Show 565, February 17, 2024: Co-Proprietor & Executive Chef Macks Collins, Piccalilli, Culver City Part Two

Macks Collins of Piccalilli

Piccalilli located on the busy corner of Culver Blvd. and Bagley Ave. in downtown Culver City is a cozy restaurant and bar (including a lush front patio) with shareable plates that take inspiration from Asia and the American South. The dinner menu is designed around local and seasonal ingredients with a focus on preservation, pickling, and freshness. The bar serves spirit forward pre-prohibition cocktails, local beer, and a small carefully selected wine list. The decor (artfully designed by Preen) has colors of lush green and purple, bright with open garage doors, centered around a beautiful U-shaped bar filled with local spirits.”

Macks Collins is the Chef & Owner of restaurant Piccalilli in Culver City. A South Carolina native, Collins’ childhood dream of becoming a chef began after watching his idols, Martin Yan, Justin Wilson, and Julia Child cook on PBS. His professional career began when he stepped into a restaurant kitchen at age 16.”

Chef Macks Collins takes a 2nd break from his busy kitchen to continue with us.

Show 560, January 13, 2024: “Travels with Darley” on PBS for Season 11 with Darley Newman Part Two

Darley Newman of Travels with Darley

Our favorite globe-trotting international travel journalist and TV personality, Darley Newman, is back with a new season of traveling. “Join multi-Emmy nominated Darley Newman for Season 11 of TRAVELS WITH DARLEY and experience an enticing blend of culture, history, and gastronomy across a captivating array of destinations in the USA (including Lafayette, Louisiana and Route 66 in Illinois) and to South Korea. Thirteen half-hour episodes debut on PBS stations starting January 11, 2024, including the launch of TRAVELS WITH DARLEY: “Revolutionary Road Trips” in the lead up to the 2026 commemorations of America’s 250th.”

TRAVELS WITH DARLEY invites viewers on a journey of discovery as Darley Newman explores the heart and soul of each place she visits.”

“This season focuses on the passion of individuals, families, and communities who seek to preserve historical assets, traditions, and authentic cuisine to enable lovers of travel to take nostalgic journeys, learn from their discoveries and pass it on to the next generation,” said Darley.

In “The “Revolutionary Road Trips” Across Three States episode journey deep into American heritage with the “Revolutionary Road Trip,” spanning South Carolina, New Jersey, and Saratoga, New York, uncovering the untold stories of our nation’s history.”

Darley takes a brief detour from the road to continue with us.

Show 459, January 22, 2022: Darley Newman, Travel Journalist, PBS’ “Travels with Darley” Part One

Darley Newman of Travels with Darley

“Travel fans can journey across the USA on epic trails and fascinating road trips featuring history, heritage, food and culture with the new, 9th season of Travels with Darley,” launching on PBS stations January 2022. Six new episodes bring the series to a total of 51 half hours.”

“There are so many great places to discover right in our own backyards! With the pandemic, I wanted to highlight destinations within the USA, like our national parks and forests, that are perfect for social distancing, as well as trails and road trip routes that share important history and heritage,” said Darley Newman, the series host and creator. “I’m particularly excited about our Alabama’s Civil Rights Trail episodes in the lead up to Black History Month. I was able to interview activists and artists who lived through the Civil Rights movement, many of whom have never had their stories filmed, making the content truly special.”

“Travels with Darley’s” new season takes viewers along Alabama’s Civil Rights Trail and includes never-before-seen interviews with women who were child activists during the movement, including Rosa Parks protégé Doris Crenshaw. Along South Carolina’s new Liberty Trail, Newman visits Revolutionary War sites, many of which are lesser known, to bring the breadth of American history to life. Along New York’s new 750-mile Empire State Trail, Newman enlists locals to explore craft breweries, cycling and culture.”

“Wisconsin’s Northwoods and the vast Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest set the stage for mountain biking, fishing and hikes along the North Country Trail. In Grand County, Colorado, Newman saddles up on horses and mountain bikes at sustainable dude ranches, national forests and parks. Newman joins local experts and guides in each location to help travelers discover insider-tips and hidden gems.”

Wandering Travel Authority Darley Newman is our guest.

Show 459, January 22, 2022: Darley Newman, Travel Journalist, PBS’ “Travels with Darley” Part Two

Darley Newman of Travels with Darley

“Travel fans can journey across the USA on epic trails and fascinating road trips featuring history, heritage, food and culture with the new, 9th season of Travels with Darley,” launching on PBS stations January 2022. Six new episodes bring the series to a total of 51 half hours.”

“There are so many great places to discover right in our own backyards! With the pandemic, I wanted to highlight destinations within the USA, like our national parks and forests, that are perfect for social distancing, as well as trails and road trip routes that share important history and heritage,” said Darley Newman, the series host and creator. “I’m particularly excited about our Alabama’s Civil Rights Trail episodes in the lead up to Black History Month. I was able to interview activists and artists who lived through the Civil Rights movement, many of whom have never had their stories filmed, making the content truly special.”

