Food with Mark Bittman
Former New York Times food journalist and #1 bestselling author Mark Bittman (How to Cook Everything; VB6; Animal, Vegetable, Junk) is joined by co-host (and daughter) Kate to explore all aspects of food – from what to have for dinner, how to raise healthy children, and how to perfect your cooking routine to big picture questions about climate change, sustainability, food policy, and global hunger. Each week, Mark and Kate talk with cooks, celebrities, chefs, farmers, activists, policymakers, and food-lovers about the role of food in their lives, what they love to cook, and the ways that food impacts our society. Plus Mark and...
Dan Jacobs: Almost Winning Top Chef — and Why Milwaukee Is America’s Best Kept Secret
Dan Jacobs is the chef and co-owner of DanDan and EsterEv in Milwaukee, a runner-up on Season 21 of Top Chef, and one of the most quietly remarkable people to come on this show. In 2016, four months before opening his first restaurant, he was diagnosed with Kennedy's Disease, a rare neuromuscular condition often mistaken for ALS. He went on to compete on Top Chef eight years later anyway. Mark and Kate talk with Dan about navigating a progressive illness in a physical profession, why Milwaukee's restaurant scene might be the best kept secret in American food, the advocacy work that...
Shirley Chung: What Tongue Cancer Taught a Chef About Taste
Shirley Chung is a Top Chef finalist, French Laundry veteran and José Andrés darling. In 2024, she was diagnosed with stage four tongue cancer, and it changed her life. Shirley talks about the diagnosis she almost missed, the treatment that saved her tongue, and what it felt like to slowly, painstakingly relearn how to taste. Along the way: an unlikely connection with Grant Achatz, who went through the same thing 19 years earlier and became her north star through the worst of it. She would go on to helm Night Rooster, her modern Chinese restaurant in Dallas, which she opened du...
Toya Boudy Starts from Scratch
Toya Boudy is back. Since her debut cookbook came out in 2023, life has thrown a lot at her: divorce, her mother's health struggles, sobriety, and raising three kids. Her new book, Cooking from Scratch, is the result of all of it. Kate and Toya talk about rebuilding after everything falls apart, and about Malinda Russell, a free woman of color who published a cookbook in 1866 and packed it with everything her community might need to survive. Toya believes Russell came to her for a reason.
Check out all these incredible recipes from Toya's new book, Cooking f...
Father-Daughter Time with Al Roker and Courtney Roker Laga
The father-daughter duo talks to our father-daughter duo about their new cookbook and why it's special – and what it was like working on it together. Plus, Courtney's "recipe detective" journey and Al's take on The Morning Show – and Mark's on The Bear.
Get the recipe for Everything-Bagel and Lox Strata on The Bittman Project: https://bittmanproject.com/recipe/everything-bagel-and-lox-strata/
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Laurie Woolever: Care and Feeding — and Everything in Between
We revisit Kate's conversation with the writer (and ex-Mario Batali employee and former assistant to Anthony Bourdain) Laurie Woolever, who talks about how (and if) kitchen culture has changed since the early-aughts heydey; why she never felt like a victim; her memoir, Care and Feeding; and how Anthony Bourdain put people at ease—and why people loved him so much.
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Hannah Goldfield: Drinking, Not Drinking, and the In Between
New Yorker writer Hannah Goldfield talks to Kate and Mark about "intentional drinking"; how, right now, it feels like everyone is taking a stance on where we land on the drinking spectrum; how bars and restaurants are making drinking (and not drinking) easier to navigate; and mini cocktails.
Read Hannah's recent piece, "The Age of 'Intentional' Drinking": https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2026/05/25/the-age-of-intentional-drinking
Subscribe to Food with Mark Bittman on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you like to listen, and please help us grow by leaving us a 5 star review on Apple Podcasts.
...Just Call Her Paola ‘Blazing the Trail’ Velez
Baker Paola Velez talks to Kate and Holly about why and how she started Bakers Against Racism and how its influence and warmth has spread—and continues to spread; ad-libbing baked goods and feeling passionate about getting others confident enough in the kitchen to do it, too; and how romance played a factor in her career choice.
We've got recipes from Paola's book, Bodega Bakes!
Chocolate Malta Cake: https://bittmanproject.com/recipe/chocolate-malta-cake/
PB&J Pots de Crème: https://bittmanproject.com/recipe/pbj-pots-de-creme/
The Lemon Cookie: https://bittma...
Nasim Alikhani: Homestyle Iranian Food at Its Best
Revisiting our interview with Nasim Alikhani, the wildly popular Brooklyn-based chef, who talked to Kate and Mark about why the slow cook makes Iranian food special, the best way to enjoy a dinner party, and leaving Iran for the US in the 1980s.
Get Nasim Alikhani’s recipe for Date Scrambled Eggs on the Bittman Project:
https://bittmanproject.com/recipe/nasim-alikhanis-date-scrambled-eggs/
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Please Don’t Pigeonhole Alicia Kennedy
The prolific writer talks to Kate and Mark about why her mom told her not to learn how to cook (and how the kitchen is now her happy place), the big problem with mainstream veganism (and the food that ended her vegan journey), and using food and cooking to manage loss.
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Follow Mark on Twitter at @bittman, and on Facebook and Instagram at...
Alton Brown, Talking From the Can
In this revisiting of a 2025 episode, writer, chef, and TV star Alton Brown talks to Mark and Kate about fame, "then" and now; the problem with memory—and memoir; falling up the stairs; his farewell tour; and eating on the road, monastically.
Head to the Bittman Project for a special excerpt from Alton's collection of essays, Food for Thought: https://bittmanproject.com/alton-brown-meals-that-made-me-part-i/
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The Unique Complexities of Perennial Foods—and Why You Should Care
Liz Carlisle is an associate professor in the environmental studies program at UC Santa Barbara, Aubrey Streit Krug is the director of the Perennial Cultures Lab at the Land Institute, and Leah Penniman is an acclaimed activist and farmer who co-founded Soul Fire Farm in Grafton, New York. The three joined Kate and Mark to talk about why perennial foods should be seriously considered as part of the solution to the climate crisis; what real support for perennial agriculture would look like; and the changes they've seen in the young farming community in the past 30 years.
R...
Sheldon Simeon: Ohana Means Family
In this revisiting of a 2022 episode, Mark talks to beloved chef Sheldon Simeon about learning to butcher chickens in first grade, the divide between Hawaiian natives and tourists, and cooking for three days straight.
Sheldon's on Instagram: @chefwonder, and you can get a bunch of his recipes on the Bittman Project!
Shoyu Chicken: https://bittmanproject.com/recipe/shoyu-chicken/
Loco Moco Gravy Rice: https://bittmanproject.com/recipe/loco-moco-gravy-rice/
Mac Salad: https://bittmanproject.com/recipe/sheldon-simeons-mac-salad/
Shoyu Dip with Sesame Crunch: https://bittmanproject.com/recipe/shoyu-dip-with-sesame-crunch/
When Food (Truly) Has the Capacity to Heal
God's Love We Deliver CEO Terrence Meck and Northwell Health's chief experience officer Sven Gierlinger join Kate and Mark to talk about how they're feeding clients and patients (respectively) carefully, and well. The two chat about how their personal medical journeys got them to where they are today, how making and serving good food can actually save health care dollars, and how the emotion behind all of it can be the best part of the job.
Sven Gierlinger: https://www.linkedin.com/in/svengierlinger/
God's Love We Deliver: glwd.org, Instagram @godslovenyc
...
Approaches to Food Access: Dylan Alverson and Jason Finder
Dylan Alverson is the owner of Modern Times—now called Post Modern Times—in Minneapolis, a restaurant that stopped charging customers for food during the violent ICE occupation (and that will continue to be free). Jason Finder is the Executive Director of Good Food Works and Salad Days, which offers free grab & go salads to public spaces and high-need constituencies throughout New York City. The two joined Kate and Mark to talk about how they came to be passionate about food access and why what they're doing is working.
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Helen Veit: How, Exactly, Did Kids Become So Picky?
The historian and author of "Picky" talks to Kate and Mark about the history of "children's food," how pickiness is positioned at the intersection of biology and culture, generating a set of standards to get us back to a more pleasurable relationship with food (and why it'll feel counterintuitive), and the fear of parenting in "older ways" (and why people who are doing so tend to not talk about it).
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Ted Genoways: The Ongoing Saga of the JBS Beef Plant
Thousands of workers at the JBS beef plant in Greeley, Colorado, one of the largest US meatpacking facilities, have gone on strike over alleged unfair labor practices—the first major strike at a US beef slaughterhouse in 40 years. We're revisiting our conversation with journalist Ted Genoways, who last year reported on allegations of human trafficking at the JBS plant: the viral TikTok video that started it all, the thousands of Haitian migrants in the crosshairs, and how JBS' HR department saw it as a positive thing.
