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Episode #201 - Lee Wolen of Boka

This week, we're sitting down with Chef Lee Wolen, the quietly pragmatic leader behind some of Chicago’s most enduring kitchens, whose approach to food rejects gimmick in favor of clarity, restraint, and great product. Equal parts craftsman and operator, Wolen has built a reputation not just for consistency at Boka, but for cultivating teams that grow with him. He joins us in the studio for a wide-ranging conversation that spans early days in Cleveland, the realities of working inside temples of fine dining like Eleven Madison Park and El Bulli, and the shift toward something more grounded -- restaurants that prioritize flavor, longevity, and people over spectacle. We also get into what’s next, including expansion into Nashville and the continued evolution of concepts like Alla Vita and GG’s Chicken Shop. We talk: physically removing a guest mid-service, the hidden cost of chasing three Michelin stars, why “real food” is winning again, how building careers for the people around you might be the most important work a chef can do -- and so much more.

Episode #200 - Sujan Sarkar of Indienne

This week, we’re joined by Chef Sujan Sarkar, the chef and owner behind Chicago’s Michelin-starred Indienne and a growing group of restaurants that includes Nadu, Sifr, Swadesi, and Baar Baar. As he puts it, he’s a systems man first and a chef second, which makes a lot of sense once you hear the story: from hotel management school in India, to Michelin-starred kitchens in London, to working at McDonald’s just to study its systems, to launching side hustles like Oyster Boys and Gastronomy Guys while climbing the culinary ladder.

Episode #199 - Rodrick Markus of Rare Tea Cellar

This week's guest is Rodrick Marcus -- international sourcer of mystery, master tea blender, and founder of Rare Tea Cellar. If it exists somewhere in the world and it's extraordinary, he's probably already found it. It all started with a trip to London as a kid, an obsession with afternoon tea, and a locked hotel hallway. Nearly 30 years later, Rodrick has built Rare Tea Cellar into a destination for the country's top restaurants -- supplying not just rare and vintage teas, but truffles, caviar, freeze-dried ingredients, vintage soy, and ingredients most people have never heard of. He also works closely with restaurant teams across Chicago through hands-on trainings at his lab. This episode, we get into the world of tea -- how to brew it, how to taste it, and why you're almost certainly oversteeping it. We also hear stories from decades of international sourcing trips, what it takes to develop a palate at this level, the customs nightmare that is importing a 28-year-old bottle of soy sauce, the ingredient he had to stop sourcing entirely, and, of course, so much more. 

Episode #198 - Doug Phillips of Trivoli

Doug Phillips studied architecture, which -- if you've ever watched him build a program -- actually makes a lot of sense. He came up through some of Logan Square's most beloved spots -- Boiler Room, Scofflaw, Heavy Feather, The Whistler -- developing a deep fluency in craft cocktails and the particular chaos of running a bar at the center of a neighborhood's golden era. Now, as a beverage lead at Trivoli within the Hogsalt empire, he's bringing that same creativity and rigor to one of the city's highest-volume programs. This episode, we're talking the architecture of a great bar program, the art of the dealer's choice, pants-around-the-ankles bar fights, the fine art of juicing forty pounds of potatoes -- and so much more.

Episode #197 - Tayler Ploshehanski of Creepies

This week’s guest didn’t grow up dreaming of restaurant kitchens -- but after finding her way into culinary school and landing an internship at Blackbird, she's become a true mainstay. Under the mentorship of friend-of-the-pod Chef David Posey at Blackbird and later Elske, Chef Tayler Ploshehanski developed her voice through rigor, repetition, and a deep respect for craft. Now, as chef de cuisine at Creepies -- her new restaurant with David and Anna Posey -- she’s stepping fully into that voice, translating years of experience into a playful, deeply technical take on Midwestern French cooking. This episode, we’re talking kitchen pranks gone too far, the quiet art of menu development under someone else’s vision, how to perfectly poach shrimp, and what it actually takes to earn trust in a Michelin-level kitchen -- and so much more.