“Travels with Darley’s” new season takes viewers along Alabama’s Civil Rights Trail and includes never-before-seen interviews with women who were child activists during the movement, including Rosa Parks protégé Doris Crenshaw. Along South Carolina’s new Liberty Trail, Newman visits Revolutionary War sites, many of which are lesser known, to bring the breadth of American history to life. Along New York’s new 750-mile Empire State Trail, Newman enlists locals to explore craft breweries, cycling and culture.”

“Wisconsin’s Northwoods and the vast Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest set the stage for mountain biking, fishing and hikes along the North Country Trail. In Grand County, Colorado, Newman saddles up on horses and mountain bikes at sustainable dude ranches, national forests and parks. Newman joins local experts and guides in each location to help travelers discover insider-tips and hidden gems.”

Travel authority Darley Newman continues with us compass in hand.

Show 363, March 7, 2020: Chef Andrew Gruel of the Slapfish Restaurant Group with “Ask the Chef”

Andy Harris and Andrew Gruel at Cabana 14 at the Cove at Pechanga Resort and CasinoOur own Chef Andrew Gruel of the Slapfish Restaurant Group joins us from the road in Hilton Head, South Carolina with another informative “Ask the Chef” segment. Tuna in a can is represented in most home pantries. It’s very versatile in uses for a quick meal. Is all canned tuna really about the same? Is it okay to buy just what’s on special? Chef Andrew gently suggests otherwise.

We’ll find out why sustainably caught tuna is worthy of your attention. Look for tuna cooked in its can and packed in the United States. Chef Andrew particularly likes Wild Pacific Albacore. Read the label carefully. There are some 70 species of tuna. Also recommendable is the premium Italian tuna in a can packed in olive oil.

We’ll “Ask the Chef.”

Show 228, June 17, 2017: Chef de Cuisine Amy Deaderick, Tavern, Brentwood

Amy DeaderickThe Tavern’s (Brentwood) Annual Low Country Boil is cooking on Sunday, June 25th. The night (and menu) is inspired by Chef de Cuisine Amy Deaderick’s childhood in South Carolina.

On that Sunday at TAVERN, Suzanne Goin, Caroline Styne and Chef de Cuisine Amy Deaderick reprise their Low Country Boil – a wonderful regional tradition from the Coastal areas of the Carolinas. Developed from the Gullah Islands off the coast of Charleston, South Carolina, the meal was created from food that was easily accessible and a treasured way for families and neighbors to bond.

This this one-pot celebration of seafood bounty and local food culture features crawfish, Andouille sausage, potatoes and sweet corn, all served on newspaper at the center of the table, as is the local tradition.

Deaderick’s father regularly went out ‘shrimpin,’ bringing home pounds of shrimp to go with the piles of blue crabs the rest of the family dug out from the coastal marshlands. “My dad prepared the crab boil base and was painstakingly particular about the order of things. He was the only one allowed to touch the stock pot and to season the crab boil,” recalls Deaderick. “As the sky darkened, the back porch light would light up, the universal signal for all children to high tail it home. When we arrived home, we found newspapers carefully laid out on a plywood table top with sawhorse legs, and we waited, impatiently, for the boil to be done.”

“Once it was ready, the boil was poured onto the newspapers and we devoured our daily catch. It was the most satisfying feast our hungry bellies could imagine.”

We’ll meet Chef Amy.

Show 167, April 9, 2016: Executive Chef Brian Dunsmoor of Hatchet Hall & Philip Dobard, The Pacific Food & Beverage Museum

Brian Dunsmoor of Hatchet HallThe Pacific Food & Beverage Museum is inaugurating The Thoughtful Feast,” a new series of curated dinners that highlight the culinary heritage of Southern California, the Pacific Coast, American West, and beyond. The first dinner on April 11th will focus on a region of the American South that in the early 1700s developed a cosmopolitan cuisine, one that is not generally available in greater Los Angeles.

Host Chef Brian Dunsmoor of Hatchet Hall (the name is an unusual “tribute” to Carrie Nation, the ardent prohibitionist) in Culver City and The Pacific Food & Beverage’s Museum’s Philip Dobard are with us to set the ample table.

Charleston, South Carolina, was the South’s leading port in the Colonial Era, and the city’s wealth and trade links came to be expressed in a cuisine that included French, African, South Asian, and native foods and techniques. Chef Brian Dunsmoor of Hatchet Hall studied in Charleston and brings his personal experience to recreating a meal that would have been enjoyed in Colonial America but has flavors that are surprising and beguiling to a modern palate. Between courses, Chef Brian will explain the dishes and discuss the region’s culinary culture.