/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on The Leftovers, never-before-heard audio from Italian singer Matteo Bocelli!  In a lightning round with host Rachel Belle, Matteo, a self-described romantic, shares which celebrity wedding he had the honor of singing at earlier this summer; sets the record straight on what bruschetta really is; and discloses the only dish his dad – famed singer Andrea Bocelli – has ever cooked for him (and why most Italians would be angry with the way he makes it).  Get tickets to Food Fight x America's Test Kitchen in Seattle, November 8! Become a Cascade PBS member and support public media! Watch Rachel’s Cascade PBS TV show The Nosh with Rachel Belle! Sign up for Rachel’s (free!) biweekly Cascade PBS newsletter for more food musings! Follow along on Instagram! Order Rachel’s cookbook Open Sesame Support Cascade PBS: https://secure.cascadepublicmedia.org/page/133995/donate/1/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Like any card-carrying Italian worth his focaccia, singer Matteo Bocelli says he could eat pasta for breakfast, lunch and dinner! From his home in Tuscany, Matteo tells host Rachel Belle about the super-simple, but deeply delicious, sauce recipe he’s been trying to perfect, inspired by a three-Michelin-star restaurant, and why you should always choose Italian pasta made from ancient grains.  You’ve probably heard the tales: A gluten-sensitive American travels to Italy or France, and can magically stuff their face with croissants, baguettes and pasta without any negative consequences. Rachel asks Dr. Alessio Fasano, professor of nutrition and a Celiac and gluten expert and researcher at Harvard Medical School, if, and how, this is possible.  Matteo just released his second album, Falling in Love, and if his name sounds familiar, it’s because his dad is Andrea Bocelli, the famous Italian singer.  As mentioned in the episode: Watch Rachel Belle & Isaac Mizrahi cook together! Get tickets to Food Fight x America's Test Kitchen in Seattle November 8! Become a Cascade PBS member and support public media! Watch Rachel’s Cascade PBS TV show The Nosh with Rachel Belle! Sign up for Rachel’s (free!) biweekly Cascade PBS newsletter for more food musings! Follow along on Instagram! Order Rachel’s cookbook Open Sesame Support Cascade PBS: https://secure.cascadepublicmedia.org/page/133995/donate/1/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on The Leftovers, never-before-heard audio from Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, the U.S. Representative from Washington’s 7th congressional district.  Representative Jayapal is almost as passionate about food as she is about immigrant rights, universal health care and income equality. Almost! And in this quick lightning round with host Rachel Belle, recorded live at the Cascade PBS Ideas Festival earlier this summer, she shares her favorite Seattle restaurants and what dessert makes her the happiest on her birthday.   Listen to last week's full episode with Pramila Jayapal! Become a Cascade PBS member and support public media! Watch Rachel’s Cascade PBS TV show The Nosh with Rachel Belle - Season 2 out now! Sign up for Rachel’s (free!) biweekly Cascade PBS newsletter for more food musings! Follow along on Instagram! Order Rachel’s cookbook Open Sesame. Support Cascade PBS: https://secure.cascadepublicmedia.org/page/133995/donate/1/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this very special LIVE episode, recorded at The Cascade PBS Ideas Festival on May 31, 2025, host Rachel Belle sits down with Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, who represents Washington’s 7th District. She’s also the first elected official to be a guest on Your Last Meal!  Congresswoman Jayapal is an activist and fierce advocate of immigrant rights, but she was thrilled to (mostly) take a break from talking politics to chat about one of her favorite topics: food!   She talks about what it was like immigrating to the United States on her own at 16, what she thought of American food when she arrived and what American snack has been her favorite since she was a child living in India. She recalls the time President Joe Biden personally called her to invite her to the White House for breakfast, and a tells a charming story about why her daughter became such an avid cook at such a young age.   