Daniel Genis spent 10 years in prison, and tells us about his experience cooking and eating behind bars. We also hear about the deluge of free food in Hollywood writers’ rooms. Plus, we talk to LA’s premier foragers about how they extract the flavors of California.
Highlights from this week’s show:
1. Cooking in Prison–Daniel Genis spent ten years in New York State prisons and recently wrote a piece for the Daily Beast about learning to cook behind bars. He was also the subject of a recent New Yorker profile.
2. What the Writers of Community Eat for Lunch–Monica Padrick writes for Community – formerly on NBC, the show was just picked up by Yahoo. She wrote an article about the elaborate (and abundant) free food on set for Lucky Peach called “Introduction to Decision Fatigue Related Eating.”
3. Lunch at the Shop–Peter Miller owns an architecture and design bookstore in Seattle and is the author of the book Lunch at the Shop, an ode to taking the time to make lunch at work.
Lunch at the Shop is also the latest KCRW Cookbook Club Pick. Find out how you can become a member here.
4. Wild Food Lab–Pascal Baudar and Mia Wasilevich run the Wild Food Lab, a sort of California alchemists den full of wild vinegar, insect sugar and foraged materials that are infused, dehydrated and tinkered with in an effort to extract the true flavors of California.
Pascal also runs classes through his company Urban Outdoor Skills and Mia helms Transitional Gastronomy where she teaches classes and hosts private dinners based on foraged foods.
5. Jonathan Gold Reviews Pot–Jonathan Gold is the Pulitzer Prize winning food writer for the Los Angeles Times. This week he reviews Pot, Roy Choi’s most recent restaurant that pays homage to the food he grew up with–traditional Korean hot pot.
Pot
The Line Hotel
3515 Wilshire Blvd
Koreatown
(213) 368-3030
Find all of Jonathan’s restaurant recommendations on the Good Food Restaurant Map.
6. Market Report–Laura Avery talks to David LeFevre, chef/owner of MB Post and Fishing with Dynamite in Manhattan Beach. The chef is shopping for melons, padron and shishito peppers and tomatoes this week at the farmers market.
Mark Carpenter is the farmer behind Coastal Farms. He is known for his tomatoes, including Evan’s famous sauce tomato.