Want to listen to Ted's reporting on Greeley? You can do...
Omar Tate and Cybille St. Aude Tate: Assigning Meaning to Every Plate
The chefs, and owners of Philly's much-loved Honeysuckle, talk to Kate and Mark about how they personally define a "Black" dish; the two very distinct formats behind the food that typically represents the US Black diaspora; why their original business model didn't work and how they fixed it—and learned from it; and their big love story.
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In Which Mark Chats With Laura Linney
In this revisited episode, Mark talks to award-winning actress Laura Linney about fantastic female roles, the parallels between cooking and acting, and her memories of the iconic Truman Show.
Subscribe to Food with Mark Bittman on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you like to listen, and please help us grow by leaving us a 5 star review on Apple Podcasts.
Follow Mark on Twitter at @bittman, and on Facebook and Instagram at @markbittman. Want more food content? Subscribe to The Bittman Project at www.bittmanproject.com.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/p...
Arnold Myint: Writer, Chef, Dad, Gorgeous Drag Queen
The Nashville-based chef talks to Kate and Mark about how and why he finally feels recognized, how his drag has served as both a crutch and a hindrance—in the food world and elsewhere, and the priceless support he grew up with from his hippie parents (and why so much of what he does comes from that).
Read an excerpt—and get some recipes—from Arnold's book, Family Thai, on The Bittman Project: https://bittmanproject.com/my-way-or-the-thai-way/
Subscribe to Food with Mark Bittman on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you like to listen, and please...
Babes in Pod-Land: Samantha Irby and Lindy West
The supremely talented and charismatic writers talk to Kate about mail ordering fancy ice cream, the beauty of "store food," and watching hours and hours of TV together.
Get the recipe for Sam's Tuna Noodle Casserole: https://bittmanproject.com/recipe/samantha-irbys-tuna-noodle-casserole/
Subscribe to Food with Mark Bittman on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you like to listen, and please help us grow by leaving us a 5 star review on Apple Podcasts.
Follow Mark on Twitter at @bittman, and on Facebook and Instagram at @markbittman. Want more food content? Subscribe to T...
Jyoti and Auyon Mukharji: My Mother, My Masala
The mother and son duo—co-authors of Heartland Masala—talk to Kate and Mark about what it was like to tour to more than 40 cities together (and, specifically, why it was so wonderful); "mock" authenticity and further thoughts on the authenticity conversation in general, especially as it relates to second-generation immigrants; and "fusion" versus "traditional." Plus: deep thoughts about butter chicken.
Get Jyoti and Auyon's recipes for Masala Brussels Sprouts: https://bittmanproject.com/recipe/masala-brussels-sprouts/
...and Narkol Cholar Daal (Split and Hulled Chickpeas with Coconut): https://bittmanproject.com/recipe/narkol-cholar-daal-split-and-hulled-chickpeas-with-coconut/
Subscrib...
Tom Colicchio Still Loves to Cook
The chef and activist talks to Kate and Mark about why, for the first time in 25 years, he's overhauling the menu at Craft; what makes a restaurant popular (even when it's not good); where all the good cooks have gone; and why he dislikes sous vide so much. Plus: some great cooking tips.
Subscribe to Food with Mark Bittman on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you like to listen, and please help us grow by leaving us a 5 star review on Apple Podcasts.
Follow Mark on Twitter at @bittman, and on Facebook and...
Marion Nestle and Mark Digest the 2026 Dietary Guidelines
Food policy expert Marion Nestle chats with Mark about their initial reactions to the new dietary guidelines: what's good, what's bad, and what's disturbing. Plus: Is the current protein craze just a marketing scheme that's done particularly well for the marketers, or should we all be jumping on the bandwagon?
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Revisiting Kate's Conversation with Phoebe Robinson
The comedian talks to Kate about her show, Clash of the Cookbooks, and why we need more positive television; being a podcasting pioneer; the beauty of a good graze; and, for the first time, making content that her beloved niece and nephew are allowed to watch.
Subscribe to Food with Mark Bittman on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you like to listen, and please help us grow by leaving us a 5 star review on Apple Podcasts.
Follow Mark on Twitter at @bittman, and on Facebook and Instagram at @markbittman. Want more food content...
