Advertise on podcast: Culinary Characters Unlocked

Sisters Sally Kawa and Kari Kawa Harding are keeping a glorious past alive as the third generation in their family to own an Omaha, Nebraska legend, Johnny’s Cafe. The beloved local landmark, now 104 years old and famous for steak and prime rib, recently won a 2026 James Beard America’s Classics award. And no, their grandfather’s name wasn’t Johnny, but when he first bought what was then a bar, he didn’t have the money to paint over the name on the building. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Raised in Washington state, trained at the Culinary Institute of America, Chef Aaron Bludorn held a Michelin star for five years as Executive Chef of Daniel Boulud’s Café Boulud in New York. Now he’s running a growing group of his own restaurants in Houston, Texas. His latest, Perseid, was named a Bon Appétit Best New Restaurant for 2025. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Chef Katarina Petonito grew up in the food biz. Her parents had a grocery store and catering company and as a child she would hang out with them and play while they worked. When she got a little older, she helped out in the business. Then, she decided that she wanted to cook for a living, and now is the executive chef for a unique culinary hybrid—cooking for three different Washington, D.C. restaurants from the same kitchen. The cuisines include New American and Italian and often feature the Filipino flavors she grew up with. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Chefs Eric Patterson and Jennifer Blakeslee met in the kitchen of an haute cuisine landmark in Las Vegas. After winning a Michelin star there, the friends decided to move on to open a place of their own. They chose the town Jennifer grew up in, Traverse City, Michigan where Eric says the bounty of local ingredients is second only to California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sother Teague and Greg Benson have boundless knowledge of all kinds of alcohol. Between them, they have experience bartending; brewing; and owning bars, restaurants, and an agave importing company. They host their own podcast, The Speakeasy, and here on Culinary Characters Unlocked they discuss everything in the booze universe, including what’s trendy right now, drinks you’ve probably never heard of, and what’s behind the rise of PBR.     Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Chef Bricia Lopez and her siblings are carrying on a Los Angeles tradition, the Oaxacan restaurant Guelaguetza founded decades ago by their parents, rescuing it from financial disaster and serving up the unique cuisine of that southern Mexican state, including moles, the special topped tortillas called tlayudas, and the fried grasshoppers called chapulines. The late legendary food critic Jonathan Gold called it the best Oaxacan restaurant in America, Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When Michelin recently awarded its first stars in the American South region, Chef Sam Hart’s Counter- was the only North Carolina restaurant to receive one. Hart got into the food world later than most after a career in advertising, but he has made up for lost time. His first job out of culinary school was at the legendary Alinea in Chicago. Now, at Counter- he is forging a unique culinary path, with menus based on a wide range of themes such as modern art, fast food, and even mental health. And he spends all of his profits feeding those who are food insecure. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Classically trained chef Danielle Sepsy got the name The Scone Queen when she first began selling her home-made scones at the age of 13. And the recipe she created for them launched a baking and media empire. Her bakery, The Hungry Gnome, making scones, muffins, cookies, a Nutella infused banana bread, and more, now supplies more than 300 businesses including Jet Blue, as well as online customers nationwide, with more than 15,000 items per day. She has made numerous television appearances, her online videos have received millions of views, and she is eager to share the secrets of baking at home—she says anyone can do it!   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Andy Doubrava and Tiffani Ortiz do things their way, re-defining fine dining with a menu that ranges from antelope to candied seaweed to the ultimate chicken wing and a deep commitment to wasting nothing. They turn scraps and leftovers into key elements of remarkable dishes that have earned them a Michelin star and a tie for best restaurant in the country from “The Infatuation” for their cooking at Nashville’s The Catbird Seat. Before settling in there, they crisscrossed the country, hauling a trailer full of cooking supplies and staging pop-up dinners in more than thirty states. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Unable to afford culinary school, Dave Beran finally got a break when a fine dining chef in Chicago took a chance on him. He quickly soared in that city, rising to Chef de Cuisine at Grant Achatz’s legendary Alinea, then becoming Executive Chef at Next when Achatz opened that restaurant. He went on to open two restaurants of his own in Los Angeles and over the course of his career has won two Michelin stars and two James Beard Awards.     Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The tables are turned on Culinary Characters Unlocked Host David Page. This time he is a guest on someone else’s podcast. He is interviewed by Tubby podcast host Alan Zweig about loving food but fighting the weight control battle.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Chef Sarah Thompson says cooking for others, even as a teenager, always brought her joy. When she was a sophomore in high school, she decided it would be her career. After the Culinary Institute of America and a stint at Michelin-starred Marea in New York, she learned Mexican cooking at Cosme, the most celebrated Mexican fine dining restaurant in America. Now she’s in Las Vegas, doing a unique coastal Mexican cuisine at Casa Playa, featuring seafood, an assortment of massive meals to be shared by the table, and a totally-from-scratch masa program, with tortillas made to order.     Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ashwin Vilkhu’s Master’s thesis was a roadmap to get his family into the restaurant business by opening Saffron in New Orleans. He and his father were named semi-finalists for the 2025 James Beard award as Best Chef South for their cooking there, marrying Indian cuisine with New Orleans favorites. And now they’ve added a second restaurant just down the street, The Kingsway, where as Executive Chef he’s combining New Orleans cooking with a range of other Asian cuisines. Both spots received recommendations in Michelin’s first guide to the American south. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sue Zemanick decided she wanted to become a chef when she was fourteen and began cooking professionally at fifteen. Her love of  seafood, nurtured at the Culinary Institute of America, brought her to New Orleans, where she worked at Commander’s palace and Gautreau’s, where she rose from line cook to Executive Chef, before opening her own place, Zasu, creating a menu featuring seafood, global flavors, and multiple variations of the pierogies her grandmother used to make. The night Zasu won a Michelin star she wasn’t at the ceremony—she was working, which she says was a good thing since diners immediately rushed in and the kitchen was slammed. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Chef Perry Hoffman and his partners are turning the small northern California town of Boonville into a culinary destination. He grew up in the restaurant business, as a young child helping his grandmother in the kitchen of the French Laundry in Yountville, California, which his grandparents founded, and cooking in his uncle’s Boonville Hotel and Restaurant after high school. He went on to a high-level cooking career, winning a Michelin star, before returning to that hotel in Boonville, earning rave reviews and a Michelin recommendation for the tasting menu he’s offering there. And now he’s expanding, opening a more casual California/Italian restaurant across the street and an ice cream shop, where many of the home-made flavors are created with local fruit. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices