Tinfoil Swans

Saqib Keval signed a promise not to date his collaborators. Norma Listman had other plans. The now-married chefs behind Mexico City’s Masala y Maíz share their love story, the family histories and cultural context in their food, and why restaurant workers deserve tech-industry perks. Plus, the Pay What You Can Global Restaurant Initiative founders get brutally honest about the challenges of taking care of themselves when work, home life, and principles compete. For more info visit: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠foodandwine.com/tinfoilswans⁠⁠⁠⁠ Episode art courtesy of Food & Wine / Ana Lorenzana Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Eric Ripert was throwing plates and losing staff when he realized the problem in his kitchen was him. The Le Bernardin chef and author of Mindful Cooking opens up about breaking the cycle of abuse in restaurants, coping with anxiety, and learning to appreciate his wrinkles. Plus, he delves into the mystery ingredient in his grandmother’s apple tart and the surprising emotional power of soup. For more info visit: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠foodandwine.com/tinfoilswans⁠⁠⁠ Episode art courtesy of Food & Wine / Nigel Parry Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ming-Na Wen plays indelible characters in the worlds of Marvel, Disney, and "Star Wars," but movie and TV stardom never got her out of clearing tables at her family's restaurant. The actor and self-described nerd opens up about trying to fit in as an immigrant kid in Pittsburgh, imagining herself as Han Solo, and the hospitality work that prepared her for Hollywood. She also shares how writing her new instantly bestselling cookbook, Have You Eaten Yet?, meant sharing family secrets and revisiting memories she'd spent years pushing aside. For more info visit: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠foodandwine.com/tinfoilswans⁠⁠ Episode art courtesy of Food & Wine / Riker Brothers Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The teenager who had a weed plant on his night table, and was waitlisted at his safety school probably wouldn’t recognize the beloved international restaurateur and bestselling author he is today. However, in his new book, What Could Possibly Go Right? — published 20 years after his influential hospitality manual, Setting the Table — Danny Meyer is ready to open up about the missteps and mess-ups along the way, including having crowed about never having had to close a restaurant. He shares what it meant to shut down the beloved Tabla, the fear he felt relinquishing day-to-day control as his hospitality group expanded, and what it feels like to be underestimated by the people who love you. He also delves into his very particular love of acronyms, why so-called “soft skills” are actually a tremendous source of strength, and that sacred moment when a hot pizza hits your table at a restaurant, and the rest of the world just melts away. For more info visit: ⁠⁠⁠⁠foodandwine.com/tinfoilswans⁠ Episode art courtesy of Food & Wine / Jeff Wojtasek Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As a kid growing up in suburban California in the Lunchables generation, Peabody Award-winning comedian and director Hasan Minhaj dismissed the rajma chawal and dahi chawal his parents cooked at home. Now he craves those dishes, as well as the ritual of chai and commiseration he shared with his grandparents after dinner, and knows it’s up to him to keep that tradition alive for his own kids. He opens up about the teacher who found an outlet for his restless mind, why he wanted to bring the world of collegiate Bollywood dance to the screen in Best of the Best, and why he thinks his wife, Beena, could save him in a zombie apocalypse. Vote for Tinfoil Swans in the 2026 Signal Awards, For more info visit: ⁠⁠⁠foodandwine.com/tinfoilswans⁠⁠⁠ Episode art courtesy of Food & Wine / Amir Hamja Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices