The Food Seen

Stephanie Kornblum and Alina Munoz saw an opening in the culinary job market, and rather than filling themselves, they facilitated. By forming CULINTRO, they created a network for industry professionals to “develop career contacts, knowledge, and skills” through “panel discussions, internship programs, monthly articles from industry executives, and of course, a job board”. If you’re looking to begin and/or further your career in/around food, look no further than Culintro.

This week on Cooking Issues Michael sits down with Christopher Hirsheimer and Melissa Hamilton, founders of The Canal House. They gang speaks about creating Canal House Cooking, a cooking magazine the times describes as “both old-fashioned and totally new”. Hamilton and Hirsheimer describe their process for collaborating on photo shoots, creating and re-working recipes, and what its like to have a quiet place away from the city. This episode was sponsored by Cabot Cheese of Vermont, Dairy Farm Family owned since 1919.

This week on the Food Seen Michael speaks to Sean Tice, Andy Ring, and Kristy Hadeka, for a discussion about Brooklyn Bilt and Brooklyn Slate. Learn the possibilities of Richlite as a material, what woodworkers talk about online, and why the French love fancy cutlery more than we do, plus the possibilities of re-imagining what we use in the kitchen (and why). This episode was sponsored by Cabot Cheese of Vermont, Dairy Farm Family owned since 1919.

This week on The Food Seen Michael sits down with perhaps the first combination pastry chef/hardcore band member to grace the show. Brooks Headley, pastry chef at Del Posto and former drummer of seminal hardcore band Born Against, joins the band’s singer Sam McPheeters for a discussion about eating, touring, and balancing creativity between food and music. This episode was sponsored by Fairway: like no other market. * photo by Glen E. Friedman

This week on The Food Seen Michael talks to chef Ian Knauer. Ian talks about how he got started in life as a “Boiler Room”-style financial guy, a life he describes as “very bad”. Before he knew it he was working directly under Ruth Reichl at Gourmet, test cooking recipes and eventually catering the magazine’s Christmas party. Learn why his PA family farm is so important to his view on food and family, and why killing animals lends a certain gravitas to his line of work. This episode also features Alan Systma of Grub Street calling in with some anecdotes about driving in the country with Ian. This episode was sponsored by 360 Cookware.

This week on The Food Seen Michael sits down with the people responsible for The New Brooklyn Cookbook: a compendium of Brooklyn’s hottest restaurants offering up some of their favorite masterpieces best suited for you to recreate in your kitchen. Husband and wife authorship team Melissa and Brandon Vaughan join Cassie Jones & Jessica Deputato of Harper Collins to take questions from Michael Harlen Turkel–the book’s principle photographer. The gang talk about their process for choosing from the amazing new wave of culinary talent coming out of every corner of Brooklyn, and how they made sure the original dishes–often highly stylized and always creative–could be created at home. This episode was sponsored by Acme Smoked Fish: a culinary mainstay in NYC for over 55 years.

This week on The Food Seen Michael sits down with Sara Jenkins of Txikito and Alex Raij of Porchetta to discuss what it means to be an immigrant who cooks, the past and present of Italo-American cuisine, the truth or myth of our culinary ignorance in the 60s, and how cooking can be an act of love. They also recount their respective culinary histories, and what makes them want to live and work in the culinary world. This episode was sponsored by Acme Smoked Fish: a culinary mainstay in NYC for over 55 years.

This week on The Food Seen, Michael Harlan Turkell is joined by Jacques Gautier, chef and owner of Palo Santo, and his father Maximilian Gautier. The three discuss Palo Santo’s “eclectic Latin” menu and design, and Jacques’ emphasis on local ingredients. This episode is brought to you by Hearst Ranch, the nation’s largest single-source supplier of free-range, all-natural, grass-fed beef. Photo: Palo Santo Restaurant – 652 Union St Brooklyn, NY – 11215-1103 (718) 636-6311

This week on The Food Seen Michael sits down with “the Mt. Rushmore of NYC Food Graphic Designers”: Matteo Bologna, Douglas Riccardi & Louise Fili. The trio discusses projects past and present, and what it means to brand or simply create a logo for food-oriented companies, plus their own graphic design pet peeves. The discussion also dips into nerdy realms, with the designers admitting to their own nerd-ed out moments of design (multiple character ‘fake script’ fonts and complete graphic packages composed entirely by hand). This episode was sponsored by Fairway: like no other market. Photo 1: Louise Fili, Photo 2: Matteo Bologna, Photo 3: Douglas Riccardi

This week on The Food Seen Michael sits down with expert glass-blower Anders Rydstedt and Chef Michael Ayoub of Fornino. The gang discuss glass blowing, sugar blowing, using super-hot glass-blowing technology for cooking, and bringing kitchenwear into the world of blowing glass. They also drop a bevy of mind-blowing glass-related facts on the listening audience (remember: glass is a liquid frozen in time by one thousand degrees of heat). This episode was sponsored by Fairway: like no other market.

