The LA Food Podcast

May 17 2024 4
The LA Food Podcast artwork

Your least pretentious food-loving friends break down the food news, culture, and happenings of the day. Hosted by Luca Servodio, a guy who ate 100 Los Angeles pizzas in 2021, visited 100 LA taquerias in 2022, and reviewed 100 epic LA sandwiches in 2023. This year, he's visiting 100 epic LA noodle shops. Check him out @TheLACountdown on Instagram and TikTok. Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thelafoodpodcast/support

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Molly Baz and lactation-gate, restaurant finances dissected, and Michelin goes to Mexico. Plus, Top Chef midseason check-in with the hosts of Compliments to the Chef.

May 17 2024 79 mins  
A midseason check in on Season 21 of Top Chef. We’re about half way through the season, so LA Food Pod Top Chef correspondent Father Sal is on the pod to dissect the highs, lows and everything in between. We’re also joined by two of my new favorite people - Bits Nicholas and Nancy DaSilva, the hosts of Compliments to the Chef, the must-listen Top Chef companion podcast. They te

Bill Esparza on his journey, "taco bros," David Chang and much, much more. Plus, World's 50 Best recognizes Kato, 5 So Cal restaurants added to the Michelin Guide, and Sweetgreen embraces beef.

May 10 2024 109 mins  
We’re joined by none other than Bill Esparza, the legendary award-winning writer, author, TV fixer and saxophonist. Maybe you’ve read his reporting at Eater, maybe you’ve eaten at one of his many finds, or maybe you’ve seen him on shows like Somebody Feed Phil. Regardless of where you know him from, Bill’s one of the most essential voices in LA food, and he’s with us t

James Beard loves LA media, the future of reservations, and serious questions about LA's croissant game. Plus, Chef Jonathan Harris of Linden, LA's most underrated new fine dining concept.

May 03 2024 95 mins  
We give flowers to the very deserving LA-based journalists and writers who did score James Beard nominations, including Gab Chabran, Daniel Hernandez and Noah Galuten. We also talk about what we learned from a New Yorker deep dive on the Wild West that is restaurant reservations, why Angelenos are flocking to two new bakeries that opened this week, and the four pizzas that stole th

Chefs of Coachella, feat. Eric Greenspan, David Kuo and many more. Plus, Sage Vegan embraces meat, Matthew Kenney still sucks, and Eddie Navarrette doesn't.

Apr 26 2024 86 mins  
Coachella is behind us, my friends, and your humble podcast host had the chance to descend on the desert to catch up with 8 amazing chefs who were out there serving their food to the masses. Today’s episode is a compilation of those conversations. I spoke with Eric Greenspan about his latest concepts, including a delivery-only duck pop-up you simply must get your hands on. I got

Yes We Cannabis: Wendy Zeng is the LA chef exploring cultural heritage (and much more) via food and cannabis

Apr 19 2024 71 mins  
Wendy Zeng is an award-winning chef and owner known around town and beyond for hosting cannabis-infused pop-ups, supper clubs and events. Make no mistake - we’re not talking about stoner food here, no shade to stoner culture. Wendy’s all about leaning into market-driven ingredients in the name of building community and destigmatizing recreational cannabis use. What I found real

Daniele Uditi and Los Angeles' pizza renaissance. Plus, David Chang's chili crunch controversy, the 5 most anticipated bites of Coachella, and L.A. Taco needs our help.

Apr 12 2024 87 mins  
Daniele Uditi is the chef and partner behind Pizzana, one of Los Angeles’ best and most influential pizzerias. Daniele joins us for a wide-ranging conversation that covers everything from his upbringing living above his aunt’s bakery near Naples, Italy, to his spontaneous relocation to Los Angeles which ultimately led him to meeting Candace Nelson and launching a bona fide pizz

James Beard snubs LA (kind of), Trader Joe's trader woes, and a Father Sal food crawl feat. Yangban, Felix, Poltergeist and a Chris Bianco cameo

Apr 05 2024 73 mins  
Father Sal joins us. There's a quick Top Chef recap, including a Kristen Kish assessment. Father Sal also fills us in on The Bear clip that leaked. News-wise we cover the announcement of the 2024 James Beard Award Finalists, a scathing Taste Magazine expose on the grocery store known as Trader Joe’s, and a long overdue minimum wage hike coming to California’s fast-food wo

High Steaks: Matū's Scott Linder on the wonders of wagyu. Plus, the Walk of Fame gets a face lift, LA Health Dept in crisis and Brant Cox comes for Lisa Vanderpump.

Mar 29 2024 77 mins  
We’re joined by Scott Linder, one of the Founders and Operating Partners behind Matū, which just might be my favorite steakhouse in all of Los Angeles. Matū is famous for its dedication to serving only the highest quality grass-fed wagyu beef. But that’s not all - as they were getting ready to launch the restaurant, Scott and his fellow founders spent a ridiculous amount of t

Ladyhawk's Charbel Hayek on winning Top Chef and a new era of Lebanese food in LA. Plus, The War on Pizza, Vespertine 2.0 and the return of Cafe Tropical.

Mar 22 2024 62 mins  
We're joined by Charbel Hayek, a Top Chef champion and World-All Stars contestant who’s recently opened up one of Los Angeles’ buzziest new restaurants. Charbel is the mastermind behind Ladyhawk, which opened last year inside of the La Peer Hotel in West Hollywood. Ladyhawk has been earning rave reviews for its forward-thinking Eastern Mediterranean menu, with LA Times cr

The 2024 Fantasy Top Chef Draft. Plus, 9 LA restaurants added to the Michelin Guide, Roy Choi's new taco concept, and how to party correctly in Valle de Guadalupe.

Mar 15 2024 80 mins  
Top Chef is back! Season 21 kicks off next week March 20 in Wisconsin, and there are plenty of changes afoot. We discuss the changes, and hold our 2024 Fantasy Top Chef Draft. We’re expanding the competition this year and joining us are none other than Jessie Evans, also known as Jessie Eats, and Daniel Wargo, also known as Forking Around. Will one of them have what it takes to