Good Food explores current events, social phenomena, history and culture through the lens of food. From food politics to the science behind cooking, host Evan Kleiman highlights the diverse community of cooks, farmers, entrepreneurs, historians and journalists who have devoted their lives to food. Good Food is the only radio show where you can hear LA Times Pulitzer Prize-winning food writer Jonathan Gold each week. Get Jonathan Gold's weekly restaurant suggestion sent to your phone! Text "Good Food" to 69866 and get a text with the name, address and phone number of this week's restaurant.
11/15/07: Meet Good Food Market Report correspondent Laura Avery. Here she shows us a unique and delicious cauliflower-like vegetable called Romanesco, which can be eaten raw, roasted, and more. In the video clip below, Laura references a recipe from The Santa Monica Farmers Market Cookbook
by Amelia Saltsman.
We taste the latest vegan beef poseur on the market at Crossroads Kitchen, sample fancy salts with n/naka pastry chef Leslie Bilderback and learn about the history of butter-making from Elaine Khosrova. Plus: Jonathan Gold braves the lines at Pizzana in Brentwood, while Laura Avery shops for spirulina at the farmers market.
Opening and running a restaurant is a never-ending hustle and an unpredictable enterprise. A decade ago, Ohio State University researchers found that 6 out of 10 restaurants fail in their first year. More recent findings reveal the median lifespan of a restaurant in the western part of the US to be just 4½ years. We asked five restaurateurs to share their stories of life in the business.
Whether you summer by the sea or indulge in a plate of sushi or ceviche now and then, we are far more dependent upon what lies beneath the ocean waves than we think. So we devote this week’s show to the complex ecosystems that live in the briny deep, inhabited by cod, branzino, oysters, mussels, sea vegetables and much more.
Gustavo Arellano takes a stand against the Santa Ana City Council proposal to regulate street vendors. Lesley Balla reports on the cherry pie, coffee and donuts in “Twin Peaks.” Cara Tannenbaum and Andrea Tutunjian talk up their favorite nuts and seeds. Bob Holmes discusses how taste and smell affect flavor. Plus: A beef pho recipe and what to eat at Mas’ Chinese Islamic Restaurant.
Bill Esparza reveals the inspiration behind “LA Mexicano,” and Simran Sethi sends us a report and Korean makjeok recipe from Camp Bacon. John T. Edge explores race, identity and class through the lens of Southern food in “The Potlikker Papers,” and Jonathan Gold waxes poetic about Hainan chicken rice at Side Chick. Plus: The significance of the US win at the Bocuse d’Or, and Laura Avery shops for Genoese basil at the market.
Charles Dedlow, of Roan Mills, talks bread-making with heritage grains. Tatler Editor John Haney explains how the British "sarnie" came to be, and No. 7 Chef Tyler Kord shares a spirited patty melt recipe. Plus: a pastrami sandwich crawl through Boyle Heights with Lara Rabinovitch, and Jonathan Gold stops in for a bite at the Everson Royce Bar. We first ran this show in October but believed it beared repeating.
Peggy Lowe explains why Trump’s pick for USDA Secretary is rattling rural America. Dario Cecchini talks future plans for Chianti ramen, and Richard Turner shares cuts from “PRIME: The Beef Cookbook.” Writer Matthew Sedacca looks at the controversy behind liquid smoke. Jonathan Gold tries Chengdu-style dishes, and Elisabeth Prueitt of Tartine fills us in on the latest. Plus, chef Michael Beckman shares a recipe for cactus confit.
Sarah Lohman talks about the murder and historic recipes that form the backbone of her new book, “Ohio 1910,” and Rachel Khong shares highlights from Lucky Peach’s last cookbook, “All About Eggs.” Michelle Mckenzie tells us how to cook oft-forgotten fruits, veggies and herbs, and Jonathan Gold reviews AR Cucina in Culver City. Plus: raspberries at the market and a special guest DJ set from Alton Brown.
Artist and community activist Ron Finley discusses how he’s changing South LA, one garden at a time. Chef Jeremiah Tower talks about starring in “The Last Magnificent,” a new documentary about his role as one of the defining figures in the early days of California cuisine. Plus: Laura Avery stuffs her “Good Food” tote full of green garlic, while Evan and The Sporkful’s Dan Pashman get into a heated dough-bate about donuts.
Jonathan Gold seeks out Yucatecan seafood at Holbox in the Mercado La Paloma. Raghavan Iyer gives us a tutorial on taters from his new book, “Smashed, Mashed, Boiled and Baked — and Fried Too!” Then Laura Avery talks to farmer Meredith Bell and Terra Cotta chef Danny Ye about spatchcocking free-range chickens. Plus: Phoebe Wood shares a recipe for her baked ricotta, orange blossom and date pie.
