Podcasts
Hour One: Diane Kochilas, Zachary Pollack
Hour Two: Zachary Pollack, Huntington Meats, Maple Block Meat Co., Andrew Gruel
Segment One: Show Introduction with Executive Producer & Co-Host Andy Harris
Segments Two and Three: Diane Kochilas, food journalist and cookbook author. Her latest is ATHENS – Food, Stories, Love: A Cookbook
Segment Four and Five: Zach Pollack, Chef & Restaurateur. Cosetta in Santa Monica debuted in April
Segment Six: Huntington Meats’ 5th Annual Holiday Kids Pajama Drive
Segment Seven: Maple Block Meat Co.’s (Culver City) Smoked Turkey Thanksgiving Feast To-Go with Chef Daniel Weinstock
Segment Eight: Chef Andrew Gruel (Co-host) of Calico Fish House with “Ask the Chef”
“Athens – Food Stories, Love: A Cookbook is New York Times bestselling author Diane Kochilas’s latest cookbook. It features 150 recipes and explores all of the greatest dishes from Greece’s most-visited city. Everyone’s favorite Greek chef, Diane Kochilas, is back with a cookbook dedicated to exploring the food of Athens. Diane has lived in Athens for thirty years and has been witness to the enormous social and culinary changes all around her. To navigate the city’s gastronomic scene today is to discover a city overflowing with new creative energy in its kitchens and myriad of international ingredients in its markets.” We catch Diane Kochilas stateside and she joins us.
“Known for shaping L.A.’s Italian dining scene through Alimento and Cosa Buona, acclaimed chef and restaurateur Zachary Pollack’s Cosetta in Santa Monica is spacious, airy and welcoming, reflecting the evolution of Pollack’s cooking. Subtle, evocative, and layered with dimension while celebrating vibrant Southern California seasonality within the restaurant’s versatile food and beverage menus, Cosetta is an Italian restaurant that is as thoughtful as it is approachable, wholly Californian and shining with Pollack’s culinary vision.” Restaurateur and Chef Zach Pollack takes a break from his busy kitchen to join us.
“There’s just something about a new pair of jammies that says ‘cozy and safe’ to kids, and Huntington Meats is, once again, doing their part to make sure nightly bedtime rituals like fresh pajamas will provide a reassuring and peaceful good night to in-need children this holiday season. Huntington Meats sister shop Farmers Market Poultry will also be participating in the drive. The two shops offering quality products are coming together to participate in the 5th annual Holiday Kids Pajama Drive to take place the entire month of November organized by proprietor/organizer Jim Cascone. The goal is to collect 300 plus pairs of pajamas for distribution to the Union Rescue Mission in downtown Los Angeles.” Master Butcher Jim Cascone joins us with all the specifics.
“This year marks a decade of delicious Thanksgiving celebrations at Maple Block Meat Co.,and the beloved Culver City smokehouse is once again serving up its signature 100% peach wood–smoked turkeys and all the classic sides that Angelenos have come to crave.
For 10 years, Maple Block has been at the heart of Los Angeles’ Thanksgiving tables—providing quality, wood-smoked holiday meals that bring friends and families together. From its signature whole turkeys to new Friendsgiving options for groups and offices, Maple Block continues to make Thanksgivin easy, authentic, and irresistibly good.”
Co-founder Daniel Weinstock joins us to carve the peach wood-smoked turkey.
For our concluding segment at 11:45 a.m. our own Chef Andrew Gruel, the menu-maker behind the full-service Calico Fish House (located in the Sunset Beach area of Huntington Beach) provides another timely and informative “Ask the Chef” segment where he responds to listeners’ thoughtful inquiries. You’re dining at a restaurant and something goes wrong. As a savvy diner what are the best ways to try and resolve the issue? Chef Andrew has some informed thoughts…
All of this and heaping helpings of extra deliciousness on this week’s not-to-miss show!
