Podcast appearances and mentions of ina pinkney

This week's guest needs no introduction — but we'll give it a shot anyway. Ina Pinkney is the sage-like force and entrepreneurial spirit behind the late great Ina's Kitchen, a beloved Chicago culinary landmark known for its warmth, character, and unforgettable food. But, as she wryly reminds us, she didn't arrive fully formed. A childhood illness and a string of firings from corporate gigs — during a decidedly less-than-equitable era — shaped her path long before she became a hospitality visionary. It wasn't a flash in the pan, but a hard-won opportunity that led her to redefine what a restaurant could be: not just a place to eat, but a place to belong. Ina joins us in the studio with a letter to her younger self, a list of ways restaurants can better serve their customers, a few pointed snipes at her friend (and former guest) Doug Sohn — and, of course, more stories, wit, and wisdom that only she could bring.

Whether someone has or hasn't been vaccinated for COVID-19, the measles, or even for polio, has become a controversial topic. That's not new. Resistance to vaccines is well over a century old. What is new, and what's grabbing headlines right now, are the outbreaks of measles and other vaccine-preventable illnesses that are spreading globally. The CDC recently reported that nearly a third of all U.S. measles cases since 2020 happened in the past three months. Hesitancy around vaccines has even spilled over to pet owners, with some not vaccinating their animals against rabies. Both medical professionals and governments agree that vaccines are good for us, so why do some people remain unconvinced? Ina Pinkney, a passionate speaker who travels around the country advocating for vaccines, joins The Excerpt to discuss the anti-vax movement.Episode Transcript available hereAlso available at art19.com/shows/5-ThingsSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Ina Pinkney's resilience and culinary genius have left an indelible mark on Chicago. She's not just a chef but a beacon of community and courage. Despite not baking her first cake until she was 37, she reigned as the beloved "Breakfast Queen" for 33 years as owner of Ina's in the city's West Loop. She shares with Jeanne her journey of overcoming polio and why she believes in second chances; why you have to purge your friends; why you should always listen to your instincts; what her superpower is; and how she overcomes fear and owns the room. Ina Pinkney is a Chicago legend of the tastiest kind. Known as the "Breakfast Queen", she fed Chicagoans for 33 years – first, out of a small bakery and then from her beloved breakfast restaurant in the West Loop, which she closed in December of 2013. There is so much more to Ina than being an outstanding chef and astute businesswoman: She's a community leader, a pioneer, a television personality, a columnist at the Chicago Tribune, the subject of an award-winning documentary called Breakfast At Ina's, and author of Ina's Kitchen, a memoir cookbook. The title she wears most proudly is a polio survivor. Twitter @breakfastqueen1 Instagram @thebreakfastqueen1

Ina Pinkney is a chef, restauranteur and community builder who has lived with polio since childhood. We talk, about food, polio, community and giving back. 

Ina Pinkney contracted polio 11 years before there was a vaccine, at the early age of 18 months. Marginalized, ostracized and ignored as a child she felt she received a 2nd chance at life when the surgery she had at 6 proved successful. Expecting to die, instead she flourished, and has lived an extraordinary life as culinary artist, baker, breakfast restaurateur, cookbook publisher and world renowned speaker about global influences on breakfast. Experiencing mind-numbing exhaustion and muscle weakness 40 years after the onset of the disease led Ina to find answers. She attended a conference to learn more and was surprised to find a huge community that was experiencing what is now known as Post-Polio Syndrome. As only Ina does, she dove in and became an activist. She is an international spokesperson for Rotary International PolioPlus Foundation and speaks about the late effects of polio and the need for continued vaccinations.“It takes less energy to be courageous than it does to be afraid.”This Episode was Sponsored by The Insurance PeopleIt is Medicare Open Enrollment. Open Enrollment is October 15th - December 7th. Do you need help enrolling? Do you want to shop out your Medicare Supplement, Part D Medication or Medicare Advantage Plan? The Insurance People located here in Illinois specializes in helping folks shop and select the best Medicare option for their needs. You can find them at insuranceppl.com or 773-697-8082.Connect with Ina:Email: thebreakfastqueen@gmail.comBook: INA'S KITCHEN: Memories and Recipes from the Breakfast Queenhttps://www.amazon.com/s?k=INA%E2%80%99S+KITCHEN%3A+Memories+and+Recipes+from+the+Breakfast+Queen&i=stripbooks&ref=nb_sb_nossDocumentary: Breakfast at Ina's (on Amazon)

