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Besha Rodell is a restaurant critic, columnist, and freelance reporter based in Melbourne, Australia. She is a James Beard Award winner and served as a critic at Creative Loafing, LA Weekly, and The Age. It was really great to have Besha in the studio to talk about her life as a critic, which she details in all its guts and glory in a terrific memoir, Hunger Like a Thirst. We talk about her time working in New York City restaurants and writing in the shadow of Jonathan Gold, who she followed as critic at LA Weekly during her time in Los Angeles. We also discuss the current restaurant reviewing scene and so much more.

And, at the top of the show, it’s the return of Three Things, where Aliza and Matt talk about what is exciting them in the world of restaurants, cookbooks, and the food world as a whole. On this episode: Nepali Bhanchha Ghar is our momo rec in Queens, AOOA is our go-to Hudson Valley farm stop this summer, Aliza shares a home cooking update. Also: Blue Cove Preserves is doing great tinned branzino, we’re pro-honey in a salad dressing, and Yes Plz and Camber is the coffee you should be subscribing to.

Read more:

• Leave Beets and Goat Cheese Alone [TASTE]

• Peanut Butter Beautiful [TASTE]

• How We Chose the World’s Best Restaurants [Food & Wine]