Good Food

KCRW

Everything you wanted to know about good cooking and good eating from LA chef, author, radio host and restaurateur Evan Kleiman.

  • 49 minutes 4 seconds
    Roy Choi, Caribbean flavors, cherries

    The joy of cooking with Roy Choi...

    • Kogi king Roy Choi has health on his mind in a new collection of recipes
    • How do you become a restaurant critic? Besha Rodell explains in her memoir
    • Marie Mitchell shares dishes from the Caribbean and its diaspora
    • It's cherry season at the farmers market and which means the lines are long at the Murray Family Farm stand

    Sign up for our newsletter and catch up on all Good Food episodes!

    16 May 2025, 10:00 pm
  • 59 minutes 42 seconds
    The multigenerational Korean kitchen, night fishing, cooking seafood

    It's Mother's Day weekend and we head to the sea

    • Sarah Ahn's viral food videos of her mom have captivated millions of viewers with their behind-the-scenes look at Korean cooking and multigenerational life
    • Environmental photographer Arati Kumar-Rao goes night fishing alongside dolphins on the Brahmaputra River
    • Tyler Harper dons a wetsuit, often during storms, and heads out into the turbulent surf to fish for striped bass in the secretive and dangerous sport known as "wetsuiting"
    • Ari Kolender of Found Oyster and Queen St. Raw Bar & Grill has tips for cooking fish and shellfish with confidence
    • The Santa Monica Farmers Market says goodbye to longtime vendor Kandarian Organic Farms

    Don't forget to sign up for our newsletter.

    10 May 2025, 12:26 am
  • 59 minutes 44 seconds
    Tequila, margaritas, salsa, and food dyes

    It's a perfect party trifecta of tequila, margaritas, and salsa. Plus, we dig into the latest on food dyes.

    • Ted Genoways considers José Cuervo's colorful history, from eluding Pancho Villa's death threats to bringing tequila north of the Mexican border
    • Caroline Pardilla serves up 60 recipes for your next batch of margaritas
    • Rick Martinez chops, blends, and crushes more than tomatoes for endless variations of salsa
    • Dr. Jessica Knurick deciphers fact from fiction in the MAHA agenda.
    • Although they're available year-round, blueberries actually have a season and they're ripe for the picking.

    Don't forget to sign up for our newsletter!

    2 May 2025, 10:00 pm
  • 59 minutes 39 seconds
    Baking basics, Torture Orchard, Iranian food, sorrel

    What baking beliefs can you do without?

    • Nicole Rucker rekindled her love for baking by tinkering with her favorite recipes and eliminating the fuss
    • Gabriela Glueck visits the "Torture Orchard," where California's nut trees are pushed to the brink so they can withstand the curveballs thrown by climate change
    • Nasim Alikhani spent decades working various jobs before realizing her calling — opening a restaurant to showcase the food of Iran
    • Evan Kleiman recalls the crazy ride of the 1980s LA restaurant scene with Francis Lam, host of The Splendid Table
    • Often overlooked among springtime greens, chef Dashiell Nathanson is anything but sorry to use sorrel in his cafe dishes

    Sign up for our weekly Good Food newsletter!

    25 April 2025, 10:00 pm
  • 59 minutes 38 seconds
    Buying in bulk, Trader Joe's, Costco

    What do we buy? And what does that say about us?

    • Emily Mester examines what happens when consumption begins to consume you
    • Journalist Ada Tseng visits Costco twice a week for gas, deals, and hidden Asian treasures
    • Benjamin Lorr explores how the sliding doors at American grocery stores stay open
    • Patty Civalleri tells us about the man who created Trader Joe's, which started in Pasadena in 1967
    • Gustavo Arellano recalls the legacy of Frieda Caplan, who introduced Angelenos to all sorts of exotic produce
    • LA transplant Vanessa Anderson, aka The Grocery Goblin on Tiktok, documents the city by visiting its markets.

    Sign up for the weekly Good Food newsletter!

    18 April 2025, 9:00 pm
  • 59 minutes 50 seconds
    Matzo, Joan Nathan, Italian Easter desserts

    Passover and Easter are here — and we have food ideas for both holidays.

