The Food Seen

Grace Bonney of Design*Sponge, makes her second appearance on THE FOOD SEEN, to discuss her new/first book, “Design*Sponge at Home”. In it, great DIY projects like Silverware Curtain Hooks, Recycled Cake Stands (made of old plates and candlestick holders), and a “sneak peak” into Grace’s own home and kitchen (complete with a blazingly orange Julia Child-esque peg-board wall for pots/pans). Also, new recipes Design*Sponge’s In The Kitchen With column, as well as a few drinks from Behind the Bar to round out the meal. You can also listen to Grace’s earlier interview on THE FOOD SEEN here.

On today’s THE FOOD SEEN, the wandering stars of the weekly online video series The Perennial Plate, Daniel Klein and Mirra Fine, are halfway through their national tour “taking the viewer on a journey to appreciate and understand where good food comes from and how to enjoy it.”. From their Minnesotan beginnings, they’ve now hunted frogs in Arkansas, fished for shrimp in New Orleans, dove for sea urchin on the West Coast, and even cooked a collaborative dinner here in NYC at Prune restaurant. What’s next on map for The Perennial Plate? Well, you’ll have to listen to find out … This episode is sponsored by Fairway Market.

On today’s THE FOOD SEEN, we’re joined by Elaine Kellman-Grosinger, a “flavorist”, who works for Citromax Flavors as the Chief Flavor Chemist/Director of Research & Development, helping create the “tastes of tomorrow” from “fresh fruit and juices, oils and by-products, for flavors both sweet and savory”. Next time you chew a piece of gum, or sip a soda, you may think twice about what you’re tasting. This episode is sponsored by Fairway Market.

On today’s THE FOOD SEEN, Lior Lev Sercarz, the worldly spice blender behind La Boite a Epice, tells his story through the travel and tastes which helped him form his poignant palate. Like a modern day Pierre Poivre, a trailblazer of the modern spice trade, Lior aims to elevate the now omnipresent black pepper to new heights. You can even try Lior’s ode to Pierre in his 8 pepper blend. This episode is sponsored by Hearst Ranch.

On today’s THE FOOD SEEN, photographer Ditte Isager, captures a “time and place in Nordic cuisine” at the top restaurant in the world, Copenhagen’s Noma, for it’s subsequent cookbook. How do her Danish roots and familiar relationship with Chef René Redzepi, translate onto the page. This episode was sponsored by Cain Vineyard & Winery.

Nils Wessel of Brooklyn Butcher Blocks joins THE FOOD SEEN to talk all things wood, be it walnut or cherry, he existentially asks, “how much wood could a butcher block cut”. Inspired by sculptural artists like Bruce Nauman, Louise Bourgeios, Huma Bhabha, hear how this seemingly art & crafts movement goes dada. This episode is sponsored by Cain Vineyard and Winery. Photo by Meaghin Kennedy of Cheer Observations

On today’s THE FOOD SEEN, Jeni Britton Bauer of Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream in Columbus, Ohio (and now Nashville, TN), brings cool to the summer heat, and now, learn to make her crave-worthy creations at home, through her new cookbook. Salty Caramel, Bacon Praline, Backyard Mint … they will all make you SCREAM FOR ICE CREAM! This episode is sponsored by Roberta’s Restaurant.

On today’s THE FOOD SEEN, Justin Warner, Pabulum Director of Do or Dine, an “American Izakaya” restaurant in Bed-Stuy, comes to the show to wax poetic about “haute munchies”, and literally rap about wine (eg Chateauneuf du Pape to Snoop Dogg’s Drop It Like It’s Hot, Alsace to Jay-Z’s Empire State of Mind). This episode is sponsored by

On today’s THE FOOD SEEN, paper cut artist Nikki McClure carves out a niche in the Pacific Northwest, and in doing so, creates a slow food/art mantra. From her time in the Seattle punk scene to her most recent book, To Market, to Market, applauding the artisans of the Olympia Farmers Market, hear how Nikki brings her world to life on the page, and lives it by the book. *Photo by Lisa Owen

Ever wonder what food would be like without smell? On today’s THE FOOD SEEN, author of “Season to Taste”, Molly Birnbaum, memoirs her passion for cooking with aspirations to become a chef, but is befallen by a devastating accident and suffers anosmia, “an inability to perceive odors”. Hear her journey, as she navigates a scentless world, meeting with top neurologists, chefs, flavorists and perfumers, in hopes to regain her smell memories and find her way back into the kitchen. This episode is sponsored by Whole Foods Market

