Fly By Jing is one of the most exciting brands in food today, and we were lucky to have the company’s founder, Jing Gao, return to the studio for a great conversation. We talk about the company’s incredible trajectory, and how growth (and expansion into new product lines) comes with its own challenges. We also tap into what it’s like to make chili crisps in China, and how the yo-yoing tariff dynamic is keeping the company on its toes. I have so much respect for what Jing is building at Fly By Jing.

Also on the show we have a great conversation with Hailee Catalano and Chuck Cruz, recorded live at The Bell House. We talk about softboy foods, beach sandwiches, and what the DMs are looking like.

Buy: The Book of Sichuan Chili Crisp

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Sami Tamimi is a Palestinian chef and cookbook author based in London. He is the cofounder of the Ottolenghi restaurant group and the coauthor of the award-winning cookbooks Jerusalem and Falastin, and now he has a new cookbook of his very own: Boustany: A Celebration of Vegetables from My Palestine. It’s a pleasure to have Sami in the studio to talk about his path to writing Boustany and the rich Palestinian traditions of agriculture and foraging.

Read: The Musakhan Queens of Ramallah

Read: Sami Tamimi Wrote the Book He Wanted to Write

Watch: Foragers

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How fun it was to have Tejal Rao in the studio. Tejal is the co–chief restaurant critic at the New York Times, a role where she shares the mic with Ligaya Mishan. Newly elevated to this important job, we talk about how she views her role as a critic and go over many of her memorable stories. We also look back on her days working at the Village Voice and discuss how that era of internet reporting (or, dare we call it, blogging) informed her well-respected journalism career. Tejal is one of our favorite voices in food.

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: Zimmi’s knows its way around aioli, Melissa King’s Cook Like a King is a true standout in a busy cookbook season, and Samin Nosrat knows how people want to eat with her new book, Good Things. Also: Ed Park’s new short story collection, An Oral History of Atlantis, is such a trip to the ’90s. Speaking of a trip, we made one to Edmond Hong’s restaurant pop-up, Stones, and it was impressive. Finally, Steak House, by Eric Wareheim with Gabe Ulla, is documentary cookbook writing at its finest.

Listen: Meet Your New New York Times Restaurant Critic, Ligaya Mishan

Read: Omakase Isn’t Always Worth the Hype. Our Critic Says This One Is.

Read: The Hard-Shell Taco Deserves Your Respect

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See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.