Salt to Taste

This week, Chef Paul Berglund talks to David Ellner about his love of Italian food, the importance of good ingredients, and how being in the military gave him the discipline he needed to excel in the culinary world. Make a few of Paul Berglund's favorite recipes yourself by downloading the Panna app, or heading over to www.pannacooking.com.

French pastry master Sebastien Rouxel sits down with Panna founder David Ellner to discuss the constant challenge of making perfect macarons, how he ended up working for Thomas Keller, and his childhood in France. You can learn to make one of Sebastien's macarons at home by heading over to www.pannacooking.com for the full step-by-step video recipe.

Sisters Emily and Melissa Elsen, co-owners of the insanely popular Brooklyn pie shop Four and Twenty Blackbirds, sit down with David Ellner to tell him the story of how their favorite childhood treat became a passion, a partnership, and a livelihood. You can bake some of the Elsens' most popular pies yourself by downloading the Panna app, or heading over to www.pannacooking.com.

Michael Ruhlman has written about a lot of topics—like pediatric heart surgery, boat makers, and boarding schools—but today he tells us about why he loves to write about food. He also tells the story of how he came to write cookbooks with Thomas Keller, one of the best living chefs in the world today. You can make some of Michael Ruhlman's delicious yet approachable recipes by downloading the Panna app, or heading over to www.pannacooking.com.

This week, listen to Chef Gabriela Cámara chat with David Ellner about opening Contramar, her renowned restaurant in Mexico City, which serves up the freshest seafood to appreciative locals and tourists alike. Not long ago, she also opened Cala in San Francisco, where the menu consists of refined takes on the vibrant Mexican street food she loves. You can make a few of Chef Cámara's bold, rustic recipes—like simple corn tortillas and an unbelievable Baja-style crispy fish taco—by downloading the Panna app, or heading over to www.pannacooking.com.

In our newest episode, award-winning pit master Sam Jones tells David Ellner all about the roots of his North Carolina BBQ. Jones's grandfather opened the Skylight Inn as a 17-year-old barbecue lover back in 1947—and the Jones family has never stopped making pork, slaw, and cornbread since. But Jones didn't always love the idea of following the family business of making whole-hog barbecue. Hear about his journey back home, and when he first realized that barbecue wasn't just a job: it was a passion ingrained inside him from the start. Plus: The story of how Jones's "Fatback Collective" first got started. You can find some of Sam Jones's most iconic barbecue recipes by downloading the Panna app, or heading over to www.pannacooking.com.

This week, Chef Michael Lewis sits down with David Ellner to chat about the Asian-inspired stunners he’s dishing up at KYU restaurant in Miami, where he’s the Executive Chef and Owner. “The simplest dishes tend to be the hardest to make,” he tells us: it’s all about ingredients and technique. Chef Lewis traces his exciting, globe-trotting journey from Le Bernardin, Bouley Bakery, and Jean Georges to opening his own restaurant in the vibrant Wynwood neighborhood of Miami. Plus: Hear about where the name KYU comes from.

In this episode, David Ellner sits down with Vivian Howard, host of PBS’s award-winning series, A Chef’s Life, and gets to know the down-home Southerner behind the superstar chef. After a childhood spent longing to escape North Carolina, Howard picked up years of invaluable culinary training in New York City before coming back home to her roots in her twenties. Hear all about that journey and more—including the time she unexpectedly found herself with 500 pounds of blueberries on her hands.

Intimate interviews with America’s best chefs. Salt to Taste tells chefs’ unheard stories, from the kitchen and beyond.