Today is one of those days I live for.  I have six interviews on the schedule at KCRW that range from a kid who is a vegan and writes poetry about it to Jon Favreau, writer, producer, director and star of the new movie Chef and his coach Roy Choi.  In between I talk to a military historian about how food for combat troops evolved, to an independent radio producer who grew up in the San Gabriel Valley about what it was like then and now, to Teri Wahl, former punk guitarist now chef-owner of Auntie Em’s in Eagle Rock and finally to a visual effects specialist who has taken his talent for technical precision and artistry and focused it on the food of Chef Grant Achatz’ Alinea.  Each story is about someone’s passion, something completely different yet food ties them together.

Without my love of reading I couldn’t do this job.  Which is a good thing because a lot of what I do for Good Food is read.  I’m not a food critic, I’m a professional conversationalist. It’s a strange and wonderful job that requires me to read about people and their interests; a powerful way to enlarge one’s world.  Besides cooking, reading is my favorite activity.  I learned very very very young that words strung together in the right way can take you places you didn’t know existed and even make you fall in love with those places, or people, or ideas.

Reading Now:
The Third Plate:  Field Notes On The Future of Food by Dan Barber (prep for in studio segment and live event)
The Auntie Em’s Cookbook:  A Musician’s Guide to Breakfast and Brunch by Teri Wahl
Delicious by Ruth Reichl (re-reading just for fun)
Casebook by Mona Simpson
Marcel Duchamp:  The Afternoon Inteviews by Calvin Tomkins
Health at Every Size by Linda Bacon (in an attempt not to spin out over my weight)
Historic Heston by Heston Blumenthal (since I got the book months ago I’ve been reading it.  Totally deserving of being named Cookbook of the Year at the James Beard Awards)