Episode #196 - Amanda Rockman of Rockman Coffee and Ripe Fruit

We round out our pair of episodes at the Friends of James Beard Chef Invitational at Sand Valley with Amanda Rockman. After helping shape Chicago’s pastry scene in restaurants and hotels, opening teams across the city, Rockman is now back in Austin, where she runs Rockman Coffee + Bakeshop. In front of a live audience, we discuss her path through some of the country’s most demanding kitchens, the management style and technical discipline that shaped her career, and the leap of faith required to open a place of her own. Also: the story behind her legendary Basque cake, a Mariah Carey sugar sculpture, the operational nightmare of the draft latte — and so much more!

Episode #195 - Damarr Brown of Virtue Restaurant

Damarr Brown is a chef and culinary leader known for his soulful, polished take on Southern cuisine; as the chef at Virtue Restaurant, he has become one of Chicago’s most celebrated voices in hospitality, a nationally recognized talent with a deep commitment to mentorship. He joins us for our first full-on live show at the Friends of James Beard Chef Invitational at Sand Valley, where he reflects on his path through Chicago’s restaurant scene and the mentors who shaped it. In front of a live audience, we talk: his early start cooking with his mother and grandmother, the discipline of his years at mk, what it’s really like competing on Top Chef, and a few early hints about the next concept from the Virtue team -- and, as always, so much more.

Episode #194 - Danny Espinoza of Santa Masa Tamaleria and ofi

Before he became a corporate chef building flavors with scientists and packaging engineers, Chef Danny Espinoza was a kid from Humboldt Park working nonstop and learning the hard way in demanding Chicago kitchens. Today, he wears two hats: R&D at ofi by day, and Santa Masa Tamaleria with his wife by night, with pop-ups and long-term ambitions always in motion. In this episode, Danny walks us through the moments that shaped him, from the pressure-cooker lessons that made him better, to the behind-the-scenes realities of “seed to shelf” food development, to the origin story of a tamale business built on nostalgia, technique, and accessibility -- and so much more! 

Midweek Special - Chef Gabino Sotelino

Born in Vigo, Spain to a Basque mother and Galician father, Chef Gabino Sotelino’s path to the kitchen began early and unfolded across some of the world’s great hotel dining rooms before landing in Chicago in the 1970s. Over the decades that followed, he helped shape the city’s rise as a serious dining destination, opening and guiding restaurants that would become institutions and introducing generations of diners to Spanish and French bistro traditions.To mark Café Ba-Ba-Reeba!’s 40th anniversary, Mark sits down with his father, Chef Gabino Sotelino, for a rare, informal conversation. It’s a special opportunity to hear directly from a foundational figure in Chicago’s restaurant world.Recorded outside the studio on a phone, the audio is rough and the setting shifts as the conversation unfolds -- more cinéma vérité than polished interview. We’re sharing it as is for the chance to spend a little time with a true original.

Episode #193 - Mark Sotelino of Cafe Ba-Ba-Reeba! & Mon Ami Gabi

Mark Sotelino grew up in the kitchens and dining rooms of some of Chicago's most celebrated restaurants. His father, Chef Gabino Sotelino, emigrated from rural Spain and went on to partner with Rich Melman at Lettuce Entertain You to create landmarks like Ambria, Mon Ami Gabi, and Cafe Ba-Ba-Reeba!. Since then, Mark has built a 28-plus-year career of his own at Lettuce, rising from teenage host at Ba-Ba-Reeba! to Partner overseeing the Cafe Ba-Ba-Reeba! and Mon Ami Gabi brands across Chicago, River North, Bethesda, and beyond. Hot on the heels of Cafe Ba-Ba-Reeba!'s 40th anniversary celebration, Mark comes to the studio to reflect on the challenge of keeping a beloved restaurant feeling vital across four decades -- balancing the sacred cows (sangria, bacon-wrapped dates, patatas bravas) with the constant push to evolve. This episode we cover: the wild origin stories behind the Mon Ami Gabi and Cafe Ba-Ba-Reeba! names, opening Lil' Ba-Ba-Reeba! in nine days flat, surviving a two-day power outage with refrigerated trucks and candlelight -- and so much more!