Snacky Tunes

We’re revisiting stops on our recently wrapped 2020 virtual tour in support of our new book, Snacky Tunes: Music is the Main Ingredient, Chefs and Their Music. For the New York City leg, Paige Lipari, owner of the amazing culinary bookshop and cafe Archestratus Books + Food, and our HRN fam were gracious co-hosts. Joining us for a conversation about creativity, cooking food and making music were longtime friends of the show, Chefs Jeremiah Stone and Fabian Von Hauske of Wildair, Contra and Peoples, along with Ed Breckenridge, Riley Breckenridge and Teppei Teranishi, who are members of one of our favorite bands, Thrice. (Special shoutout to Fab for designing incredible tour posters for us!) Snacky Tunes: Music is the Main Ingredient, Chefs and Their Music (Phaidon), is now on shelves at bookstores around the world. It features 77 of the world’s top chefs who share personal stories of how music has been an important, integral force in their lives. The chefs also give personal recipes and curated playlists too.

In the time before COVID-19, Tommy Brockert had well established himself as a top-flight events photographer. As events and group gatherings ground to halt due to health and safety concerns, Tommy was forced to do the pandemic pivot. He’s temporarily hung up his cameras and photo booths, and fired up the portable pizza oven instead, turning a hobby into a job with the launch of La Sorted's Pop Up Pizzeria. La Sorted’s has quickly gained a cult following in Los Angeles as folks have clamored for Tommy’s creative pizza toppings and focaccia sandwiches.In honor of La Sorted’s and the 2020 world champion LA Dodgers, we pop into our archives to revisit the musical performance from our first-ever show fully recorded in Los Angeles. The year was 2017, and we taped the show in our friend Cameron Parkins’ backyard home studio in West Hollywood. Our pal Ryan Kattner brought his tiny keyboard to play us songs from his solo project Honus Honus, whose debut album, Use Your Delusion, is a true love letter to the City of An

This episode is a live recording of the Bay Area stop on the virtual tour for our new book, Snacky Tunes: Music is the Main Ingredient, Chefs and Their Music. We were immensely honored to have our friends at Oxfam America as our partners and hosts for this event which featured a lovely, insightful conversation about food, music and activism with singer-songwriter Thao Nguyen of Thao & the Get Down Stay Down and acclaimed chef Preeti Mistry. Isra Chaker, Senior Advisor for Global Campaigns at Oxfam America, moderated the discussion, and Omnivore Books, the Bay Area’s premiere culinary bookshop was our sponsor. We encourage everyone to support Oxfam America in their important fight against the injustice of poverty. For more info and to donate, please visit www.oxfamamerica.org. Snacky Tunes: Music is the Main Ingredient, Chefs and Their Music (Phaidon), is now on shelves at bookstores around the world. It features 77 of the world’s top chefs who share personal stories of how music has been an important, int

In this very special episode we check in on the global tour of our new book, Snacky Tunes: Music is the Main Ingredient, Chefs and Their Music. This tour stop was a part of WRLDCTY, a global city event bringing together thought leaders, urbanists and city lovers on a single digital platform for three days of conversations, connections and experiences broadcast from leading cities around the world. Joining us for a conversation about building restaurant audio signatures, and using music as an inspirational, creative force were two chefs featured in our book: Numra Siddiqui of Empress Market in London, and Chad Valencia of LASA in Los Angeles.For the second half of the show, we revisit a March 2017 studio interview and performance by Kid Wave. The band’s founder and frontwoman, singer-songwriter Lea Emmery, talked about growing up in her native Sweden, finding musical success in London and what it’s like living in L.A. Snacky Tunes: Music is the Main Ingredient, Chefs and Their Music (Phaidon), is now on shelve

Natalie Hekmat had been working for years to open her natural wine shop, bar and restaurant. During that time she found a spot in Los Angeles’ burgeoning Virgil Village neighborhood, and curated a collection of more than 400 wines from the United States, Europe and beyond. What she couldn’t have planned for was a global pandemic. Despite that epic hurdle, Natalie forged ahead and opened the doors to Voodoo Vin this summer. Adapting to the new reality of the world, she put the bar and restaurant portion on hold and pivoted Voodoo Vin to a robust online, curbside pickup and delivery shop serving thirsty homebound Angelenos. Back in the summer of 2017 we met up with electric pop songstress, Julietta. She played some killer new music for us, talked about growing up in NYC and told us her mother’s Sicilian cooking was tops in the Big Apple. (No jarred sauces, y’all.) Since then, Julietta’s decamped for Los Angeles where she’s still making music. We hear she’s working on a new EP, and she just very recently dropped