Devin: Ina, what is your superpower?Ina: Oh, I might have that Wonder Woman costume right under my top—I'm not sure. My superpower is that I'm fearless. I am never reckless, but I am fearless.You can watch the full interview with Ina here: ina.s4g.biz.Ina Pinkney began learning to be fearless as a childhood survivor of polio. Ina could climb the three flights of stairs to her assigned room but needed extra time, so school administrators allowed her to enter the building early. During fire drills, she was allowed to remain in the classroom. My mind can’t help but wonder now if there had been an actual fire, would she have been allowed to remain in the classroom?She remembers being bullied by other kids as a six-year-old. “I understood at that point that I could not cower but had to find some power to go up against that.” She recognized that they were not kind, but she knew she would not treat other kids that way. She sees facing those bullies as the beginning of building fearlessness.Ina had 21 jobs in her career. “I was fired from 19,” she says. The pinnacle of her career was owning and running “Ina’s,” an American food restaurant in the West Loop Market District of Chicago, for 23 years.Her fearlessness was critical to starting that business. She’d never run a restaurant before. Her only relevant experience was eating. “I knew that I could do it,” she says. “I just knew it because I had seen everything around me, and I knew I could be better than that.” So, she did.After joining Rotary, primarily because of its global leadership in the fight to end polio, Ina found a new opportunity to use her superpower: public speaking. As a polio survivor, Rotary District Governors invited her to speak at District Conferences facing audiences of hundreds of people. The Governors expected her to motivate Rotarians to continue donating to a cause that was starting to feel endless.Ina says it takes “fearlessness to stand up there and say, this is who I am. This is not who you think I am. This is who I really am.” Rotary has rewarded her courage with more speaking invitations, including a prominent role in the 2018 World Polio Day, jointly hosted by Rotary and the World Health Organization.Her work is bearing results. As of July 30, 2021, there have been just two polio cases from wild poliovirus globally this year.Ina has taken control of her life, overcame her disability, and made a difference in the world of polio eradication because she is fearless.How to Develop Fearlessness as a SuperpowerMany people sometimes allow fear to prevent them from doing things they could do and want to do. Perhaps you have. If you would like to overcome a fear limiting your impact, success or happiness, Ina has a few insights for you. She joined me for a second interview you can see at ina2.s4g.biz.Learn by ExampleYou don’t need to go through everything Ina has to overcome your fear. Ina’s solution is simple. Learn from the examples of the courageous people you know, from public icons to your friends and neighbors. Watch those who are doing what you’d like to do and repeat their steps.“It takes less energy to be courageous than it does to be afraid,” Ina says. Her favorite example of this is Oprah Winfrey, who was famously nervous about having her ears pierced. At age 51, after decades of worry, because she was afraid it would hurt, she got it done.Think about the energy she wasted being nervous about two quick sticks that barely hurt and enabled her to wear earrings that are less likely to fall off—something that matters if you’ve got diamonds in both ears. Imagine how much less energy she would have used to have done it 20 or 30 years earlier.Whenever you do something that requires more courage than having your ears pierced, chant the mantra, “I am more courageous than Oprah! I am fearless!”PreparationIna used her superpower to go skydiving. While most people are reluctant to hurl themselves from a perfectly good aircraft, she says she felt only excitement and not fear as she did so.Honestly, I was skeptical when she said so. I thought, of course, she was afraid. But she overcame it and did it anyway. Ina says she wasn’t scared because she prepared.She reminded me that she is “never reckless.” She had talked to her friend, Julian, who helped with the jump. She knew everything to expect. There were no surprises. She even had a watch with an altimeter. She was ready. And she was fearless.Ina uses that same approach to prepare for everything. When she enters a room, she stops at the doorway, assesses the room and prepares mentally for whatever may come. “I then own the room,” she says.  “I own the room because I have prepared myself for anything that could happen. People won't talk to me; people will ignore me, whatever. I walk into that room ready.”By following the examples of others and preparing for anything, you can overcome fear. Imagine what you could do if you weren’t afraid. Now, do it! Get full access to Superpowers for Good at devinthorpe.substack.com/subscribe