“Athens – Food Stories, Love: A Cookbook is New York Times bestselling author Diane Kochilas’s latest cookbook. It features 150 recipes and explores all of the greatest dishes from Greece’s most-visited city.”
“Everyone’s favorite Greek chef, Diane Kochilas, is back with a cookbook dedicated to exploring the food of Athens. Diane has lived in Athens for thirty years and has been witness to the enormous social and culinary changes all around her. To navigate the city’s gastronomic scene today is to discover a city overflowing with new creative energy in its kitchens and myriad of international ingredients in its markets.”
“These new global influences on the Athenian table live side by side with Greece’s great gastronomic traditions. Souvlaki, hand pies, and the classic pasta casserole pastitsio are included here along with Athenian “fancy” dishes like Noua, a classic Athenian pot roast, and Chicken Milanese, combining chicken, rice, and a velvety cream sauce.”
“Giving readers a taste of the ways in which the culinary traditions of other countries are shaping the way Athens eats today, Diane offers a recipe for a French-influenced cross between a croissant and spanakopita, shares an Italian twist on a Greek classic with Shrimp Saganaki Risotto, updates a Greek bean dish with a Grec-Mex twist on gigantes, and much more. As with all of Diane’s other books, the recipes in Athens are home-cook friendly.”
“Diane Kochilas, celebrity chef, award-winning cookbook author, and cooking school owner, has been at the forefront of bringing healthy, delicious Greek cuisine to a wide international audience for many years. She is the host and co-executive producer of My Greek Table, a 13-part cooking-travel series about Greece and Greek cuisine airing nationally on Public Television. She runs the Glorious Greek Cooking School on her native island, Ikaria.”
We catch Diane Kochilas on a stateside visit and she now joins us.
“Known for shaping L.A.’s Italian dining scene through Alimento and Cosa Buona, acclaimed chef and restaurateur Zachary Pollack’s Cosetta in Santa Monica is spacious, airy and welcoming, reflecting the evolution of Pollack’s cooking. Subtle, evocative, and layered with dimension while celebrating vibrant Southern California seasonality within the restaurant’s versatile food and beverage menus, Cosetta is an Italian restaurant that is as thoughtful as it is approachable, wholly Californian and shining with Pollack’s culinary vision.”
“For dinner, Cosetta’s menu evolves with the market while remaining familiar enough to feel like home for regulars. Pizzas such as the fan favorite Hawaiian Sunrise and Uni Butter, Spanish Clam adorned Lo Spagnolo Ricco are skillful and creative; pristine crudos such as scallop with Sicilian Ponzu and almons and Bluefin Tartare with Ossobuco Aioli shine; and vibrant vegetable-forward dishes like the Bloomin’ Radicchio and Novanta Salad with 36-month Prosciutto speak to a distinctly Californian rhythm.”
“Even in its most restrained moments, Pollack’s enthusiastic, deft touch to seasoning gives the food bright and bold profiles throughout each section including a homemade Bread Service, Raw Bar, Small Plates, Salad, Pizzas, Large Plates, and a ‘Milanesi’ section for chicken, eggplant, and fish.”
“Lunch at Cosetta (available Tuesday through Sunday) offers several casual handheld options alongside antipasti and pizza signature to Pollack, inviting guests to experience the breadth and depth of Cosetta’s offerings beside new additions. Alongside items on the main dinner menu, new to the lunch menu are signature sandwiches, wraps, and salads, the latter now with optional grilled chicken, seared abalone, or jammy eggs available as add-ons. Known for his expert bread program, Pollack’s carefully crafted sandwiches are built on house hoagie loaves and “pizza wraps,” specifically engineered to hold and highlight the classic fillings that are likewise carefully made in house.”
Restaurateur and Chef Zach Pollack takes a break from his busy kitchen to join us.