As Phaidon’s Executive Commissioning Editor, Food & Drink, Emily Takoudes has been integral in publishing some of the most influential gastronomy works of the last decade, including Regarding Cocktails by Sasha Petraske and Jeremy Fox’s On Vegetables. She’s also been vital in shepherding our very first book, Snacky Tunes: Music is the Main Ingredient, Chefs and Their Music, to bookshelves across the globe. Emily sits down with us to discuss her illustrious career, and shares what it’s like to work with best-selling novelists, award-winning chefs, a U.S. president and even an odd trio of food-and-music podcasters. We stretch back to 2012 to pull a spirited in-studio performance from our archives by Dragonette. The Canadian electropoppers dropped their Toronto restaurant tips on us, and also played their hit song, “Pick Up the Phone.” Dragonette just recently released their first track in two years. It’s a cover of the Sam Roberts Band song, “We’re All in This Together.”Snacky Tunes is powered by Simplecast

In this very special episode we kick off the tour for our new book, Snacky Tunes: Music is the Main Ingredient, Chefs and Their Music. Our friends at L.A.’s premiere cookbook shop Now Serving graciously hosted a panel featuring us and Andy and Briana Valdez of HomeState, moderated by Esquire’s Food & Drink Editor, Jeff Gordinier. The Valdez sisters contributed to the book, and even gave us their mom’s Peanut Butter Chicken recipe, and Jeff wrote one of the book’s forewords, so it was a total Snacky Tunes pals hang. We all caught up via Zoom, talked about the book and swapped stories about our love of music and food. Snacky Tunes: Music is the Main Ingredient, Chefs and Their Music (Phaidon), is now on shelves at bookstores around the world. It features 77 of the world’s top chefs who share personal stories of how music has been an important, integral force in their lives. The chefs also give personal recipes and curated playlists too. It’s an anthology of memories, meals and mixtapes. Pick up your copy by

Julia Bainbridge is a James Beard Award-nominated scribe who’s worked at Condé Nast Traveler, Bon Appétit and Atlanta Magazine. She’s also the creator and host of The Lonely Hour podcast, and chief dancer at Club Bainbridge. Julia joins us to share her new book, Good Drinks, a treasure trove of curated non-alcoholic drink recipes collected from the best bartenders in the world.We dive into the Snacky Tunes vault and revisit July 2011 when electronic musician, Ducky, stopped by the studio for a visit. Still just a student at NYU at the time, Ducky had already become  a fixture in the city’s underground dance music scene. Now living in L.A., she’s recently returned to recording music after a long hiatus, and has plans to drop a new single soon.Our very first book, Snacky Tunes: Music is the Main Ingredient, Chefs and Their Music (Phaidon), is available now for preorder. It features 77 of the world’s top chefs who share personal stories of how music has been an important, integral force in their lives. The chefs

While folks might recognize Kenny Gilbert from his turn on season seven of Top Chef, he’s been a critically acclaimed restaurant industry veteran for the better part of two decades. Kenny’s kitchen talents manifested early -- he was cooking his family’s Thanksgiving dinners solo by the time he was 11 -- and over the years he’s helmed the culinary operations at some of the country’s top AAA Five Diamond and Mobile Five Star hotels and resorts, along with running his own restaurants. Kenny calls in from Jacksonville, FL, and gives us the lowdown on how the pandemic is affecting restaurants in the Sunshine State along with sharing his feelings about equality, social justice and cultural identity.We deliver some fun dance-y vibes by way of our archives with a revisit to 2014 and our hang with electronic musician and computer artist, Nullsleep. Known for his post-cyberpunk, synthpop sounds derived from his use of repurposed low-bit electronics, Nullsleep gave us a listen to a few brand new, unnamed tracks while al

For the past 20 years, Honey’s Kettle has cemented itself as a Los Angeles institution known for great comfort food, and especially for its delicious hand-dipped, kettle-cooked fried chicken. Vincent Williams, Honey’s Kettle’s chef and founder, started in the chicken business at 17 years old, and has spent decades perfecting not only frying chicken, but also developing his family-owned business. Vincent sits down with us to talk about his decision to expand during the pandemic with the launch of Honey Drop Kitchen delivery-only locations, and shares with us what it’s like to be a black-owned business in America.  For our musical guest and performance, we revisit our 2012 meet-up with New Jersey rockers, Static Jacks.  They shared with us tales of busking in NYC and of beloved diner tuna melts. The quartet also gave us a spirited acoustic set, playing songs from their debut album, If You’re Young.Our very first book, Snacky Tunes: Music is the Main Ingredient, Chefs and Their Music (Phaidon), is available now

