Elyssa Heller is the chef and owner of New York’s remarkable sandwich shop and slushie seller Edith’s, with locations in Williamsburg and the West Village. I love these restaurants for their singular point of view. They’re part modern Jewish deli, part downtown all-day café, and fully Elyssa. I really enjoyed catching up about her journey to opening Edith’s, her time working in professional candy sales, and how she thinks about tapping into her Jewish identity with foods honoring the past.
Also on the show we have a great conversation with Gráinne O’Hare, author of a terrific novel, Thirst Trap. We talk about the food scene in Belfast, and what it takes to write a great food scene in fiction.
Matt Rodbard is the editor in chief of TASTE and the author of Koreaworld: A Cookbook, Koreatown: A Cookbook, a New York Times Bestseller, and Food IQ, a Publishers Weekly Bestseller and winner of a 2023 IACP Cookbook Award (Food Issues & Matters)