Become a Cascade PBS member and support public media! Watch Rachel’s Cascade PBS TV show The Nosh with Rachel Belle - Season 2 out now! Sign up for Rachel’s (free!) biweekly Cascade PBS newsletter for more food musings! Follow along on Instagram! Order Rachel’s cookbook Open Sesame. Support Cascade PBS: https://secure.cascadepublicmedia.org/page/133995/donate/1/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on The Leftovers, never-before-heard audio from Isaac Brock — lead singer, guitarist and songwriter of the Portland, Oregon-based band Modest Mouse!  Isaac tells Rachel Belle about the time Modest Mouse got to collaborate with an ice-cream company on a flavor that ... wasn’t so well received; he talks about the first concert he went to; and Rachel and Isaac bond over their love of milkshakes.  Become a Cascade PBS member and support public media! Watch Rachel’s Cascade PBS TV show The Nosh with Rachel Belle - Season 2 out now! Sign up for Rachel’s (free!) biweekly Cascade PBS newsletter for more food musings! Follow along on Instagram! Order Rachel’s cookbook Open Sesame. Support Cascade PBS: https://secure.cascadepublicmedia.org/page/133995/donate/1/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Modest Mouse’s lead singer, guitarist and songwriter has one of the longest, and most disjointed, last meals in Your Last Meal history, but each dish draws from a lifetime of experiences and memories.  A lover of culinary highs and lows, Isaac wants both traditional Japanese ramen and Top Ramen for his last meal, something he ate a lot of in his younger years. We’ll learn the history of instant noodles with Andrea Wang, author of the children’s book Magic Ramen: The Story of Momofuku Ando.  Isaac tells host Rachel Belle about the bar he used to own in Portland, Oregon (and why he made a rule to never drink there!); what sorts of hijinks he’s been roped into doing on an upcoming Modest Mouse cruise; and his quest to figure out a mysterious dish his parents made him for breakfast when he was a kid.   Become a Cascade PBS member and support public media! Watch Rachel’s Cascade PBS TV show The Nosh with Rachel Belle - Season 2 out now! Sign up for Rachel’s (free!) biweekly Cascade PBS newsletter for more food musings! Follow along on Instagram! Order Rachel’s cookbook Open Sesame. Support Cascade PBS: https://secure.cascadepublicmedia.org/page/133995/donate/1/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on The Leftovers, never-before-heard audio from Bridget Everett, star of the HBO Max show Somebody Somewhere, singer, comedian and cabaret performer.   In this fast and fun lightning round, Bridget sends host Rachel Belle into a spiral of jealousy by revealing her go-to New York City grocery store; struggles to pronounce the name of her favorite cake (Rachel can’t pronounce it either!); and together they discuss a Midwestern delicacy: St. Louis sushi, which is nothing like its Japanese namesake.   Watch Rachel’s Cascade PBS TV show The Nosh with Rachel Belle - Season 2 out now! Sign up for Rachel’s (free!) biweekly Cascade PBS newsletter for more food musings! Follow along on Instagram! Order Rachel’s cookbook Open Sesame.  Support Cascade PBS: https://secure.cascadepublicmedia.org/page/133995/donate/1/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bridget Everett’s last meal takes us to New Orleans’ second oldest restaurant, where Creole and Italian cooking collide into a cuisine called (you guessed it) Italian Creole! The owner of Pascal’s Manale, Dickie Brennan, joins the show to talk about the special menu and the restaurant’s long history.   Bridget performed her delightfully raunchy cabaret act for years before landing the lead role on HBO Max’s Somebody Somewhere (and she still performs it!), but she made a living working in restaurants. We talk about the highs and lows of her 30-year restaurant career, and when she was able to quit. And she tells host Rachel Belle how she learned to cook on national television.   Both Bridget and her character on Somebody Somewhere love ordering “French toast for the table” at The Chef, a diner in Manhattan, Kansas. Is French toast actually French? We learn its origin story from Max Miller, host of Tasting History.  Watch Rachel’s Cascade PBS TV show The Nosh with Rachel Belle - Season 2 out now! Sign up for Rachel’s (free!) biweekly Cascade PBS newsletter for more food musings! Follow along on Instagram! Order Rachel’s cookbook Open Sesame.  Support Cascade PBS: https://secure.cascadepublicmedia.org/page/133995/donate/1/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on The Leftovers, never-before-heard audio from actor Jeff Hiller (Somebody Somewhere), author of the new memoir Actress of a Certain Age: My Twenty-Year Trail to Overnight Success.   Jeff talks about visiting the real-life cafes featured in Somebody Somewhere, what he thinks of the Swedish food he grew up eating and why he never ever throws a dinner party.  