Heart to Table

Chef and spice blender, Lior Lev Sercarz may no longer be in the military, but he's still a man on a mission: to inform people about spices, their history, their use, and how to get inspired by them! In this episode, host Laurie March is joining up. Lior dishes the details in his conversation with Laurie, and they discuss how the smallest ingredient can have the most powerful impact on a dish.

In this episode, Chef Grace Ramirez talks with host Laurie March about her experiences with the amazing power of food. Grace shares stories of the ways food has truly been her greatest connector to people, helping her build relationships in communities around the world.  There’s no better illustration of this than the story about the food at Grace’s family get-togethers with mealtime traditions that garnered a reputation family, friends – and even ex-boyfriends and a few ex-husbands – wouldn’t dare miss it.

In this episode, Jessica Sowards shares with host Laurie March her contagious enthusiasm for farming and her belief that the concept of a green thumb makes no sense. One part farmer, one part teacher, and one part content creator, Jess takes some time away from her Alpacas, Goats, Chickens, Ducks, Geese, Pigs, garden, and camera to speak with us. Jess tells Laurie about a wispy little suburban girl who always dreamed of living on a farm, and how the response the girl would get when telling people she wanted to be a farmer was; "Really?" Yes, Jess was that little girl and yes, she’s proving the skeptics wrong with her Roots and Refuge Farm.

Vanessa Cantave, private chef and caterer, talks with Laurie March about how a career switch from Advertising to the Culinary world has fueled both her passion and her art, and how everything she makes comes from a place of love. While Vanessa now runs a catering business, that doesn’t mean she runs one at home. Vanessa gives Laurie some tips and techniques on how to use the same ingredients to make a meal that satisfies both adult and kid tastes with some slight re-engineering and a few "Mommy ingredients."

Adrian Miller is a food writer, James Beard Award winner, attorney, and certified barbecue judge. It would appear that one of these things is not like the other.Now an admitted recovering lawyer and politico, Adrian’s transition into food writing led him to become an authority on the history of soul food, barbecue, and presidential foodways. In honor of Black History Month, class is in session and the Soul Food Scholar and Laurie March have a conversation on the history of soul food and Adrian gives us a behind the scenes look at the people that really keep the White House running.

Chef Vivian Howard’s success didn’t happen overnight. Her journey has been composed of a lot of small changes that brought about big results.  During her career, Vivian opened four restaurants, wrote two cookbooks, hosted two television shows and in 2013, she became the first woman to win a Peabody Award since Julia Child. The latter is no small accomplishment, and there’s still so much more success in store for our guest. In this episode, Vivian talks about how her experiences at her restaurants motivated her “small-change” philosophy, her unique approach to meal planning, and how condiments are the real heroes of any recipe.

Hard work, creativity, attention to detail, a vibrant personality and the ability to put clients at ease. These are all qualities of Richard Ingraham and all the qualities of a successful... hairstylist? Becoming a chef may not have been Richard Ingraham's plan from the beginning, but that didn't stop him from rising to the challenge and becoming personal chef to power couple Dwyane Wade and Gabrielle Union-Wade, founding a  private chef network, and writing his own cookbook, "Eating Well to Win." Richard talks with Laurie about what his typical day is like (he gets up at 4am), how often he shops for his ingredients, and what Dwyane and Gabrielle's favorite cheat meals are (they're worth the listen!)

Tis' the season for episode 2.  Laurie March reconnects with Chef MacKenzie Smith and Chef Michael Mina, and they share what their plans are with their families for this most wonderful time of the year. MacKenzie has a lot to be excited about, this is her first holiday season as a new mom, and while her daughter may not yet be old enough to appreciate the fun and merriment, that's not going to stop MacKenzie from bringing the joy. Laurie and MacKenzie talk about being okay with over-doing it this season, and the importance of making new traditions while celebrating the old ones, through re-discovering older generations' recipes or just demystifying their obsession with gelatin.  Then Chef Michael Mina returns to tell Laurie about the delicious dishes his family makes every Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. A lot of Chef's family traditions were started by his mother-in-law Judy, and in addition to preparing Prime Rib and Crab Cioppino, she was one of his earliest and most ardent supporters, helping to keep a young Chef out of hot water!

In this episode, host Laurie March explores the physical and emotional connection between food and gratefulness. …  Laurie reconnects with old friend, Chef Michael Mina to talk about what it’s like to feed his restaurant employees like they’re family, and what the new normal could look like at the table for Thanksgiving for everyone. Then it’s full speed ahead with Chef, blogger and cookbook author Mackenzie Smith, to talk about intuitive eating, what it means to “eat your feelings,” and how you can actually use this to your advantage. In this episode, we answer the age-old question, does cheese really make everything better? Spoiler: The answer is yes. Yes it does.