This week on The Food Seen Michael goes on the road to Star Chef’s International Chef’s Congress, a meeting of the minds for culinary masters to show off their most creative and innovative techniques and ideas. Michael speaks to Jordan Kahn about cooking with colors, playing on our preconceptions about what food should look like and exploring how the visual affects our taste. Michael also speaks to Gabriel Bremer about cooking basics versus new school technology and how art affects both. Alex Stupak also talks about using PVC pipe to make pastries, and Kristen Murray talks about inspiration. This episode was sponsored by Heritage Foods USA. Photo: The 5th annual Starchefs International Culinary Congress

This week on The Food Seen Michael speaks to King Phojanakong of Kuma Inn and Umi Nom. King came to HRN studios with his wife, his parents, and (via telephone) his brother. With multiple generations and food cultures in one place, King explained about how growing up eating a mix of Thai and Filipino foods affected him growing up, and how it came to inform his cooking. The Phojanakong clan compare and contrast Thai and Filipino foods and eating traditions, and venture to name their favorite meals at Kuma Inn. Don’t miss this intimate, multi-generational look at one of NYC’s favorite ethnic-food masters. This episode was sponsored by Whole Foods Market. New York City’s Craft Beer Week is just around the corner, beginning Friday, September 24th and running through Sunday, October 3rd. To kickoff the annual series, Whole Foods Market Bowery is hosting a beer and food pairing event in their Beer Room. Oskar Blues is on tap and Chef Jacques Gautier of Park Slope’s Palo Santo is cooking up one of his S

This week on The Food Seen Joel Bukiewicz & Harry Rosenblum of Cut Brooklyn stop by the studio to discuss the art and science of making high performance knives. With over an 18-month wait per blade, Cut Bk Knives are in high demand, and listening to Joel describe the incredible attention to detail he puts into each exacting step of hand forging these beauties, it is not hard to see why. Tune in to hear Cut’s plans for growth in the future, how they got into the biz in the first place, and the various hair raising steps involved in making pieces of metal really really (really) sharp. This episode was sponsored by White Oak Pastures. Photo: Knife by Cut Brooklyn

This week on The Food Seen Michael sits down with sculptor, photographer and artist Corin Hewitt. Hewitt has had his art featured in the Whitney and in various galleries all over the world, and incorporates everything from heat casting to eating in his work. Hear Hewitt talk about the “kitchen/laboratory/art space” where he works, why still life has informed his work so heavily, and how he has used food as the product, medium, and end product in a lot of his art. This episode was sponsored by Tekserve. Photo: Corin Hewitt’s Seed Stage

This week on The Food Seen Michael sits down with Adam & Brad Farmerie of AvroKO design. Adam and Brad (the chef at Public and Double Crown) turned design firm consultants have helped some of the best restaurants in New York and beyond create a style from the ground up, focusing on everything from materials to their theory of a collective consciousness spanning both the food and the visuals. This episode was sponsored by White Oak Pastures. Photo: Public NYC

This week on The Food Seen Michael sits down with the brilliant and multi-talented Natalie Jeremijenko, whose work blurs the lines between environmental activism, visual art, performance, and education. Learn about Natalie’s work exploring the inexorable link between humans and our food; what we consume enters our food, and what our food consumes enters us. Don’t miss this incredible chance to find out how our fish got hooked on anti-depressants, how Natalie learned to speak ‘goose’ with robotic avatars, and Natalie’s inventions to rid fish of mercury with a fishing lure and to cure frogs of deadly fungus with a kiss. This episode was sponsored by Hearst Ranch: purveyors of grass-fed beef from the California coast.

This week on The Food Seen Michael sat down with Catherine Kramer & Zack Denfeld to talk about biohacking, Monsanto and GMOs, using glow-in-the-dark fish to make sushi, plus Zack’s experiences in India and Cat’s social experiment distributing free food. Tune in for an extremely insightful look at the way we currently source food and the way we may some day source it, sci-fi style. This episode was sponsored by Hearst Ranch: grass-fed beef from California. Photo’s 1&2: Glo Fish Sushi, Photo 3: Pictoral Brinjal Chart

Today on The Food Seen, Michael sits down with Michael Laiskonis, executive pastry chef at Le Bernardin. The two talk about the art of dessert and the various artistic approaches to discussing it. Then, Salon.com’s Francis Lam calls in to discuss the challenges of making dessert with a message and to say what he thought of dessert at Le Bernadin. This week’s episode brought to you by Tekserve. For more information visit tekserve.com Photos: Dessert creations from Michael Laiskonis

This week on The Food Seen Michael spoke to Nathalie Smith of Global Table and Eugenia Bone of the Denver Post’s Well Preserved Blog. Nathalie explained how she turned a career in fashion (and a hunch that French ceramics were going to be all the rage) into a career in boutique housewares, and how the objects you surround yourself with define your personal style. This episode was sponsored by Acme Smoked Fish: a mainstay in NYC’s culinary landscape for over 50 years.