Mara Fleishman is the co-founder and CEO of the Chef Ann Foundation, which has reached more than 19,000 schools, 35,000 school food professionals, and nearly 6 million students in its work to replace ultra-processed food with fresh, scratch-cooked meals. Before that, she spent a decade at Whole Foods as their global director of partnerships. We talk about what school food actually looks like now versus what it looked like a generation ago, why the biggest barrier to change is not budget but workforce, and how the Chef Ann Foundation is building purchasing cooperatives that connect small districts directly to local farms. Mark also has some thoughts on MAHA.

Mark has known Jean-Georges Vongerichten since 1987, when JGV arrived in New York. They’ve written books together. They’ve remained close friends for nearly 40 years. Today, they talk about Jean-Georges growing up in Alsace on pork fat, juniper berries, and parsley as the only herb anyone grew; and on arriving in New York when the Union Square Greenmarket was two stands selling apples and potatoes; and on watching the whole thing transform over four decades.

Dan Jacobs is the chef and co-owner of DanDan and EsterEv in Milwaukee and a runner-up on Season 21 of Top Chef. Mark and Kate talked with him about navigating a progressive illness in a physical profession, why Milwaukee’s restaurant scene might be the best kept secret in American food, the advocacy work that came out of the pandemic, and what it means to build a team that actually takes care of each other.

Shirley Chung is a Top Chef finalist, French Laundry veteran, and José Andrés darling. In 2024, she was diagnosed with stage four tongue cancer, and it changed her life. Shirley talks about the diagnosis she almost missed, the treatment that saved her tongue, and what it felt like to slowly, painstakingly relearn how to taste.

Toya Boudy is back, and she talks to Kate about rebuilding after everything falls apart, and about Malinda Russell, a free woman of color who published a cookbook in 1866 and packed it with everything her community might need to survive. Toya believes Russell came to her for a reason.

New Yorker writer Hannah Goldfield talks to Kate and Mark about “intentional drinking”; how, right now, it feels like everyone is taking a stance on where we land on the drinking spectrum; how bars and restaurants are making drinking (and not drinking) easier to navigate; and mini cocktails.

Baker Paola Velez talks to Kate and Holly about why and how she started Bakers Against Racism and how its influence and warmth has spread—and continues to spread; ad-libbing baked goods and feeling passionate about getting others confident enough in the kitchen to do it, too; and how romance played a factor in her career choice.

The prolific writer talks to Kate and Mark about why her mom told her not to learn how to cook (and how the kitchen is now her happy place), the big problem with mainstream veganism (and the food that ended her vegan journey), and using food and cooking to manage loss.

Liz Carlisle, Aubrey Streit Krug, and Leah Penniman talk to Kate and Mark about why perennial foods should be seriously considered as part of the solution to the climate crisis; what real support for perennial agriculture would look like; and the changes they’ve seen in the young farming community in the past 30 years.

In this revisiting of a 2022 episode, Mark talks to beloved chef Sheldon Simeon about learning to butcher chickens in first grade, the divide between Hawaiian natives and tourists, and cooking for three days straight.

God’s Love We Deliver CEO Terrence Meck and Northwell Health’s chief experience officer Sven Gierlinger join Kate and Mark to talk about how they’re feeding clients and patients (respectively) carefully, and well. The two chat about how their personal medical journeys got them to where they are today, how making and serving good food can actually save health care dollars, and how the emotion behind all of it can be the best part of the job.

Dylan Alverson is the owner of Modern Times—now called Post Modern Times—in Minneapolis, a restaurant that stopped charging customers for food during the violent ICE occupation. Jason Finder is the Executive Director of Good Food Works and Salad Days, which offers free grab & go salads to public spaces and high-need constituencies throughout New York City. The two joined Kate and Mark to talk about how they came to be passionate about food access and why what they’re doing is working.

The historian and author of “Picky” talks to Kate and Mark about the history of “children’s food,” how pickiness is positioned at the intersection of biology and culture, generating a set of standards to get us back to a more pleasurable relationship with food (and why it’ll feel counterintuitive), and the fear of parenting in “older ways” (and why people who are doing so tend to not talk about it).

The chefs, and owners of Philly’s much-loved Honeysuckle, talk to Kate and Mark about how they personally define a “Black” dish; the two very distinct formats behind the food that typically represents the US Black diaspora; why their original business model didn’t work and how they fixed it—and learned from it; and their big love story.

The Nashville-based chef talks to Kate and Mark about how and why he finally feels recognized, how his drag has served as both a crutch and a hindrance—in the food world and elsewhere, and the priceless support he grew up with from his hippie parents (and why so much of what he does comes from that).

The mother and son duo—co-authors of Heartland Masala—talk to Kate and Mark about what it was like to tour to more than 40 cities together (and, specifically, why it was so wonderful); “mock” authenticity and further thoughts on the authenticity conversation in general, especially as it relates to second-generation immigrants; and “fusion” versus “traditional.” Plus: deep thoughts about butter chicken. 

The chef and activist talks to Kate and Mark about why, for the first time in 25 years, he’s overhauling the menu at Craft; what makes a restaurant popular (even when it’s not good); where all the good cooks have gone; and why he dislikes sous vide so much. Plus: some great cooking tips.

Food policy expert Marion Nestle chats with Mark about their initial reactions to the new dietary guidelines: what’s good, what’s bad, and what’s disturbing. Plus: Is the current protein craze just a marketing scheme that’s done particularly well for the marketers, or should we all be jumping on the bandwagon?