For almost 20 years, Kamal Mouzawak, a Beirut-based social entrepreneur and hospitality visionary, has been building bridges in Lebanon through food. He founded the country's first farmer's market, Souk el Tayeb, which has also become important for its advocacy of farmers and for the way it provides public food education. His restaurant, Tawlet, features dishes that have helped Lebanese nationals and travelers alike understand the country's diverse culinary traditions and the stories behind them. Kamal's mission has always been humanitarian in nature and now, facing an unprecedented combination of crises, including the aftermath of August 4th's devastating explosion, he has teamed with World Central Kitchen to make thousands of meals per day for people in need. Listen in as Kamal describes what he's doing in the wake of the blast, shares ambitious plans for the future of Tawlet and Souk el Tayeb and explains why he believes now is the make it or break moment for his city and his country.  To aid in Kamal's efforts please go to:  https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-us-rebuild-tawlet-and-souk-el-tayeb-beirut

REPLAY: Honeysuckle's Omar Tate joins us from Philadelphia during an emotional week of protests and racial tension to talk about finding his way as a black chef in America and expressing the experience of blackness through his food. Hear why he interpreted the MOVE bombing on a plate, how he's discovered ultimate autonomy and what $100 bean pies could mean to the future of his cooking and his neighborhood. **THIS EPISODE ORIGINALLY RAN ON JUNE 5th. Help fund Omar's Honeysuckle Community Center: https://www.gofundme.com/f/honeysuckle-community-center

Brutus Bakeshop's Lani Halliday and Honey Bunny's Chicken's Jared Howard share how they came to be part of the Black Entrepreneur Series at Maison Yaki in Brooklyn as well their thoughts about allyship, reparations and empathy. Lani's Maison Yaki pop-up kicked off the series with her sensational gluten-free, vegan pastries and savories, including her now iconic pop tart. She tells us why her food matters in this moment and beyond. Currently at Maison Yaki, Jared Howard is cooking fried chicken, biscuits and his take on Mid-Atlantic cuisine in his first ever time running a kitchen at the age of 41. One of these guests has a mysterious, movie-ready backstory you won't want to miss, one has roots in Southern agriculture and both have fascinating takes on how to make their businesses thrive now and in the future.  Instagram: @lanihalliday @honeybunnyschicken @maisonyaki

Cut loose from her job as the executive pastry chef of a celebrated New York restaurant group, Natasha Pickowicz talks about confronting a new reality of occupational independence and a more personal and familial version of creativity. Plus, what a pandemic can do for a relationship with your parents, understanding burnout, separating identity from institution and Natasha's new initiatives, ranging from activism to building community resources to selling layer cakes and ice cream on summer Sundays at Superiority Burger in Manhattan. 

REPLAY: As President of One Fair Wage, Co-Founder of the Restaurant Opportunities Centers United (ROC United), and Director of the Food Labor Research Center at the University of California, Berkeley, Saru Jayaraman spearheads some of the most important efforts being made to establish restaurants as safer and more equitable places to work. Hear about the millions of workers Saru is fighting for, why the minimum wage is linked to slavery, the myriad problems with unemployment insurance, the service-industry parallels between COVID-19 and 9/11 and why One Fair Wage is essential to providing a better future for workers, employers and consumers. Plus, how to support One Fair Wage's emergency efforts to get money and food to the workers who need it most and the announcement of the organization's new High Road Kitchens program. **THIS EPISODE ORIGINALLY RAN ON APRIL 24TH https://onefairwage.com

REPLAY: Working nearly every job imaginable in New York City's restaurants and bars, from diners to fine dining, Zak Snyder has learned to live on the economic edge. Now facing serious personal health issues on top of the COVID-19 pandemic, Zak is putting his life on the line to serve his community. **THIS EPISODE ORIGINALLY RAN ON MARCH 26TH

REPLAY: FoodLab Detroit's Executive Director Devita Davison helps small businesses come into existence, leading a dynamic incubator and accelerator program for nearly 200 local members. But what happens when those businesses are all threatened at once? Listen in as Devita gives a dynamic, full-throated and must-hear master class on how to organize, how to generate hope and vision and why Detroit is uniquely positioned to help heal a suffering nation. **THIS EPISODE ORIGINALLY RAN ON MARCH 25. https://foodlabdetroit.com

Lucali's Mark Iacono and Best Pizza's Frank Pinello join us from Brooklyn to talk about reliability, innovation, mortality, compassion, fear and running two of New York City's most iconic pizzerias over the course of COVID-19.

Is building a strong and just communications strategy the secret sauce for an ailing industry? Veteran communications expert Blake MacKay joins us to discuss why getting the message right is more important in this moment than ever before and why it goes deeper than common perception. Plus, where the work of undoing systemic racism starts, learning to hold a moral line in the food world and how selling cheese made Blake a more precise and empathic communicator. 