Listen to Jeff Hiller on Your Last Meal! Watch Rachel’s Cascade PBS TV show The Nosh with Rachel Belle - Season 2 out now! Sign up for Rachel’s (free!) biweekly Cascade PBS newsletter for more food musings! Follow along on Instagram! Order Rachel’s cookbook Open Sesame.  Support Cascade PBS: https://secure.cascadepublicmedia.org/page/133995/donate/1/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If you fell in love with Jeff Hiller’s character Joel on Somebody, Somewhere (he was just nominated for his first Emmy for his performance!), you’ll want to pick up his new memoir, Actress of a Certain Age: My Twenty-Year Trail to Overnight Success.  Jeff tells host Rachel Belle how he got his big break, his first role on a TV show at age 45 after 20 years of auditions, and why his childhood ambitions of becoming a pastor were dashed.   Jeff loves eating in restaurants; he’d eat out every night if his husband would let him. So Tan Vinh, one of The Seattle Times’ food writers and critics, joins the show to talk about what it’s really like to eat at restaurants for a living. What does three dinners a night do to the body? What does Tan eat and drink on his days off? What does he do with the endless leftovers? Listen in to find out!   Then Jeff Hiller shares two options for his last meal: one for the little angel perched on his shoulder and one for the little devil squatting on the other.   Watch Rachel’s Cascade PBS TV show The Nosh with Rachel Belle -- Season 2 is out now! Sign up for Rachel’s (free!) bi-weekly Cascade PBS newsletter for more food musings! Follow along on Instagram! Order Rachel’s cookbook Open Sesame.  Support Cascade PBS: https://secure.cascadepublicmedia.org/page/133995/donate/1/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on The Leftovers, never-before-heard audio from Grammy-nominated singer, songwriter and pianist Regina Spektor!  Regina grew up in the Soviet Union, moving to the United States when she was 10, and many of her eating experiences are colored by her young life in Russia — including the desserts she likes! Regina tells host Rachel Belle which foods she’d choose over a birthday cake, why she woke up at 3 a.m. to house a container of chopped liver (when she was a vegetarian!) and her thoughts on karaoke.  Listen to Regina Spektor's full Your Last Meal episode from last week! Watch Rachel’s Cascade PBS TV show The Nosh with Rachel Belle -- Season 2 is out now! Sign up for Rachel’s (free!) bi-weekly Cascade PBS newsletter for more food musings! Follow along on Instagram! Order Rachel’s cookbook Open Sesame.  Support Cascade PBS: https://secure.cascadepublicmedia.org/page/133995/donate/1/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Grammy-nominated singer, songwriter and pianist Regina Spektor grew up in Soviet Russia, so when she moved to the Bronx with her family in 1990, American food was a bit of a culture shock. Cereal! Oranges! Chocolate pudding cups! It was all brand-new! Regina shares a handful of her family’s immigration eating stories.   When in doubt, order the soup! That’s what Regina does. She tells host Rachel Belle about her (nearly) lifelong love of soup, what caused her to rebel against it in high school and why the simplest of broths would be her last meal.   Cookbook author Caroline Wright never set out to have a career in soup, but a terminal cancer diagnosis resulted in a soup club, two vegan soup cookbooks and the title of Seattle Soup Lady. She tells Rachel her story.   Watch Rachel’s Cascade PBS TV show The Nosh with Rachel Belle! Season 2 out now! Sign up for Rachel’s new (free!) Cascade PBS newsletter for more food musings! Follow along on Instagram! Order Rachel’s cookbook Open Sesame.  Support Cascade PBS: https://secure.cascadepublicmedia.org/page/133995/donate/1/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on The Leftovers, never-before-heard audio from Dave Barry, award-winning humorist, columnist and author.   Dave tells host Rachel Belle about the all-author band he’s been in for 30 years (that includes Stephen King!), what food he finds the funniest and why he hates lightning rounds (the entire episode is a lightning round!)   Listen to Dave’s Your Last Meal episode from last week!  Watch Rachel’s Cascade PBS TV show The Nosh with Rachel Belle! Season 2 out now! Sign up for Rachel’s new (free!) Cascade PBS newsletter for more food musings! Follow along on Instagram! Order Rachel’s cookbook Open Sesame.  Support Cascade PBS: https://secure.cascadepublicmedia.org/page/133995/donate/1/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.