David Weber, President of the NYC Food Trucks Association (NYCFTA), and founding member of Rickshaw Dumplings, and joins THE FOOD SEEN to discuss a pressing matter. The NYPD has recently been asked to enforce a 1950’s Transportation Department regulation that states, “no vendor, hawker or huckster shall park a vehicle at a metered parking space to offer merchandise for sale from the vehicle”, effectively threatening the food truck street presence in Midtown Manhattan, as well as in all 5 boroughs. Kim Ima, owner/operator of Treats Truck, and a trailblazer of the food truck scene, calls in to discuss how this effects not only our cityscape of food, but how it compromises the integrity of many truck’s business models and tests the limits of their faithful customer base. * photo by Cinzia Reale-Castello

THE FOOD SEEN sits with Matthew Malin and Andrew Goetz, better know as Malin + Goetz apothecary and lab, and makers of all natural skin care and parfums, who not only use food as a catalyst for their products, but they also throw epic dinner parties. This episode was sponsored by CookoutNYC & The Good Beer Seal.

On today’s THE FOOD SEEN, Zeb Stewart, the visionaire behind Union Pool, Hotel Delmano, and Cafe Colette, speaks of growing up in Sonoma, living in a “castle’ in Bushwick, and how his journeys to South America and beyond, have helped him shape the burgeoning Williamsburg drinks and dining scene since the early aughts. This episode is sponsored by Fairway Market. Photo Credit: Kate Glicksberg for the New York Times

Today, THE FOOD SEEN, asks Chef Amanda Freitag and Chef Patti Jackson of i Trulli, not only of their illustrious restaurant careers, but also, how gender plays a part in the kitchen. Do men and women really cook differently?

On today’s THE FOOD SEEN, food writers/recipe developers Raquel Pelzel and Adeena Sussman, collaborate with the likes of Ellie Krieger, Suvir Saran, Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo of Animal in LA, on their respective cookbooks. They talk about what it takes to compile and construct a chef’s vision and voice without compromising your own? Be it their culinary backgrounds, or through industry happenstance (an NYC blackout maybe?), these ladies are given the task of actualizing a recipe, all the while keeping the integrity of someone else’s food intact. This episode is sponsored by S. Wallace Edwards & Sons, Inc.

Cara Eisenpress and Phoebe Lapine of Big Girls Small Kitchen share their first cookbook, In The Small Kitchen on today’s THE FOOD SEEN. These best friends show how they adapted their Quarter-Life cooking skills to work within their space, time, money and diets, during their post-college “sophomore” year in the “real world”. From a chocolate-chip oatmeal cookie rivalry to picnics and one pot meals, hear what tasty treats these savvy twenty-somethings are cooking “In The Small Kitchen”! This episode was sponsored by Just Food’s City Chicken Project 2011.

On today’s re-entry from Memorial Day episode, THE FOOD SEEN cools it down a bit, far away from the BBQ’s and hot stoves, and relaxes with a reading from Alimentum Journal, The Literature of Food. Join it’s editor Paulette Licitra, and contributors, Sophie Menin and Carly Sachs, us as we discuss food writing in all it’s forms, be it poetry and/or prose, from love over old wine to the supermarket line. This episode was sponsored by Surry Farms

Lotta Jansdotter joins the THE FOOD SEEN today, with studio manager Nerissa Campbell, to discuss her Swedish design sensibilities, which often manifest themselves through food, from taking a mid-day coffee break (fika) or a late night snack (vickning) served after a long night of drinking. Also, find out the truth behind Jansson’s Temptation? Nerissa, chimes in on her Australian upbringing, and serenades us with stories of childhood cuisine. Get your smörgÃ¥sbord of food/art here, full of cinnamon rolls, gravlax, meatballs, crispbreads, mead and more …

Today on THE FOOD SEEN, Anne McBride and Kent Kirshenbaum of the Experimental Cuisine Collective, introduce some of the speaking points of their 2011 symposium, entitled, “Foundation to Innovation”. From gaining a core understanding of cooking basics on a molecular level, we contemplate a time when microwaves were new technology, to present day, where praciticing “molecular gastronomy” in the American kitchen and having full access to sous vide and immersion circulators may not be such a modern idea afterall. This episode was sponsored by S. Wallace Edwards & Sons. For more information visit SurryFarms.com.

On today’s THE FOOD SEEN, Casey Kelbaugh, founder/director of Slideluck Potshow, explains his impetus in starting the potluck/slideshow mashup, and how it’s brought the food and art community together in over 40 cities around the world. SLPS XVI NYC, is being held in Brooklyn this Saturday, May 14th, from 530-10PM, and tickets are still available for the Beautiful Bountiful Brooklyn Tasting Hour. Last year’s event broke the Guinness Book of World Records for the Largest Potluck on Earth! Come for the food, stay for the photos. This episode was sponsored by