Everybody Loves Kyle (MacLachlan)
In this revisiting of an excellent episode from 2022, the actor (and Tiktok's favorite dad) talks to Kate and Mark about his least favorite body part, go-to meals, and making cappuccinos for the cast of Blue Velvet. Plus: the question Mark's "been meaning to ask" him for 30 years.
Subscribe to Food with Mark Bittman on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you like to listen, and please help us grow by leaving us a 5 star review on Apple Podcasts.
Follow Mark on Twitter at @bittman, and on Facebook and Instagram at @markbittman. Want more food...
Nancy Matsumoto: How Women Are Rebuilding the Food System
The James Beard Award-winning writer talks to Kate and guest co-host Kathleen Finlay about how women are uniquely equipped to tackle and repair our broken food system; why cooperation over competition is so effective; the constant throughline when talking with only female producers; and how you can support efforts—both as a buyer and as an activist.
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Lyndsay C. Green on Honoring Her Own Experiences
The Pulitzer finalist and James Beard award winning journalist talks to Kate and Mark about how restaurant critics have to "split themselves"; being "accidentally anonymous" and how she became comfortable with telling that story; chasing curiosity; and how she went from a born and bred New Yorker to loving Detroit.
Read Lyndsay's piece, "My year in review as Free Press restaurant critic: Accidentally anonymous," which was discussed in today's episode, at the Detroit Free Press:
https://tinyurl.com/f9cp9xpb
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Revisiting Kate’s Conversation with Alain Ducasse
The innovative chef talks to Kate about the importance of cultivating one's own identity, notably when it comes to food; why he's not in the business of nostalgia; his unique ability to read the taste of food; and his new memoir, Good Taste. PLUS: More from food stylist Barrett Washburne, who talks to Kate about wasted plate space, giving props to prop stylists, and how to style brown food.
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Revisiting Mark’s conversation with Jamie Oliver
The wildly popular chef and champion of good food talks to Mark about what's changed in his almost 25 years of cooking in the public eye, big picture food advice, and why there's room for optimism.
Find the recipes from today's episode at bittmanproject.com/recipe/jamie-olivers-charred-brussels/ and bittmanproject.com/recipe/jools-chocolate-dreams/
Subscribe to Food with Mark Bittman on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you like to listen, and please help us grow by leaving us a 5 star review on Apple Podcasts.
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David Nayfeld and Aliza Sokolow: Dad, What’s for Dinner?
Chef David Nayfield (and author of Dad, What's for Dinner?) and author and educator Aliza Sokolow join Kate to chat about the quirks of cooking for (and with) and feeding kids. On the table: simple ways to get kids involved and interested in cooking (and eating good food), remembering when ketchup counted as a vegetable in schools, and understanding your roles in your kids' eating habits and patterns (you're the salesperson!).
Get David's recipes for Chicken (Or Anything) Milanese: https://bittmanproject.com/recipe/chicken-or-anything-milanese/
...and Tuscan Sausage, Bean, and Kale Soup: https://bittmanproject.com/reci...
Leslie Soble: Eating Behind Bars
Impact/Justice's Leslie Soble, an internationally recognized voice on the carceral eating experience, talks to Kate and Mark about what eating in prison is really like. The three discuss food as an active form of punishment, the deep connection between the critical problems of hunger and food waste, creative things incarcerated people do to stay nourished, and the good work that select organizations are doing to bring better food to prisons.
Read an excerpt from Leslie's book, Eating Behind Bars: Ending the Hidden Punishment of Food in Prison, on The Bittman Project: https://bittmanproject.com/eating-behind-bars/
...Pyet DeSpain’s Meaningful Culinary Pivot, and What Led to It
The chef and host of PBS's Spirit Plate talks to Kate and Mark about the moment she realized she didn't feel connected to the food she was cooking—and what she did to fix that, a dinner party that changed everything, why and how her conversations about food and culture with Native American youth around the country are so important, and one of her favorite Indigenous food traditions—cooking with rocks.
Get Pyet's recipes for Wojape BBQ Sauce: https://bittmanproject.com/recipe/wojape-bbq-sauce/
...and Roasted Sage and Maple Sweet Potatoes: https://bittmanproject.com/recipe/roasted...
Season Chasing with Jody Williams and Rita Sodi
In this episode from late 2022, the beloved restaurateurs behind New York's Via Carota and I Sodi talk to Kate and to guest host Melissa McCart about being a purist vs a regionalist, the supreme reign of artichokes, and how to buy good olive oil.