Ina Pinckney is the Breakfast Queen! INA was the Chef/Owner of INA'S, an American Food restaurant and a pioneer in the West Loop Market District, that closed at the end of 2013.   She is a frequent and welcomed guest on radio, local news and cable TV, has done interviews on shows in the U.S., Canada and Germany and appeared in a national Quaker Oats commercial as herself – the Breakfast Queen. Articles about her have appeared in local, national and international newspapers and magazines, as well as trade and in-flight magazines.  Her recipes have been syndicated globally and featured in many cookbooks. Ina has been a guest lecturer on Entrepreneurship at Northwestern University,  DePaul University and the University of Illinois, and has been the keynote speaker at food conferences and culinary school graduations. She also speaks about breakfast trends for food companies. In 2014, Ina was awarded the Golden Whisk Award from the Women Chefs and Restaurateurs Organization for excellence in the kitchen, lead a coalition of Chicago Restaurateurs and Chefs to support Chicago's smoking ban and co-founded the Green Chicago Restaurant Coalition for restaurants in Chicago with Dan Rosenthal for which they received Chicago Magazine's 2011 Green Award.   She was named 2008 SBA Woman in Business Champion and in 2020 received the Jean Banchet Culinary Achievement Award. In 2013 she published INA'S KITCHEN: Memories and Recipes from the Breakfast Queen so that her recipes would live in everyone's home. Besides writing a monthly column for the Chicago Tribune called BREAKFAST WITH INA, a documentary about the closing of INA'S screened in 48 film festivals around the country. Despite the awards and acclaim she has garnered in her career, the most significant title she holds is Polio Survivor.  Ina now speaks to Rotary groups about the late effects of polio in her effort to help Rotary and the Gates Foundation achieve their goal of the global eradication of polio.

12/14/13: Ina Pinkney • Daniel Boulud Goes to Milwaukee • Paul Bartolotta on Daniel Boulud • Dr. Bruce Kraig on Street Food Around the World • Big Guys Sausage Stand