“There’s just something about a new pair of jammies that says ‘cozy and safe’ to kids, and Huntington Meats is, once again, doing their part to make sure nightly bedtime rituals like fresh pajamas will provide a reassuring and peaceful good night to in-need children this holiday season. Huntington Meats sister shop Farmers Market Poultry will also be participating in the drive.”
“The two shops offering quality premium products are coming together to participate in the 5th annual Holiday Kids Pajama Drive to take place the entire month of November organized by proprietor/organizer Jim Cascone. The goal is to collect 300 plus pairs of pajamas for distribution to the Union Rescue Mission in downtown Los Angeles.”
“Customers that visit either of the shops and donate a pair of new, unwrapped pajamas valued at $10 or more will receive a complimentary pound of ground beef or homemade sausages from Huntington Meats, or a pound of ground chicken or ground turkey from Farmers Market Poultry. In addition to PJs for children aged infant to age 18, the shops will be collecting children’s slippers, robes, security blankets, story books and toothbrush/toothpaste sets through November 30th. At the conclusion of the Pajama Drive, collected items will be delivered to the Union Rescue Mission for gift giving to their youngest clientele over the holiday season.”
“Going on year five, we continue to feel that this was such a unique idea for the holidays,” said Jim Cascone, proprietor of both Huntington Meats and Farmers Market Poultry. “Toy drives are great, but we forget that some kids may never have received a brand-new pair of PJs, which was something many of us took for granted growing up.”
The shops are located at The Original Farmers Market, 6333 W. 3rd Street, Los Angeles 90036. Huntington Meats is located at Stall 350 and Farmers Market Poultry is located at Stall 216.
Master Butcher Jim Cascone is our guest.
“This year marks a decade of delicious Thanksgiving celebrations at Maple Block Meat Co.,and the beloved Culver City smokehouse is once again serving up its signature 100% peach wood–smoked turkeys and all the classic sides that Angelenos have come to crave.
For 10 years, Maple Block has been at the heart of Los Angeles’ Thanksgiving tables—providing quality, wood-smoked holiday meals that bring friends and families together. From its signature whole turkeys to new Friendsgiving options for groups and offices, Maple Block continues to make Thanksgiving easy, authentic, and irresistibly good.”
“These all-natural, free-range, antibiotic-free turkeys are raised in California, shipped to Maple Block fresh—never frozen—and slow-smoked to perfection over peach wood. The result is a tender, flavorful bird that’s ready to serve straight to your holiday table.”
Co-founder Daniel Weinstock joins us to carve the peach wood-smoked turkey.
Our own Chef Andrew Gruel, the menu-maker behind the full-service Calico Fish House (located in the Sunset Beach area of Huntington Beach) provides another timely and informative “Ask the Chef” segment where he responds to listeners’ thoughtful inquiries.
You’re dining at a restaurant and something goes wrong. Oops. As a savvy diner what are the best ways to try and expeditiously resolve the issue with a minimum of hassle? Hint… It’s definitely not waiting until you get home and then complaining on Yelp! Chef Andrew has some time-tested advice…
Andrew Gruel’s Family Cookbook is available with signed copies at his Calico Fish House on Pacific Coast Highway in Sunset Beach.
Podcasts
Hour One: Diane Kochilas, Zachary Pollack
Hour Two: Zachary Pollack, Huntington Meats, Maple Block Meat Co., Andrew Gruel
Segment One: Show Introduction with Executive Producer & Co-Host Andy Harris
Segments Two and Three: Diane Kochilas, food journalist and cookbook author. Her latest is ATHENS – Food, Stories, Love: A Cookbook
Segment Four and Five: Zach Pollack, Chef & Restaurateur. Cosetta in Santa Monica debuted in April
Segment Six: Huntington Meats’ 5th Annual Holiday Kids Pajama Drive
Segment Seven: Maple Block Meat Co.’s (Culver City) Smoked Turkey Thanksgiving Feast To-Go with Chef Daniel Weinstock
Segment Eight: Chef Andrew Gruel (Co-host) of Calico Fish House with “Ask the Chef”
