Tasty Grinds Podcast

Podcast interview with Sayzie Koldys, steward (cook) aboard educational sailing ships. In this role, she is responsible for provisioning and cooking for 30-40 hungry students and researchers for weeks at a time…all in a tiny kitchen that’s sometimes thousands of miles from the nearest grocery store. We learn how she came to cook on the high seas, what it means to eat sustainably abroad, and what to do when you’re in port and the mayor stops by with 14 of his hungry friends. Plus, one story that is truly shocking (or rather, was shocking to Sayzie).

Interview with Todd Pontius, artisanal cheesemaker. In this episode, Todd talks about learning how to make cheese and teach others, the meditative aspects of manual work, and the importance of a good story – either telling others’ or creating one of your own.

Interview with Martha Cheng, the former food editor for Honolulu Magazine, and now a freelance writer for local and national publications. She has been a line cook, food truck owner, Peace Corps volunteer and Google techie. In this episode, she talks about where she gets her story ideas, the most difficult part of being a food writer (here’s a hint: it’s the writing), and her reasons for leaving the “dream job” of restaurant critic. Martha believes every story can be told through food.

Interview with Annie Novak, the Brooklyn-based horticulturalist, rooftop farmer, and author. Annie is founder and director of Growing Chefs, a field-to-fork food education program; Manager of the Edible Academy at the New York Botanical Garden, and co-founder and farmer of Eagle Street Rooftop Farm in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Her writings have been published in The Atlantic, Diner Journal, and others, and she has a book coming out! It’s called The Rooftop Growing Guide: How to Transform Your Roof into a Vegetable Garden or Farm, and it comes out in early 2016. This episode has a few literary and cultural references thrown in - it’s all detailed in the show notes at tastygrinds.com. Hosted by Dabney Gough. Theme music by Tyler McMahon.