Chef's PSA

About Chef Anastacia Quiñones-Pittman Anastacia Quiñones-Pittman is a Dallas-based chef and a three-time James Beard Award semifinalist, recognized in 2022, 2023, and 2024. She has built her career around celebrating Mexican cuisine and modern Latin American cooking, and is one of the most prominent voices on culinary identity, gender equity in the kitchen, and what […]

About Chef Junior Borges Junior Borges is a Brazilian-born chef based in Chicago, known for cooking that draws on his South American roots while reflecting years of experience in high-level American kitchens. He is the co-owner of Nic and Junior’s, a Chicago restaurant he opened with business partner Nic Yanez. His cooking is rooted in

About Steve Palmer and the Say Grace Podcast Steve Palmer is a restaurateur, author, and one of the most recognized voices on hospitality, leadership, and mental health in the service industry. He is the co-founder of the Ben Arnold Restaurant Group and the I.AM.BEAUTIFUL Foundation, which supports addiction recovery in the restaurant community. His podcast

About Laura Sawicki and Mike Diaz Laura Sawicki is the Culinary Director and pastry chef at Oseyo, the Korean-American restaurant in East Austin. She is a Culinary Institute of America graduate and one of Austin’s most recognized pastry chefs, known especially for her years at Launderette, where she built a reputation for desserts that balance

About Iman Kawa Iman Kawa is a Michelin-trained chef with ten years of professional kitchen experience and a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America. She built her career in fine dining before transitioning to food entrepreneurship, founding Better Than Your Mothers, a luxury custom cookie brand. She competed on Next Level Chef Season 4

About Evan LeRoy Evan LeRoy is a chef, pitmaster, and co-owner of LeRoy and Lewis Barbecue in Austin, Texas. An Austin native who attended the Texas Culinary Academy, he built his early career at Hill Country Barbecue Market in New York City and at Freedmen’s Bar in Austin, where he developed the approach to inventive,

About Tracy Malechek Ezekiel and Arjav Ezekiel Tracy Malechek Ezekiel and Arjav Ezekiel are the co-owners of Birdie’s in Austin, Texas. Tracy is the chef and Arjav leads the beverage and hospitality program. Birdie’s opened in 2021 and quickly became one of the most recognized independent restaurants in America. Food and Wine named it Restaurant

About the Guests Gabe Erales is the chef and owner of Oido in Austin, Texas, a restaurant rooted in masa-driven Mexican cooking and the culinary traditions of Oaxaca. He is a James Beard Award semifinalist and a prominent voice in the conversation around Mexican regional cuisine and its representation in American fine dining. Rico Torres

About Chef Takeshi Nishikawa Takeshi Nishikawa grew up in Suzuka, Japan, a city known for its Formula 1 circuit, where he learned to cook alongside his grandmother. He came to the United States and built a career that spans more than 20 years in Michelin-starred kitchens. He served as Culinary Director of Rose’s Restaurant Group

About Joshua Weissman Joshua Weissman is a chef, cookbook author, and food media creator based in Austin, Texas. He grew up in Los Angeles and began cooking seriously as a teenager, losing over 100 pounds and publishing his first cookbook, The Slim Palate Paleo Cookbook, at age 17. He moved to Austin at 18 to