Episodes

Pasta Making, Cooking Classes, and Growing a Following Through Instagram with Laurie Boucher of Baltimore Home Cook

March 30, 2021

On this week’s podcast, I speak with Laurie Boucher. Laurie is a self-described attorney turned pasta-preneur, and is the woman behind the Instagram account @BaltimoreHomeCook. We discuss how she got into pasta-making, and h…

Philadelphia Chef Jennifer Zavala on Birria Tacos, Food Media, Her Top Chef Experience and the Juana Tamale Pop-Up

March 23, 2021

On this week’s show, I speak with Jennifer Zavala. Jennifer is a chef in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and is currently doing a pop-up called Juana Tamale out of Underground Arts. We talk about a wide range of topics including…

From NFL Cheerleader to Pop-Up Chef - Masako Morishita Brings Japanese Comfort Food to Washington D.C. with Her Pop-Up Restaurant Otabe

March 16, 2021

On this week’s show, I speak with Masako Morishita. Originally from Kobe, Japan, Masako’s family has owned and operated a bar and restaurant there for 90 years, and food has always been a part of her life, though she never w…

Pastry Chef and Author Lisa Donovan Talks About Writing Her Memoir, the Restaurant Industry and Chess Pie

March 9, 2021

On this week’s show, I speak with Lisa Donovan. She’s a pastry chef and James Beard award winning writer. She’s helmed the pastry kitchens of some of the most important restaurants in the country, including Husk in Nashville…

Chef Christina Pirello - Beating Terminal Leukemia Through Diet and Lifestyle, and Building the Christina Cooks Brand

March 2, 2021

On the Chefs Without Restaurants podcast this week I have chef Christina Pirello of Christina Cooks. After already losing her mother to cancer, Christina was diagnosed with terminal leukemia in her mid-20’s. Not wanting to u…

Pastry Chef Bria Taylor of Killa Cakes on Big Flavors, Being a Self-Taught Baker and Starting a Business

Feb. 23, 2021

On the Chefs Without Restaurants podcast this week I have pastry chef Bria Taylor. She’s the owner of Killa Cakes, a Washington D.C. area cake business. Trained in graphic arts, Bria has no formal training in baking. In fact…

Chef and Culinary Instructor April DuBose – Teaching, Nostalgia and the Loneliness of Entrepreneurship

Feb. 16, 2021

On the Chefs Without Restaurants podcast this week I have chef and culinary instructor April DuBose. She’s currently the culinary director and instructor at Baltimore Outreach Services in Baltimore, Maryland, a nonprofit she…

Research Chef Shola Olunloyo of Studio Kitchen - Cultural Appropriation, Staging and Cooking Nigerian Food at The Stone Barnes Center

Feb. 9, 2021

This week I speak with Philadelphia chef Shola Olunloyo. Shola has carved out a creative niche in modern cooking instruction as a consulting chef. The Studiokitchen was created as a research and idea space to support his ma…

The Cooking Gene- A Discussion with Culinary Historian, Food Writer and Historical Interpreter Michael Twitty

Feb. 2, 2021

This week, I have Michael Twitty. He's a food writer, independent scholar, culinary historian and historical interpreter personally charged with preparing, preserving and promoting African American foodways, and its parent t…

The Season 2 Trailer for The Chefs Without Restaurants Podcast

Jan. 27, 2021

Welcome to season two of the Chefs Without Restaurants podcast. I'm your host, Chris Spear. On the show, I have conversations with culinary entrepreneurs, and people in the food and beverage industry who took a different rou…

Chef Charles Hunter III on Using Social Media and a Blog to Launch His Personal Chef Business

Dec. 29, 2020

This week we speak with Charles Hunter III. He’s a personal chef, recipe developer and food blogger based in Nashville, Tennessee. He’s the owner of The Salted Table Company, an in-home catering company that prepares meals f…

When Passion Doesn't Pay The Bills - Pastry Chef Ryan Dumapit

Dec. 21, 2020

On this weeks show I have Ryan Dumapit. He has a degree in pastry arts, and food service management. But Ryan doesn’t have a singular path in the food industry. In fact, he also went to school for IT, and has worked for a po…