WBEZ is answering lots of your other frequently asked questions about the COVID-19 outbreak in Illinois here. Life in Chicago has changed dramatically this past week, from schools and restaurants closing to evolving policies around social distancing and public events. As Chicagoans — and most people across the country — hunker down at home over the next few weeks, Curious City is answering questions about how to safely deal with food, cooking and eating during coronavirus. Please keep in mind that what is known about the virus and the disease it causes, COVID-19, is still evolving. This information does not constitute professional medical advice. For questions regarding your own health, always consult a physician. How safe is it to shop at the grocery store? The main issue with grocery shopping is your exposure to other people and contaminated hard surfaces like grocery carts, freezer handles and credit card swiping machines. Delivery services also involve some contact with people who may handle your produce. “Stay away from other shoppers, [and] don’t hover over someone’s shoulder trying to get the last toilet paper,” said Martin Wiedmann, food safety professor at Cornell University. For this reason, you should shop as infrequently as possible and at off-peak hours. Stores including Jewel-Osco, Dollar General, Target and Whole Foods are even creating special hours for seniors and vulnerable populations. You may also want to check with elderly neighbors to see if you can shop for them. When you must shop, keep a safe distance from other shoppers, wear gloves, wash hands, wipe down surfaces and don’t touch your face. Cook County Resources County Board President Toni Preckwinkle said people can call (708) 633-3319 to speak with county public health professionals or email questions to ccdph.covid19@cookcountyhhs.org. The county is also launching a text alert system that people can sign up for by texting ALERTCOOK to 888-777. Can the virus be transmitted through raw food? As far as experts are aware, at this time, you cannot get the virus from ingesting food. However if you were to touch food that contains the virus and then touch your mouth or eyes or other mucus membranes, you could get it. But the risk is extremely low. “The current thinking is that you really have to inhale it or touch your face and have it come into contact with your mucosa,” said Dr. Jessie Abbate, an infectious disease specialist at Institut de Recherche pour le Développement France. Martin Wiedmann, a professor of food safety at Cornell University, said it’s important to keep the big picture in mind. “Nothing we do right now is zero risk, and food consuming has never been zero risk,” he said. “The lowest risk today will be packaged foods and canned foods. But that doesn’t mean we should not eat fresh vegetables. We’ve got to take care of our overall health, too.” Can the virus be transmitted through cooked food, like bread? See above. The current information suggests that ingestion is not an infection pathway for Covid-19 whether through cooked or raw food. “If you eat it … it goes into your stomach [where it cannot be transmitted],” said Dr. Jessie Abbate, an infectious disease specialist at Institut de Recherche pour le Développement France. “Along the way, it could potentially come into contact with your mucosa [where it might theoretically attach and infect], but it's very unlikely that this is how it transmits.” Can the people who prepared my food transmit the virus to me? Experts say the virus is transmitted person-to-person, through the air or on hard surfaces where it can live up several hours or days. Again, it is not thought to be transmitted through the ingestion of food, but there may be a low risk transmission through fecal contact, where a food worker does not properly wash hands. All food service professionals are supposed to be trained in safety procedures to avoid such transmission, however. What are my takeout and delivery options, and are they safe? In the Chicago area, a site called Dining at a Distance has been building a database of more than 1,000 local restaurants and their options for pick up, delivery and other ways to support restaurants. If you opt for pick up, experts recommend doing so at off-peak hours when you will not likely be waiting in a room with others. If possible, wait outside away from other customers. Read: Follow WBEZ’s coverage of the COVID-19 outbreak in Chicago and the region. If you are doing delivery, you may want to opt for “no contact” delivery, where the delivery worker leaves the food at your door or other desired location indicated in your online or phone order. But don’t forget to tip. These people are doing important work in trying times. Same principles apply for grocery delivery. After you get the takeout or delivery dishes, treat packaging as you would any surface out of your control by wiping it down, washing or discarding it, and washing your hands again. Again, all professional workers are supposed to be trained in safe food handling, but these are special times. Transfer food into your own clean dishes and enjoy. How do I safely store food? Although authorities urge people to avoid hoarding, many have and will continue to stock up on food during this time. Inevitably, many will buy more than home refrigerators or freezers can hold. These are some aspects of the crisis that Cornell food safety professor Martin Wiedmann is worried about. He said consumers need to be careful about refrigerating excess food in the hall or on their porch, because most of those perishables need to be kept under 40 F for safety. He also warned against things like washing meat in the same sink where you wash vegetables, causing cross-contamination. He noted you don’t need to wash any meat you are going to cook. “Wash your hands before you cook food. Keep raw food, raw chicken, raw meat, etc. away from produce. … Cook things at the proper temperature using USDA temperature guidelines,” he said. He said it’s extra important to take these precautions today. “If someone gets foodborne illness now because of something else — not coronavirus — and has to go to a hospital or has to travel, that exposes them to greater risk.” What pantry staples should I buy to make versatile recipes for my household? Chef Sarah Stegner said her top six pantry staples for this time are dried beans, onions, nuts, oatmeal, plenty of salt and some kind of oil. For versatile meals, she recommends roasting a chicken (at 450 F until the thigh registers 165 F), or you can buy a roast chicken to-go from a restaurant. “I like this because you can get multiple meals out of it,” she said. “And once you have that chicken and [eat most of the meat], you take the bones and the trimmings and make a stock or soup out of it.” You can also freeze that soup to have it ready to go in case someone in your house gets sick. Longtime Chicago chef, baker and restaurateur Ina Pinkney suggested keeping your refrigerator full of eggs and your freezer full of frozen soup. She also suggested cheering up the household by making breakfast for dinner, something like pancakes. “I think it’s the most comforting way to end a day,” she said. You can find the recipe for Pinkney’s famously light, heavenly hot pancakes here. Pinkney said you can find the potato starch in the “Jewish food section of your grocery store.” How should I cook and care for a member of the family who is sick? The Centers For Disease Control and Prevention says that when someone in the household is sick, they should stay in their room and be cared for by only one family member. The CDC further advises people who suspect they have COVID-19 to “use a separate bathroom, if available” and “not share dishes, drinking glasses, cups, eating utensils, towels, or bedding with other people or pets in your home. After using these items, they should be washed thoroughly with soap and water.” Authorities have not devised any special dietary recommendations for patients with the virus, but the CDC does recommend drinking plenty of fluids. Is it OK to have friends over for dinner? Experts say no, and the CDC recommends “limiting food sharing” in general. As unsavory as this is, we spit when we talk and touch our faces — more than we realize — and that can spread the virus, said Dr. Jessie Abbate, an infectious disease specialist at Institut de Recherche pour le Développement France. You can be carrying the virus, and be asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic. “If you're having a dinner party with someone who is infected and shedding [spreading the] virus, you're all gonna get it,” Abbate said. Essentially, when you have dinner with a neighbor, you’re having dinner with them and anyone they’ve had dinner with over the last two weeks. If you still want to have people over, Abbate suggested really limiting who you invite. If you have a friend across the hall that you want to see, she said “stick with them and no one else. Now you have a slightly larger family.” What are some ways to keep enjoying meals with other people? While it’s hard to be isolated from friends and family, especially during mealtimes, here are some creative ways Chicagoans are keeping meals fun and social. Call for advice. Prairie Grass Cafe chef Sarah Stegner is manning a cooking hotline from 2 to 4 p.m. everyday at (847) 920-8437. Stage virtual dinner and cooking parties with friends on apps like Zoom, Google Hangouts and Facetime, like this group of Italians. Share a challenge with household members to come up with the most creative dishes with the staples you still have on hand. Finally learn how to make bread. All you need is flour, water and salt. You don’t even need yeast if you make your own sourdough starter with water and flour. Involve the kids. Chicago chef Cheryl Knecht Munoz is posting daily lessons and recipes you can cook with children home from school on her Sugar Beet Schoolhouse blog. Use the good china and light a candle, says Chicagoan Eilleen Howard Weinberg. Anshe Emet Day School chef Ben Randall is posting daily recipes for kids at SageBZell on Instagram Louisa Chu of the Chicago Tribune plans to start cooking through the Tribune recipe archives on Instagram as well. Special thanks to our questioners Thanks to everyone who sent in food-related coronavirus questions, including: Ned Lot, Jennifer Ptak, M.Hamilton, Helen Micari and Mary Beth N.