    • Hèléne Jawhara Piñer unravels the thread connecting the Spanish Inquisition to modern Jewish food practices
    • In a new memoir, Joan Nathan reflects on her life through the lens of food
    • Jeff Chu abandoned his career as a journalist to work the land and attend seminary, tilling up life lessons as well as a sense of calm
    • Great British Bake Off alum Giuseppe dell-Anno celebrates a sweet Easter with Italian desserts
    • Chef Nestor Silva plucks leaves from the fava plant for a new dish at French Japanese bistro Camélia

    You can listen to every Good Food episode here. And don't forget to sign up for our newsletter.

    11 April 2025, 10:00 pm
  • 59 minutes 46 seconds
    Restaurant kids, Balkan & Hungarian recipes, green almonds

    From takeout boxes to feeling boxed in, growing up as a "restaurant kid" is a unique experience.

    • Curtis Chin and Rachel Phan share memories of growing up in their parents' Chinese restaurants
    • Cookbook author Irina Georgescu finds inspiration east of the Danube River in Romania, Serbia, and Bulgaria
    • Jeremy Salamon reconnects with his Hungarian Jewish heritage and the charming childhood created by his grandmother
    • Chef Harry Posner takes advantage of the short window for green almonds

    Here are all the SoCal James Beard finalists. And don't forget to sign up for the weekly Good Food newsletter!

    4 April 2025, 10:00 pm
  • 58 minutes 6 seconds
    Sacred meals, absinthe, undercover dining at the CIA

    Explore the spiritual side of food and modern Ghanaian recipes.

    • Jody Eddy spent two years visiting sacred spaces and meeting the people who cook in them
    • Inspired by childhood visits to Ghana, Eric Adjepong debuts his first collection of recipes
    • Andrea Nguyen questions the accuracy of those Prop 65 warning labels on many foods
    • Evan Rail plays detective, looking back on an absinthe enthusiast who became a con artist
    • Restaurant critic Tom Sietsema blows his cover in the CIA dining room

    Listen to all the episodes and be sure to sign up for the weekly Good Food newsletter.

    28 March 2025, 10:00 pm
  • 59 minutes 36 seconds
    The legacy of Edna Lewis, birria, microplastics

    A Black chef and cookbook author finally gets her due!

    • Deb Freeman traces the life of Edna Lewis, author of "The Taste of Country Cooking," in a new documentary.
    • While some people spent the pandemic starting sourdough, Jesse Valenciana got busy perfecting his birria.
    • Memo Torres visits an Inglewood backyard, where three generations of the Sandoval family make birria using an abuela's recipe.
    • Carolyn Kormann shares alarming facts about how microplastics have made their way into our bodies.
    • Chef Caroline Leff of Stir Crazy turns up at the farmers market for a favorite root vegetable.

    Don't forget to sign up for the Good Food newsletter!

    21 March 2025, 9:00 pm
  • 59 minutes 39 seconds
    Nowruz, cabbage, agricultural policy, whales vs. crabs

    Celebrate the Persian new year with fresh herbs and new recipes

    • Known to his followers as the Caspian Chef, Omid Roustaei prepares to celebrate Nowruz. 
    • Economist Betty Resnick lays out the reasons behind the US's agricultural trade deficit.
    • Alissa Timoshkina ventures beyond cabbage in a new cookbook dedicated to vegetables in Eastern European cuisines.
    • Whales that get caught in Dungeness crab fishing gear have left fishermen and environmentalists scrambling for a solution.

    Don't forget to sign up for the Good Food newsletter!

    14 March 2025, 9:00 pm
  • 59 minutes 45 seconds
    The legacy of Socorro "Mama" Herrera, Panda Inn reopens, chicories

    The story behind the famous orange chicken at Panda Express and more!

    • Dora Herrera remembers her mother, Socorro, who took orders at Yuca's in Los Feliz for nearly 50 years.
    • Tejal Rao visits the renovated Panda Inn, where a precursor to orange chicken took flight.
    • Honor May Eldridge follows our obsession with the Hass avocado, which was developed right here, in Southern California.
    • In his new cookbook, Tu David Phu reconciles his family's trauma with his perceptions of what ingredients are deemed worthy.
    • In shades of pinks and greens, farmers market chicories are favored by chefs for creating balance in dishes. 

    Check out Good Food's newsletter and don't forget to subscribe!

    7 March 2025, 10:39 pm
  • More Episodes? Get the App