In Pursuit of Better BBQ - Chef Alex Smith

Dec. 14, 2020

On this week's Chefs Without Restaurants podcast, I speak with chef Alex Smith. While Alex has been in the food and beverage industry for over 20 years now, he’s only spent the last 10 years cooking. He started out in the fr…

Pastry Chef Monica Glass on Exploring Opportunities Outside of Restaurants

Dec. 7, 2020

On this week's Chefs Without Restaurants podcast, I speak with Philadelphia pastry chef Monica Glass. Upon graduating from Penn State, Monica moved to New York City to embark on a career in public relations. But after a brie…

Caterer Sam Hefter Brings the Taco Party to the People

Nov. 30, 2020

On this week's Chefs Without Restaurants podcast, I speak with Sam Hefter, the chef and owner of Hefter Catering in Kansas City. Sam's catering business focuses on upscale taco bars. We talk about how he came up with that i…

A Discussion with Chef and Food Writer Amethyst Ganaway

Nov. 23, 2020

On this week’s Chefs Without Restaurants podcast I have Amethyst Ganaway. She’s worked in the food business for more than 10 years, in both the front and back of the house. Besides being a chef, she also does food writing. Y…

On the Farm - A Discussion with Photographer Aliza Eliazarov About Heritage Breed Animals and Their Portraits

Nov. 16, 2020

On this week’s Chefs Without Restaurants podcast I have renowned photographer Aliza Eliazarov. On November 17, she has a book coming out called On the Farm: Heritage & Heralded Animal Breeds in Portraits and Stories. The boo…

Vietnamese-American Chef Tu David Phu Talks About His Upbringing, His E-Commerce Food Store, and What Community Means to Him

Nov. 9, 2020

On the podcast this week, I have chef Tu David Phu. Tu is a first generation Vietnamese-American, born and raised in Oakland, California. You might know him from season 15 of the Bravo Tv show Top Chef . He’s also a San Fran…

A Conversation with Pastry Chef Kate Holowchik of Lionheart Confections

Nov. 2, 2020

This week I speak with pastry chef, and self-proclaimed culinary renegade Kate Holowchik. After working her way through some of Boston's eclectic kitchens, she's now finding her personal voice with the launch of Lionheart Co…

Mr. Bake - Talking About Sweets, Cooking on TV and Representation in the Food Media

Oct. 26, 2020

This week I speak with Kareem Queeman, better known as Mr. Bake. He’s the owner and operator of Mr. Bake Sweets, a small dessert studio located in Largo, MD. He’s been baking for 20+ years. In the years that Mr. Bake Sweets …

25 Years at Crook's Corner Restaurant - A Conversation with Chef Bill Smith

Oct. 19, 2020

On the show this week, I have chef Bill Smith. Bill was the chef at Crook’s Corner in Chapel Hill, North Carolina for 25 years, before retiring in January 2019. I wanted to talk to Bill about his time working at Crook’s Corn…

Discussing the State of the Catering and Personal Chef Industries with Chef Brendon Hudson of Liliahna Catering

Oct. 12, 2020

On the podcast this week I have chef Brendon Hudson. He’s owner and chef of Liliahna catering company. Brendon was recently voted Best Chef by Baltimore Magazine’s readers poll. We discuss the state of the catering and perso…

Chef Kimberly Schaub Discusses Being a Research and Development Chef, and Kitchen Culture

Oct. 5, 2020

On the podcast this week I have chef Kimberly Schaub. She’s spent much of her culinary career in the research and development field, working for companies like Beecher’s Handmade Cheese and Bulletproof 360 . She also spent s…

Charging For Your Services, Content Creation and So Much More - A Discussion with Chef Justin Khanna part 2

Sept. 28, 2020

This is part 2 of a discussion I had with chef Justin Khanna. If you haven't listened to part 1 yet, I suggest listening to it first, as this episode jumps right into the middle of our discussion. On the podcast this week I …