Spooning With Demetri

This week's guest is the head chocolate maker and proprietor of Videri, Sam Ratto. Sam & I talk about why words matter in the chocolate game, his begrudging respect for Hershey, and the difference between business travel and hipster travel.

One half of the brains and culinary skills from Pie Pushers, Mike Hacker, is the guest this week. We talk about the dining habits of Pearl Jam, the similarities between bands and kitchens, and what non-food related life skills you can learn on a food truck.

This week's guest is the chef of one of Raleigh's newest restaurant's, Faire in Cameron Village. Christopher Hill talks about the important role seltzer played in his career, the challenges of working in an open kitchen, and what makes a new restaurant different from a new restaurant in a new building.

We go back to the food trucks this week for a chat with Belgian Waffology's François Kerckhof. He and D talk about heavy accents, unintentionally sabotaging other food truckers, and the European education system. 

D's guest this week is a fellow Louisiana native that did his fair share of time in Alabama. Crawford Leavoy, the general manager and beverage director at Piedmont in Durham, sits down to talk about turning the fortunes of that restaurant around, cutting his teeth in the business with Chef John Besh, and the dangers of meeting strangers in the bathroom at Epcot on a college football Saturday. Turns out Crawford and D have a lot in common too.

This week's chat is with Brent Hopkins. He is the chef at Gravy in downtown Raleigh, but has become something of an executive chef for the Empire Eats group, as he has taken over as chef at the Raleigh Times and handles some R&D work for the group. Brent and I talk about how he pulls off a five day work week, what makes you a nobody in Portland, and how chefs can save farming for everyone.

This week Demetri sits down with Nate Adams of Chirba Chirba Dumplings. Nate tells Demetri how Grand Asia Market can cure home sickness and the future of food trucks in the Triangle. You'll also learn just how many weird laws govern food trucks in North Carolina.

Our first episode features a chat with my pal Kenneth Yowell from Moonlight Management - the company behind the Oak City Meatball Shoppe and Calavela. We talk food, business, terrible parents and Ken sings the praises of proper DVD care.