Chefs, critics and celebs are cooking up a storm with their delectable podcasts
Whether it’s for dinner inspiration, recipe ideas or cooking tips, food podcasts have become a vital ingredient for many foodies and home chefs. Some of the best “food-inspired listens” will have you “returning for second helpings”, said Katie Rosseinsky in Stylist. “Just be warned”, these podcasts from chefs, critics and celebs “might make your stomach rumble”.
- SEE MORE 10 of the best travel podcasts
- SEE MORE 58 of the best podcasts of 2023
“Table Manners”, hosted by singer Jessie Ware and her mother Lennie, won best podcast at the BandLab NME Awards in 2022. The duo host a “revolving line-up” of celebrity guests, said Rosseinsky, who are invited round for a “home-cooked meal and some chatter”, touching on everything from “food to fame to family”. There are plenty of podcasts that “promise to be like listening in on a conversation between close pals”, but “Table Manners” feels like “the real deal”.
If “Desert Island Discs” is “a bit heavy on Beethoven and childhood anguish” for your liking, then “give this spin on the concept a whirl”, said Time Out. Hosted by chef and food writer Margie Nomura, “Desert Island Dishes” sees star guests “wax nostalgic” about the dishes that made them. “If you fancy hearing Stanley Tucci saying the word ‘risotto’ a lot – and trust me, you do – look no further.” Another podcast that’s structured like a “Desert Island Discs” for food is “Off Menu” with comedians Ed Gamble and James Acaster. This show has become “something of a cult classic” and whether you’re a foodie or not, “it’s guaranteed to lift your spirits”.
It was “only a matter of time” before chefs and restaurateurs “got in on the podcast action”, said Caroline Hendry on SquareMeal, “and boy, are we glad that they did”. “Seasoned” by chef Tommy Banks takes listeners “on a journey of discovery” as he gives an “inside look” at the special field-to-fork processes as you go behind the scenes at his Michelin-starred restaurant The Black Swan at Oldstead. Another starred restaurant, the iconic River Café in London, also has its own podcast: “Ruthie’s Table 4”. Each week, founder and chef Ruth Rogers is joined by friends at “arguably the restaurant’s best table” to talk about the stories of their lives, “told through the food they have cooked and the restaurants they have eaten in”. You can expect “quite the line-up of famous faces to join her”, including Paul McCartney, Jake Gyllenhal, the Beckhams, Glenn Close and Emily Blunt.
Baking podcast “She’s My Cherry Pie” brings out “my inner pastry nerd”, said Alma Avalle on Bon Appétit. “Delightfully upbeat” host Jessie Sheehan interviews a different pastry chef, cookbook author, or baker, “diving into their signature bake”. “The Food Chain” by the BBC looks at the “business, science, and cultural significance” of food – and “what it takes to get it on your plate”. The topics are “framed through a global lens” and episodes usually focus on the “economics behind food-related phenomena around the world”.
Each episode of “Comfort Eating” sees The Guardian’s restaurant critic Grace Dent “open her doors to a celebrity guest”, said Rosseinsky on Stylist, hosting them to “discuss the snacks, delicacies and guilty pleasures that have shaped their life in food”. On “Out To Lunch”, The Observer’s long-standing restaurant critic Jay Rayner is also joined by a celeb guest. And there’s something about the “combination of good food, a relaxed location and flowing wine” that makes a star “open up in a way that they might not do in a more traditional studio set-up”.
“Home Cooking” is the “audio equivalent of comfort food”, said The Atlantic. “If you’re cooking for one or for four, or not at all, the long, lovely episodes will remind you that you’re not alone.” Hosts Hrishikesh Hirway, creator of the acclaimed musical podcast “Song Exploder”, and Samin Nosrat, author of “Salt Fat Acid Heat”, put their “delightful friendship on display” and answer listeners’ questions about food and cookery.
Sign up for The Week’s Food & Drink newsletter for recipes, reviews and recommendations.
