Cooking the Borderlands author and chef Claudette Zepeda opens up about growing up in Tijuana learning English from PBS shows, being told she’d “never make it” as a chef while pushing a newborn in a stroller, and why she relies on her inner "chaos demon." She shares how a trip to Morocco reignited her creative spark, why she and her cooks chant “You’re doing it, Peter” in the kitchen, what it took to survive toxic restaurant culture, and the 160-mile Camino de Santiago walk that helped her process the loss as she rediscovered her childhood self.
Visit foodandwine.com/tinfoilswans for more
Episode Art Courtesy of Food & Wine / Johnny Miller
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Wolfgang Puck and the Tennis Match With the Pope
04/21/2026 | 1h 2 mins.
Legendary chef Wolfgang Puck opens up about leaving an abusive home at 14, finding refuge in a pastry kitchen, and getting his first real validation from a mentor. From taking a Greyhound bus to Indianapolis expecting it to be like Monaco, getting life advice from Elton John and Mick Jagger, and building Spago with an open kitchen that changed dining culture, he reflects on cooking for celebrities and royalty — and why he says hello to the dishwasher first and Tom Cruise last when he enters his restaurants.
Visit foodandwine.com/tinfoilswans for more
Episode Art Courtesy of Food & Wine / Marco Bollinger
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Paul Carmichael and the Blessing of Uncle Clive
04/14/2026 | 1h 1 mins.
Chef Paul Carmichael traces his path from a teenage cook in Barbados to the chef behind Kabawa, which Food & Wine recently named the best restaurant in the U.S. He opens up about feeling like an impostor in top kitchens, the mentors (like Wylie Dufresne, Marcus Samuelsson, and David Chang) who shaped him, and the turning point that led him to “burn clean” and build a restaurant rooted in purpose, not pressure.
Visit foodandwine.com/tinfoilswans for more
Episode Art Courtesy of Paul C: Food & Wine / Paul Carmichael
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Regé-Jean Page and the Sloppy Tomato
04/07/2026 | 44 mins.
What does it mean to “repaint” the world more truthfully and joyfully? Bridgerton and You, Me & Tuscany star Regé-Jean Page traces his path from a spider-fearing, Indiana Jones–loving kid in Zimbabwe to an actor determined to enrich how and for whom we see love, travel, and culture depicted on screen. He shares vivid memories of childhood meals eaten by hand around a fire, why moving to the UK pushed him to find belonging through music and theater, and how art can create “empathy bridges” between people. He gets candid about rom-coms as vehicles for real emotional transformation, the radical power of pleasure (including eating a perfect tomato like an apple), and his mission to tell stories that invite everyone into the experience.
Visit foodandwine.com/tinfoilswans for more
Episode Art Courtesy of Food & Wine / Shane Anthony Sinclair / Getty Images
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Tom Colicchio and the Shrimp Hazing Incident
03/31/2026 | 56 mins.
On the 25th anniversary of his groundbreaking restaurant Craft, and 20th anniversary of Top Chef, Tom Colicchio reflects on his path from teenage short-order cook to one of the defining figures in American dining. He opens up about ADHD, a dangerous road not taken, a surprise appearance by a Jacques Pépin cookbook, the moment he chose cooking over everything else, and why he’s now pushing for better work-life balance in restaurant culture.
Visit foodandwine.com/tinfoilswans for more.
Episode Art Courtesy of Food & Wine / Daniel Brennan
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Food & Wine has led the conversation around food, drinks, and hospitality in America and around the world since 1978. Tinfoil Swans continues that legacy with intimate, informative, surprising, and uplifting conversations with the biggest names in the culinary industry and beyond, sharing never-before-heard stories about the successes, struggles, and fork-in-the-road moments that made them who they are today. You'll hear from icons and innovators like Daniel Boulud, Padma Lakshmi, Tristen Epps, and Maneet Chauhan, going deep on their formative experiences, the dishes and meals that made them, their joys, doubts and dreams, and what's still on the menu ahead. Tune in for a feast that'll feed your brain and soul — and plenty of wisdom and quotable morsels to savor later. New episodes every Tuesday.
USA