Ina Pinkney is back! This time she chats with Denise. Read the New York Times article The Perfect Divorce. Get Ina’s Kitchen: Memories and Recipes from the Breakfast Queen. Watch Breakfast at Ina’s. Free for Amazon Prime members! Join our community, get links to past episodes, or drop us a line!Women Beyond a Certain Age is a weekly podcast by Denise Vivaldo and Diane Worthington. They bring their own lively, humorous, and experienced viewpoints to the topics they discuss. The podcast covers wide-ranging subjects of importance to older women. Diane Worthington, host and producer. Diane’s books on Amazon.Denise Vivaldo, host and producer. Denise’s books on Amazon.All other hats worn by Cindie Flannigan. See Cindie’s work here.

Ina Pinkney, The Breakfast Queen herself, chats with Diane in this first of two Ina episodes! Just one of the many fabulous pearls of wisdom you’ll acquire this week: Choose your own path so others don’t choose it for you. Get Ina’s Kitchen: Memories and Recipes from the Breakfast Queen. Watch Breakfast at Ina’s. Free for Amazon Prime members! Join our community, get links to past episodes, or drop us a line!Women Beyond a Certain Age is a weekly podcast by Denise Vivaldo and Diane Worthington. They bring their own lively, humorous, and experienced viewpoints to the topics they discuss. The podcast covers wide-ranging subjects of importance to older women. Diane Worthington, host and producer. Diane’s books on Amazon.Denise Vivaldo, host and producer. Denise’s books on Amazon.All other hats worn by Cindie Flannigan. See Cindie’s work here.

