Food with Mark Bittman

Mara Fleishman on MAHA, Michelle Obama, and Why Everyone Suddenly Agrees on School Food

Mara Fleishman is the co-founder and CEO of the Chef Ann Foundation, which has reached more than 19,000 schools, 35,000 school food professionals, and nearly 6 million st

Pooja Bavishi: I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream for Malai

In this revisiting of an episode from last summer, the up and coming queen of ice cream talks to Mark and Kate about how her ice cream brand, Malai, mimics her childhood;

Joseph Ogilvy on the Storied Fishing History of the California Coast

Joseph Ogilvy is the author of Tin Can Coast: A History of Industry, Greed, and Fishing in the Golden State. When Mark first saw the book, he exclaimed "Finally. At last!

Jean-Georges Vongerichten on Watching New York Change

Mark has known Jean-Georges Vongerichten since 1987, when he arrived in New York. They've written books together. They've remained close friends for nearly 40 years. Toda

A Conversation with Congressman McGovern: The Food System Isn't Broken — It's Working Exactly as Designed

Today, a special conversation Mark had in June with Congressman Jim McGovern (MA) at the Good Food for All Summit in DC. McGovern has spent decades in Congress fighting t

Hawa Hassan on Food, War, and Why Displacement Has a Flavor

We're bringing this one back. Hawa Hassan was born in Mogadishu, fled the Somali Civil War at four, spent time in a refugee camp in Kenya, and arrived alone in Seattle at

Kevin Boehm on Living in his Car to Running 35 Restaurants

Kevin Boehm co-founded the Boka Restaurant Group nearly 25 years ago and now runs 35 restaurants across Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles. He and his partner Rob Katz wo

Dan Jacobs: Almost Winning Top Chef — and Why Milwaukee Is America’s Best Kept Secret

Dan Jacobs is the chef and co-owner of DanDan and EsterEv in Milwaukee, a runner-up on Season 21 of Top Chef, and one of the most quietly remarkable people to come on thi

Shirley Chung: What Tongue Cancer Taught a Chef About Taste

Shirley Chung is a Top Chef finalist, French Laundry veteran and José Andrés darling. In 2024, she was diagnosed with stage four tongue cancer, and it changed her life. S

Toya Boudy Starts from Scratch

Toya Boudy is back. Since her debut cookbook came out in 2023, life has thrown a lot at her: divorce, her mother's health struggles, sobriety, and raising three kids. Her

Father-Daughter Time with Al Roker and Courtney Roker Laga

The father-daughter duo talks to our father-daughter duo about their new cookbook and why it's special – and what it was like working on it together. Plus, Courtney's "re

Laurie Woolever: Care and Feeding — and Everything in Between

We revisit Kate's conversation with the writer (and ex-Mario Batali employee and former assistant to Anthony Bourdain) Laurie Woolever, who talks about how (and if) kitch

Hannah Goldfield: Drinking, Not Drinking, and the In Between

New Yorker writer Hannah Goldfield talks to Kate and Mark about "intentional drinking"; how, right now, it feels like everyone is taking a stance on where we land on the

Just Call Her Paola ‘Blazing the Trail’ Velez

Baker Paola Velez talks to Kate and Holly about why and how she started Bakers Against Racism and how its influence and warmth has spread—and continues to spread; ad-libb

Nasim Alikhani: Homestyle Iranian Food at Its Best

Revisiting our interview with Nasim Alikhani, the wildly popular Brooklyn-based chef, who talked to Kate and Mark about why the slow cook makes Iranian food special, the

Please Don’t Pigeonhole Alicia Kennedy

The prolific writer talks to Kate and Mark about why her mom told her not to learn how to cook (and how the kitchen is now her happy place), the big problem with mainstre

Alton Brown, Talking From the Can

In this revisiting of a 2025 episode, writer, chef, and TV star Alton Brown talks to Mark and Kate about fame, "then" and now; the problem with memory—and memoir; falling

The Unique Complexities of Perennial Foods—and Why You Should Care

Liz Carlisle is an associate professor in the environmental studies program at UC Santa Barbara, Aubrey Streit Krug is the director of the Perennial Cultures Lab at the L

Sheldon Simeon: Ohana Means Family

In this revisiting of a 2022 episode, Mark talks to beloved chef Sheldon Simeon about learning to butcher chickens in first grade, the divide between Hawaiian natives and

When Food (Truly) Has the Capacity to Heal

God's Love We Deliver CEO Terrence Meck and Northwell Health's chief experience officer Sven Gierlinger join Kate and Mark to talk about how they're feeding clients and p