The always nattily dressed Maxwell Britten has long been one of our favorite barmen. We first met him in our halcyon wayback Brooklyn days when we would unwind at Maison Premiere’s bar, slurping oysters accompanied by his expertly made cocktails. Maxwell’s now become an industry activist. As the National Chairman for the non-profit THIRST Group (The Hospitality Industry Reimagined Security Trust), he’s lobbying elected officials to advocate for insurance companies honoring their small business claims during the pandemic. We then jump into the archives and land in October 2018 to revisit our dance party meetup with Morgan Wiley and Ria Bouttier, the duo behind tropical disco house outfit 88 Palms.Our very first book, Snacky Tunes: Music is the Main Ingredient, Chefs and Their Music (Phaidon), is available now for preorder. It features 77 of the world’s top chefs who share personal stories of how music has been an important, integral force in their lives. The chefs also give personal recipes and curated playlis

Philip Krajeck, the chef-owner of lauded Nashville restaurants Rolf & Daughters and Folk gives us some personal insights into resilience. In early March, he and his crew survived a tornado only to be hit a few weeks later with the health crisis and business uncertainty brought on by the coronavirus pandemic. Enduring as best he can, Philip’s managed to keep the lights on and support his community and its farmers. We look back to December 2016 when Light Asylum visited us in the studio. The electro darkwave duo were making a stop home in Brooklyn after spending a few months in Berlin, and joined us for pizza and to perform a few songs, including a thrilling rendition of their hit track, “Dark Allies.” Our very first book, Snacky Tunes: Music is the Main Ingredient, Chefs and Their Music (Phaidon), is available now for preorder. It features 77 of the world’s top chefs who share personal stories of how music has been an important, integral force in their lives. The chefs also give personal recipes and curate

Lisa Colton is the founder and president of Darim Online and Darim Consulting. Her work centers on helping nonprofits and social causes develop opportunities for community building, fundraising and education. Most recently, Lisa helped organize The Great Big Jewish Food Fest, a 10-day, virtual food festival that connected home cooks across America in celebration of Jewish cuisine which featured the likes of Molly Yeh, Gail Simmons, Mike Solomonov and Ruth Reichl.For the musical part of the show, we hand the reins over to our pal and engineer, Jeet Paul. He meets up with Kyle Horner, guitarist for the band 3 Question Marks. The New Jersey-based blues / rock trio is influenced by such legendary musicians as Led Zeppelin, Marvin Gaye and Quincy Jones. Expect 3 Question Marks’ debut album to drop this fall. Our very first book, Snacky Tunes: Music is the Main Ingredient, Chefs and Their Music (Phaidon), is available now for preorder. It features 77 of the world’s top chefs who share personal stories of how music

Rōze Traore maintains quite the balancing act. He’s a personal chef and owner of the eponymous New York City bespoke events company, Rōze Traore, LLC. Prior to that he cut his teeth alongside acclaimed chef Daniel Humm at Eleven Madison Park and the Nomad. In addition to his work in the kitchen, Rōze’s been known to walk the runways, and over the years has modeled for the likes of Nike and Rochambeau.Our musical guest, Sean McGuiness, has also made a reputation of keeping multiple plates spinning at time. We’ve known Sean since our middle school days in Philly, and he’s still crushing it in our hometown. He’s most known as the drummer for Pissed Jeans, and over the years he’s also played with Utensil, The Great Collector, Bazhena, Technician, Navies, Go to Sleep, Like Language, Ready Set, Air Conditioning and more. Besides being a prolific musician, Sean’s the co-owner of the Lunar Inn, a restaurant and bar, and Tinys Bottle Shop, a beer, cider and natural wine shop. Sean shares live tracks with us from hi

Rob Levitt is the Chef de Cuisine and Head Butcher of Chicago’s lauded Publican Quality Meats. He discusses with us how the COVID-19 pandemic has compromised America’s meatpacking industry. And though things make look grim at times, Rob shares with us how this crisis can  actually provide the impetus to change the industrial food complex, and why supporting local butchers and farmers is more important than ever. UK Singer-songwriter Max Levy joins us from across the pond to give us a listen to his genre-melding indie collective, Garden Centre. Max has been hunkered down in the English countryside during the pandemic spending his time contemplating the world at large, writing music, exploring the woods and poking around a certain Victorian-era fly-tip. Garden Centre’s latest EP, Pipe, is out now.Snacky Tunes is powered by Simplecast.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this episode we’re transported to Tulum, the vacation hotspot on the Caribbean coast of Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula. Taking us there is James Gardner, CEO and founder of GRUPO Gitano. James, a former Wall Street trader turned digital luxury fashion entrepreneur, opened GITANO Tulum, a mezcal bar and kitchen in 2013, and has since expanded with GITANO Garden of Love, a seasonal restaurant and bar in NYC, and GITANO Miami, a restaurant, bar and jungle rooftop. We’re then joined by Håbe, GITANO’s house band, who gives us a live musical performance. Håbe is an international collective of musicians based in Tulum who blend Middle Eastern rhythms and sounds with live looping and electronic music.Snacky Tunes is powered by Simplecast.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Opened in Sherman Oaks, CA, in 1956 by Rafael Vega, Casa Vega has long been enthroned as an L.A. dining landmark. Over the years, Casa Vega’s esquites, enchiladas, tacos and margaritas have attracted crowds of diners from all over the world, and its dining room has become a well-known celebrity hangout. Rafael’s daughter Christy now oversees daily operations, and she’s determined to keep the doors open for another 60+ years despite the pressures of the coronavirus pandemic. We’re also joined by Irish-Iranian songwriter-producer Sam R. Tinged who performs as Glassio, and brings us new wave / dream pop by way of Queens. Performing since 2015, Glassio’s played with the likes of Electric Youth and Fujiya & Miyagi. Mothers Jones wrote that their 2019 EP, Age of Experience, was “proof that electronic music and great storytelling are a perfect match.” Sam R.’s hard at work on Glassio’s debut full-length album, and will donate a portion of sales to the Black Mental Health Alliance.In March, HRN began producing al

This episode is all about Bartholomew Jones, a Memphis-based school teacher, hip hop artist, social activist and the founder of Cxffeeblack. With cxffeeblack Bartholomew explores the history of coffee, its deep ties to black culture and its potential for black empowerment. Cxffeeblack also supports and provides opportunities for people of color to create inspiring work. Bartholomew is our musical guest too, and shares some tracks from his recently released album, Cxffeeblack.In March, HRN began producing all of our 35 weekly shows from our homes all around the country. It was hard work stepping away from our little recording studio, but we know that you rely on HRN to share resources and important stories from the world of food each week. It’s been a tough year for all of us, but right now HRN is asking for your help. Every dollar that listeners give to HRN provides essential support to keep our mics on. We've got some fresh new thank you gifts available, like our limited edition bandanas.Keep Snacky Tunes on

South Carolina is where we meet up with Kevin Mitchell. He’s a man of many talents and titles including Culinary Historian, Chef Instructor at the Culinary Institute of Charleston and South Carolina Chef Ambassador 2020. Kevin’s a strong proponent for the preservation of Southern ingredients, and is widely known for his expertise on the historical importance and influence of African American cuisine. We explore Kevin’s career as a chef and educator, and he also provides us some historical insights into the African American culinary experience. Songwriter and hip hop artist, Jimmy Jolliff, a.k.a. Champion Chills, shares some of his latest tracks with us. We also dive into the importance of interracial allyship, leveraging privilege to provide opportunity, and most importantly, keeping our ears and hearts open for discussion and education. Check out the video for Champion Chills’ “Can We Connect?”Snacky Tunes is powered by Simplecast.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice

In our continuing series of conversations about the COVID-19 pandemic effects on the food industry, we meet up with Naomi Pomeroy and Robert J. Nelson. Naomi is the James Beard Award-winning chef/owner of Portland’s Beast and Expatriate. Robert is a partner at the national plaintiffs' law firm, Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein. The pair are helping lead the charge on #JUSTICEFORRESTAURANTS, class-action lawsuits filed against insurers who are denying restaurants’ claims for interrupted business relief related to the shelter in place orders associated with the pandemic. Kip Berman (singer/songwriter of The Pains of Being Pure at Heart) joins us to share some songs under his latest banner, The Natvral. The Natvral’s EP, Know Me More, draws inspiration from the likes of Leonard Cohen and Ted Leo, and is available now.Snacky Tunes is powered by Simplecast.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.