It's the final episode of Season 1 so we called in the big guns: Ina Pinkney, the legendary restauranteur known as "The Breakfast Queen" who served Chicago the most important meal of the day for 30+ years from her spots in Lincoln Park and the West Loop. Learn how she got her start, her battle with polio as a young child, how obsessing over the details helped her stand out (33:00), her brief foray into local politics and civic engagement (47:03), how she helped get the citywide smoking ban passed (52:00), fun stories from her life like dancing with Fred Astaire (1:00:35) and her advice for restauranteurs (01:05:00, seriously though listen to this if you own a restaurant or plan to one day). Thank you all for listening to Season 1!

On November 8, Chef Jaime Laurita and I will emcee the Celebrity Chef Ball for Meals on Wheels Chicago. It's extra special this year as the organization will be honoring the legendary Ina Pinkney. Ina is a dear friend and mentor. Her experience as a restaurateur, cookbook author, brand ambassador, a polio survivor and a woman entrepreneur is impactful. Ina's passion to share her knowledge with others is her hallmark. On a personal note, Ina has been a constant source of encouragement during my recovery process post broken knee - all while she is recovering from a broken leg! Chef Thai Dang will be one of the celebrity chefs featured at the event. He is the Executive Chef of Haisous, a highly acclaimed Vietnamese restaurant in Chicago. Ina has been a mentor and friend to Chef Dang during his culinary journey. And how fascinating to learn about banana blossoms!

Famed Chef and Writer Ina Pinkney joins the conversation via phone with Rick Kogan to talk about Theater on the Lake at The Lakefront Restaurant on Lake Shore Drive. Hear about all that goes into the planning and execution of large yet intimate affair. Want to know more about Theater on the Lake? You can […]

Is breakfast really the most important meal of the day, or is that just a marketing tag line? Coming up on this week’s show, Ina Pinkney, the Breakfast Columnist at The Chicago Tribune, and the former chef/baker and owner of Ina’s in Chicago, sits in for Rick, as we talk breakfast. Not just menu suggestions, but how to succeed in a crowded field and where to go to find some of the best breakfasts in the world.

In an excerpt from our 5-year anniversary event, chef/author Ina Pinkney shares a story about a true friend and fervent supporter, chef Erling Wu-Bower hilariously ranks his 10 least favorite vegetables, and media personality Steve Dolinsky details the delicious yet excruciating task of rating every pizza in Chicago.

Never miss another interview! Join Devin here: http://bit.ly/joindevin. A generation ago, most people in the U.S. knew a polio survivor. Today, there are so few left, there are very few so many people can’t name an acquaintance, let alone family member, who has been afflicted. Ina Pinkney was infected in 1944, during World War II, more than a decade before the Salk Vaccine became available, stemming the annual summer epidemics that paralyzed communities almost like it paralyzed children. Because parents didn’t know how the virus spread or why it did only in summer months, parents avoided many summer activities from ice cream to swimming pools. Ina shared her touching story with me on World Polio Day, an annual event hosted by Rotary and the other members of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative. You can watch it in the video player at the top of this article. Be a hero! Join the elite group of supporters who ensure that stories like this can continue to be shared! Visit heroes4good.org to become a hero now.

Originally released on May 3, 2013.

Airwaves Full of Bacon 18: Live From the Taste of Chicago with Joe Campagna and Special Guest Ina Pinkney Click on the above to go to iTunes, Stitcher, Twitter or Facebook. ______________________________________________________________________________ The more I try to get out, the harder podcasting tries to pull me back in! Live from the Taste of Chicago, it's my previously dead podcast, with guest Joe Campagna and remote correspondent Ina Pinkney talking about the Taste, the state of dining in Chicago, Boeufhaus, Hot Doug and more. Thanks to the city's Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events for having us, and to Ed Silha of Radio Misfits Network for engineering this episode. (56 min.) Here's some pics from the event by my son Myles: The bit with Ina Pinkney comes from the same evening as this story at the Reader.

Ina Pinkney, lovingly known as Chicago's Breakfast Queen, began cooking professionally at the age of 37, an age that many may consider past the prime of the beginning of a career. She went on to experience 33 years of success in the food business, as chef and owner of Ina's restaurant. Ina became a Chicago icon, a TV personality, and the author of Taste Memories: Recipes for Life and Breakfast. Tune in to hear the inspirational prosperity story of Ina and know it is never too late to cook up your dream!