Writer and chef Illyanna Maisonet's blog and accompanying newsletter, Eat Gorda Eat, has been a blessed escape from stay at home life during this pandemic. She writes about the hyper-regionality of Puerto Rican cuisine with depth, sensitivity and authority, so much so that you're transported to places like Humacao or Naranjito, at least for a little while. Illyanna joins us to talk about the endless learning of writing about Puerto Rican food, the brilliance of sofrito ice cubes and where to get the best alcapurrias. We also discuss the vital matter of getting Illyanna's debut cookbook published. Publishers, what are you waiting for? Check out Illyanna's work and subscribe to her newsletter:  http://eatgordaeat.blogspot.com

In response to COVID-19, Louisville, Kentucky's LEE Initiative has grown rapidly from a 2-person non-profit to a national force, opening 19 relief kitchens in 19 cities. Co-founders Lindsey Ofcacek and Edward Lee join us to talk about taking care of hospitality workers nationwide and continuing to come up with new programs to support farmers, restaurant re-openings and to serve the legacy of David McAtee, a barbecue chef shot and killed by the National Guard in Louisville's West End on June 1. As Louisville continues to make headlines, hear what Linsdey and Edward have to say about fostering community and hope in their city.  To donate to any of The Lee Initiative's campaigns, including the McAtee Community Kitchen, please visit: https://leeinitiative.kindful.com

San Francisco Chronicle restaurant critic and co-host of the new podcast Extra Spicy, Soleil Ho joins us to discuss what a restaurant critic does during a pandemic and what we now mean by the term "restaurant" anyway. 

Disappointed with the work culture in fine dining restaurants, Matt Jozwiak left the world of cooking tasting menus to solve food insecurity in New York City. He co-founded Rethink Food with partner Winston Chiu in 2016. During COVID-19, Rethink's work scaled in remarkable ways, cooking and donating 645,156 meals from March through June while forming key partnerships with La Morada, Ghetto Gastro and Eleven Madison Park. Matt joins us to discuss innovating in the non-profit sector, an upcoming program pledging significant funds to neighborhood restaurants and expanding Rethink to Nashville, San Francisco, New Orleans and more. 

Soul Fire Farm's Leah Penniman grows food for people targeted by state violence and impacted by poverty and food apartheid. As those factors became more pronounced during the pandemic, Soul Fire Farm ramped up food production while also teaching an increasing number of people in their community how to grow food for themselves. Leah joins us to talk about her farm's activist mission, reparations, ending racism and injustice in the food system, her book, Farming While Black, the ways she fuses spirituality with social justice and what message the Earth is trying to convey to all of us.      http://www.soulfirefarm.org 

Ghetto Gastro's Jon Gray joins us to discuss radical partnerships, feeding the Bronx, ending systemic racism, fighting respectability politics, using storytelling as a tool to dismantle white supremacy, black joy as an act of rebellion, a six-figure T-shirt fundraiser, Ghetto Gastro's Juneteenth plans and much more.

Seattle's Addo restaurant, and its chef-owner Eric Rivera, have moved through this pandemic with maximal creativity, nonstop innovation and awe-inspiring output. Eric joins us to explain how he's using Puerto Rican food, online gaming, time travel, book borrowing, virtual cooking classes and camping, the cuisine of Russia, donated meals, and dozens more ideas and elements to keep Addo thriving. Plus, the future of the restaurant from service to the dish pit, a dissection of Eric's creative process and the ways he's planning to fight for social and racial justice for the long term.

Othón Nolasco and his partners Damian Diaz and Aaron Melendrez at Va'La Hospitality have spent the pandemic feeding undocumented hospitality workers in Los Angeles. Othón joins us to talk about turning anger at a flawed system into an effort to provide food to 660 families a week through their aptly named, growing organization, No Us Without You!

Basbaas founder and In Bibi's Kitchen author, Hawa Hassan and Colonia Verde chef-owner, Felipe Donnelly talk about fellowship, serving their community, using gratitude as a lifeline and summoning the fortitude to show up time and time again. 

His business partner died; COVID-19 closed his restaurant; and now, amidst civil unrest in Cincinnati, Christian Gill continues to fight for the safety and survival of Boomtown Biscuits and Whiskey. Christian joins us to discuss leading while mourning, grasping diplomacy through anger, the failures of police and the importance, for him, of doing his best with what he has. 

Honeysuckle's Omar Tate joins us from Philadelphia during an emotional week of protests and racial tension to talk about finding his way as a black chef in America and expressing the experience of blackness through his food. Hear why he interpreted the MOVE bombing on a plate, how he's discovered ultimate autonomy and what $100 bean pies could mean to the future of his cooking and his neighborhood.