Get Via Carota's recipes for Roasted Carrots, Spiced Yogurt, and Pistachios: https://bittmanproject.com/recipe/carote-roasted-carrots-spiced-yogurt-and-pistachios/
...and Salmoriglio (Lemon and Garlic Dressing): https://bittmanproject.com/recipe/salmoriglio-lemon-and-garlic-dressing/
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For Nick Hartanto, Love for Food Translates to Meaningful Stories
The director—and the first Indonesian-American filmmaker to qualify for an Oscar!—chats with Kate and Mark about his new autobiographical short film, Daly City. Nick talks about what his parents thought about the film, why the biggest challenge of making the film was finding the actors, and the themes within—notably the internal conflict of the model minority and the bittersweet nature of the American dream.
Watch Nick Hartanto's Daly City here: https://www.shortoftheweek.com/2025/11/18/daly-city/
Subscribe to Food with Mark Bittman on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you like to listen, and p...
Dorie Greenspan: "I Still Think Baking Is Magic"
Bestselling—and much beloved—food writer Dorie Greenspan (new book: Dorie's Anytime Cakes) talks to Kate and her old pal Mark. Get ready for lots of reminiscing about the "old days" of food writing—when there was no internet! The three also talk about finding the ultimate end-of-day joy in cooking and baking, trying unexpected ingredients in baking, and the creativity that can be found in a single subject (like cakes).
Get Dorie's recipes for Morning, Noon and Night Thanksgiving Cake: https://bittmanproject.com/recipe/morning-noon-and-night-thanksgiving-cake/
...and Cocoa-Swirled Pumpkin Bundt: https://bittmanproject.com/recipe/dorie-gree...
Diane Kochilas Talks About the REAL Mediterranean Diet
In this unreleased episode from 2023, Mark visits Diane Kochilas at her home in Greece; the two talk about Ikaria eating, how Greek cooking and cuisine has changed over the last couple decades—and where it seems to be heading, and why chefs in Greece have less emotional baggage (which could be a good or a bad thing, depending on which way you look at it).
Read an excerpt from Diane Kochilas's Athens: Food, Stories, Love on The Bittman Project: https://bittmanproject.com/athens-a-love-story/
...and get Diane's recipes for Greek Salad Crepes: https://bittmanproject.com/recipe...
Alice Waters: A Revolutionary Reinterpretation of the Classic School Lunch
The chef and activist talks to Kate and Mark about how school lunches have changed over the years—and how they haven't, why (and how) there shouldn't be a "middle man" when schools purchase food for lunches; the "most important people in this country"—teachers and farmers; and how we can realistically make her longstanding vision for kids' relationship with food a reality.
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Foll...
Fadi Kattan Pays a Loving Tribute to Bethlehem
In this revisiting of a 2024 episode, chef and author Fadi Kattan talks to Mark and Kate about the dangers of simplifying reality; why we should recognize and champion origin, and how doing so is a lesson in humility; the effect the Israeli conflict has had on agriculture; and his cookbook, Bethlehem.
We're sharing two recipes from Bethlehem on the Bittman Project – Fig Salad, and Mujadara – and you can find them here.
https://bittmanproject.com/recipe/fadi-kattans-fig-salad/
https://bittmanproject.com/recipe/fadi-kattans-mujadara/
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Paul Schiefer and Ken Cook: What Makes Amy’s So Unique
Paul Schiefer, President of Amy’s Kitchen, and Ken Cook, President and Co-Founder of Environmental Working Group, talk to Kate and Mark about scaled organic as a sustainability solution; what, specifically, makes Amy’s cooking stand out; how conventional agriculture weakens prices; and making organic easier and more accessible to all.
Subscribe to Food with Mark Bittman on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you like to listen, and please help us grow by leaving us a 5 star review on Apple Podcasts.
Follow Mark on Twitter at @bittman, and on Facebook and Instagram at @mark...
Michael Twitty: What, Specifically, Makes Southern Food So Unique
The writer and food historian talks to Kate and Mark about the "secret" language that belongs to Southern people, the problem with fantasizing about your Bubby's recipes, the two-sidedness of Southern cooking, and where to find the best food in the South.
Read an excerpt from Michael Twitty's Recipes from the American South on The Bittman Project: https://bittmanproject.com/bread-so-good-you-have-to-guard-it/
...and get Michael's recipes for Yeast Rolls: https://bittmanproject.com/recipe/yeast-rolls/
...and Chicken and Dumplings: https://bittmanproject.com/recipe/chicken-and-dumplings/
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