Bitefully

For Bitefully’s first-ever live recording, we talk to a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner about the plate of food he’s been chasing his whole life. In front of an audience at Mid-City CAN’s Impact Luncheon, Chef Claudia Sandoval talks with Lalo Alcaraz, creator of the nationally syndicated comic strip La Cucaracha, about the most impactful food memories that shaped him. From there, the stories get wilder: a San Antonio greasy spoon with some very unusual security, a family tamalada gone sideways, and the truth about “breakfast wine.” Lalo also looks back on the week the Latino internet took on Disney, his work on Pixar’s Coco, and why he’s always counted hate mail as a win. For him, a cartoon’s job is to make people think critically. And like that one plate, the best ones live in your head forever. This episode was recorded live in partnership with Mid-City CAN. Learn more at midcitycan.org New episodes every Wednesday. You can find Lalo Alcaraz on Instagram @laloalcaraz1 Follow along on Instagram ⁠@bitefullypod⁠ and ⁠@chefclaudiasandoval⁠ Host & Executive Producer: Claudia Sandoval | Producer: Shei Yu I Executive Producer: Saadia Khan I Sound Designer & Editor: Lou Raskin I Theme Music: Lou Raskin | Other Music: Epidemic Sound | Cover Art: Mike Fennessy Bitefully is an Immigrantly Media Production. If you like what you hear, write a review at Bitefully and subscribe to Immigrantly Uninterrupted for ad-free episodes For advertising inquiries, you can contact us at [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Chef DuVal Warner grew up in Danville, Virginia, surrounded by strong women, Southern cooking, and a community rich with history. From his Aunt Margaret's legendary mac and cheese to his Aunt Shanita's smoked neck bones and collard greens, food was always home. In this episode, Chef Claudia Sandoval sits down with Ranch 45's Chef DuVal to talk about the memories that shaped him: what Juneteenth meant to his family long before it became a federal holiday, the life lessons the Marine Corps gave him that he brings into every kitchen, and the right way to make Southern mac and cheese and potato salad. A man connected to his family, his community, and yes— his moonshine. New episodes every Wednesday. You can find DuVal on Instagram @chefduvalwarner and at San Diego’s Ranch 45 @ranch.45 Follow along ⁠@bitefullypod⁠ and ⁠@chefclaudiasandoval⁠ on Instagram Host & Executive Producer: Claudia Sandoval | Producer: Shei Yu | Executive Producer: Saadia Khan | Sound Designer, Theme Music, & Editor: Lou Raskin | Other Music: Epidemic Sound | Cover Art: Mike Fennessy Bitefully is an Immigrantly Media Production. If you like what you hear, write a review at Bitefully and subscribe to Immigrantly Uninterrupted for ad-free episodes. For advertising inquiries, contact us at [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Before she was a Top Chef champion, Chef Zuliya “Zuzu” Khawaja spent 16 years in high finance. But her story starts much earlier, in a Central Asian kitchen, learning at the elbows of her grandmother and aunties, and with one pot of soup she made at seven in an act of care. In this episode, Chef Claudia Sandoval and Zuzu dig into the childhood dish that made vegetables the star of her table, and a centuries-old tradition where women cook through the night, with a few “magical” rocks in the pot. They also get into the career leap that had her dad asking questions, what it took to win Top Chef Amateurs as a plant-based chef, what people don't understand about vegan cooking, and a dish that left Claudia at a loss for words. At its heart, this conversation is about refusing to be put in a box, on the plate or anywhere else. Because for Chef Zuliya, plant-based eating was never about what you give up. It’s about everything you get to discover. New episodes every Wednesday. You can find Chef Zuliya on Instagram @naturallyzuzu Follow along on Instagram ⁠@bitefullypod⁠ and ⁠@chefclaudiasandoval⁠ Host & Executive Producer: Claudia Sandoval | Producer: Shei Yu I Executive Producer: Saadia Khan I Sound Designer & Editor: Lou Raskin I Theme Music: Lou Raskin | Other Music: Epidemic Sound | Cover Art: Mike Fennessy Bitefully is an Immigrantly Media Production. If you like what you hear, write a review at Bitefully and subscribe to Immigrantly Uninterrupted for ad-free episodes For advertising inquiries, you can contact us at [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Chef Mawa McQueen was born in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, the oldest of 21 children. She was raised in Paris, trained at culinary school there, and now runs six restaurants in Aspen, Colorado, including Mawa's Kitchen, Mawita, and Crepe Therapy Café. Her strongest food memory, though, is something she wouldn't share with anyone: the once-a-year school lunch of canned sardines stuffed into a fresh baguette. In this episode, Chef Claudia Sandoval finally gets her friend Mawa across the table. They trace her food memories back to the markets of Abidjan, where papaya, goat, and fermented fish wake up every one of your senses. They also dig into the plantains, yucca, corn, and hibiscus that connect West African and Mexican kitchens across an ocean. Mawa shares the first look at Abidjan Epicure, the first West African food and wine festival, and why she wants the world to see Africa as more than The Lion King. She also tells the story of the day Thomas Keller taught her golf with cigars and music, twenty years after she stood outside The French Laundry unable to afford a meal. At its heart, this is a conversation about kindness. It covers razor-thin restaurant margins, the Yelpers who close small businesses, and the mentors at the very top who turn out to be the most humble people in the room.  Abidjan Epicure takes place October 14–17, 2027. New episodes every Wednesday. You can find Mawa McQueen on Instagram @mawamcqueen Follow along on Instagram ⁠@bitefullypod⁠ and ⁠@chefclaudiasandoval⁠ Host & Executive Producer: Claudia Sandoval | Producer: Shei Yu I Executive Producer: Saadia Khan I Sound Designer & Editor: Lou Raskin I Theme Music: Lou Raskin | Other Music: Epidemic Sound | Cover Art: Mike Fennessy Bitefully is an Immigrantly Media Production. If you like what you hear, write a review at Bitefully and subscribe to Immigrantly Uninterrupted for ad-free episodes For advertising inquiries, you can contact us at [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, we're re-releasing our very first episode. Actress Angélica Celaya grew up straddling borders: Tucson and Mexico City, Spam sandwiches and slow-cooked pozole, margarine and manteca. On screen, she's played everyone from Spanish-language telenovela heroines to unapologetic women on English-language TV. In this debut episode, Chef Claudia Sandoval and Angélica trace their food memories back to the dishes that shaped them: a father's refried beans eaten with ketchup, a mother's pineapple upside-down cake, and the kind of flour tortilla you can only get in Sonora. Along the way, they talk about cooking for their family at 12 years old, what it means to feed people from your most honest place, and why the best thing you can do, in food and in life, is be the weirdo at the table. New episodes every Wednesday. You can find Angelica on Instagram @angelicacelaya1 Follow along on Instagram ⁠@bitefullypod⁠ and ⁠@chefclaudiasandoval⁠ Host & Executive Producer: Claudia Sandoval | Producer: Shei Yu I Executive Producer: Saadia Khan I Sound Designer & Editor: Lou Raskin I Theme Music: Lou Raskin | Other Music: Epidemic Sound | Cover Art: Mike Fennessy Bitefully is an Immigrantly Media Production. If you like what you hear, write a review at Bitefully and subscribe to Immigrantly Uninterrupted for ad-free episodes For advertising inquiries, you can contact us at [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices