Menu Talk

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Menu Talk, formally Menu Feed, is a podcast hosted by Pat Cobe of Restaurant Business and Bret Thorn with Nation’s Restaurant News. We are veteran reporters on the menu beat and eager to bring you inspiring conversations about what’s happening in restaurant kitchens, including weekly interviews with chefs, operators and food professionals.

-6 ДН.

Restaurateur Billy Dec prepares to open Sunda New Asian in Detroit

Billy Dec is the owner of Sunda New Asian, a Pan-Asian concept with a heavy bent toward Dec’s own Filipino heritage. The original location in Chicago’s River North neighborhood is 17 years old, and the concept’s fifth location, in Detroit, is slated to open in a couple of weeks. There are also Sunda locations in Nashville and Tampa. The décor of the Detroit location reflects Dec’s own heritage more deeply than the other restaurants, with images from his documentary Food Roots, which is currently screening across the country as it prepares to air on PBS. In this conversation he shares a bit about the documentary as well as his own upbringing and the natural fusion that occurs when taking non-direct flights to the Philippines—stops in Hong Kong, Tokyo or Seoul are common. Dec’s own background is also Eastern European, and that wasn’t lost on him as he was growing up and his household had a cuisine all its own. He discusses how culinary curiosity has evolved in the United States, but also how food delivery has taken a bite not only out of profits, but also out of the joy of running restaurants—seeing guests enjoy their meals and embracing the hospitality that is presented to them. He also shares his opinion of Detroit, a vibrant, beautiful and welcoming city that Dec thinks other restaurateurs ought to consider for business.

39 мин.
3 ФЕВР.

How Technomic's 2026 trend predictions are panning out

Dozens of menu trend forecasts came in towards the end of 2025 from culinary and restaurant industry experts. Included in that pile were the top trends from market researcher Technomic, the sister company of Restaurant Business and Nation’s Restaurant News. Lizzy Freier, senior director of menu research & insights at Technomic, has her finger directly on the pulse of chefs and menu developers, tracking the latest in flavor, R&D and global cuisines. During the podcast, she zeroes in on the predictions she and her team made last fall to see how they’re panning out about a month into 2026. We talk about protein, GLP-1 diets, emerging flavors, limited-time offers, beverage innovation and more. Listen to find out what else is on Technomic’s radar and discover the trends that menu expert Freier finds most intriguing.

24 мин.
27 ЯНВ.

Mexican spirits expert Max Reis goes beyond tequila and mezcal

When it comes to Mexico and spirits, most people think of tequila, which has now surged past whiskey and even vodka to become the most widely consumed alcohol in the United States. But Max Reis goes well beyond that, and not just into mezcal (now ubiquitous enough that you can get it at Applebee’s) or even lesser-known indigenous Mexican spirits such as sotol, raicilla and bacanora. At his Los Angeles bars Miraté — Spanish for “look at you” — and the new Daisy Margarita Bar, the native of California’s Napa Valley delves into Mexican gins, eaux de vie, rum and more. In this podcast, Reis discusses his approach to mixology and to operating successful bars, and discusses his upcoming bar Gilbert Perez, which will focus on rum.

31 мин.
20 ЯНВ.

Kevin Lee is leading a restaurant renaissance in Oklahoma City

Kevin Lee grew up in a Korean-American family in Oklahoma City, a place not known as a dining destination 20 years ago. There were the usual chains, Korean mom-and-pops and some chef-driven restaurants, but few if any places that focused on global cuisines. Lee majored in hospitality management at UNLV, and while there, he worked part-time in a restaurant and fell in love with cooking. That changed the trajectory of his career. With Las Vegas chef Joon Choi as a mentor, Lee immersed himself in Japanese cooking. Then at age 21, the luck of being in the right place at the right time landed him the job of executive chef at a Mandalay Bay hotel restaurant. Las Vegas burnout pushed Lee to return to Oklahoma City, where he worked in various restaurant kitchens before opening his own place—Birdie’s, a Korean fried chicken concept. He wanted a restaurant where families could take their kids and have a great time, but when you’re selling $10 chicken baskets and working 24/7, the revenue just didn’t make sense, he said. Nevertheless, Birdie’s was super-popular and Lee got a call to compete on a Food Network show called “Tournament of Champions.” He had a few big wins, and that gave him the courage and drive to change course again. He converted Birdie’s into a modern Korean-American steakhouse, where Lee feels he is finally cooking food close to his heart. Maht, which just opened in late 2025, is a modern American steakhouse with Korean influences. Two menu items that reflect this direction are a Caesar salad made with fish sauce instead of anchovies and chili crisp instead of croutons, and a Korean crab cake with sea urchin, Fresno chilies and scallions finished with soy-caramel sauce. Lee explains how several forces are converging to bring more visitors to Oklahoma City and chefs are gaining the confidence to try new things and open successful restaurants. He is also a member of Kikkoman's Kitchen Cabinet where he innovates recipes that reflect his take on Korean cuisine. Listen as he talks about his next ventures on TV and in the kitchen, and why he thinks Oklahoma City is poised to become a sought-after destination on the culinary map.

26 мин.
13 ЯНВ.

David Burke discusses his new restaurant, SeaHawk Prime, while riffing on food trends

David Burke has been working in kitchens since graduating from the Culinary Institute of America in 1982, and he’s still going strong, currently running 10 restaurants up and down the East Coast, including his latest, SeaHawk Prime by David Burke at Nautilus 220, a luxury residential tower on the Intracoastal Waterway of West Palm Beach, Florida. It’s his first restaurant in the state. Burke also operates Park Ave Kitchen and David Burke Tavern in New York City, three Red Horse restaurants in New York and New Jersey, Red Salt Room in Garden City, New York, named for the Himalayan salt he popularized, and half a dozen other restaurants. The chef has been setting trends for decades — he invented cake pops and clothesline bacon, among other items — and although he’s an accomplished entrepreneur, he said menu development is what he does best. That’s what he discusses in this interview, as well as his observations on the latest trends and strategies for pricing in ways that are profitable while also attractive to customers.

24 мин.
6 ЯНВ.

Hi Neighbor Hospitality Group blends front- and back-of-house expertise to deliver what today's diners want

To earn her own way through theater school in Philadelphia, Tai Ricci bussed tables at one of Stephen Starr’s restaurants. With her naturally outgoing personality and drive, she moved up the ranks to become a high-earning server and realized the restaurant business was her true calling. That calling took her to LA and eventually San Francisco, landing at one of Michael Mina’s restaurants and meeting up with Ryan Cole and Chef Jason Halverson. Over lunch one day, the three came up with a plan to open their first restaurant. Twelve years later, the partners lead Hi Neighbor Hospitality Group in the San Francisco area and operate five diverse independent restaurants that have become neighborhood favorites. Ricci oversees events and people operations for the group, developing a vibrant team culture that fosters growth and creates a workplace where the next generation of hospitality professionals can thrive. But she also has a keen sense of what diners are seeking in restaurants today, and the group’s concepts including Trestle, MAMA Oakland and The Vault Steakhouse deliver on that with their menus, ambience and service. Listen as Ricci shares how her love for hospitality has shaped Hi Neighbor’s restaurants into dining destinations admired by guests and team members alike.

28 мин.
16.12.2025

Chef Te'Sean Glass brings life lessons to True Laurel

Te’Sean Glass is chef de cuisine of True Laurel, a cocktail bar in San Francisco’s Mission District where he takes a farm-to-table approach to dishes such as chicken katsu topped with Caesar salad and patty melts. Originally from St. Augustine, Florida, Glass grew up in a family of enthusiastic family cooks, but he had a dream early on of running his own restaurant. His first job in a professional kitchen was as a teenager working for Meals on Wheels, where he learned about preparing high-volume food on a budget made for off-premises dining—lessons that would be useful at pretty much any restaurant. From there he worked at The Ice Plant, a bar in St. Augustine, and went on to culinary school at Johnson & Wales University in Miami. His ambition eventually landed him in San Francisco, where he started working in fine-dining restaurants including Saison and Ernest. In the podcast, Glass discusses his journey from St. Augustine to San Francisco and offers advice for young chefs about following their dreams.

22 мин.
09.12.2025

How Isabel Coss rose from bread baker to become executive chef at Washington, D.C.'s Pascual

Our guest on this week's Menu Talk is Isabel Coss, executive chef at Pascual, a contemporary Mexican restaurant in Washington, D.C. A native of Mexico City, Chef Coss actually studied ballet—not cooking—as a way to get into arts school and become a filmmaker. But once there, she realized she was more passionate about cooking than film, and enrolled in culinary school. She quickly landed an externship at Pujol, the Michelin-starred Mexico City restaurant on the list of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants. She worked at the pastry station, honing her bread baking skills. In 2011, she brought those skills to New York City where she was hired as a pastry chef at Empellón, Chef Alex Stupak’s renowned Mexican Restaurant, followed by a position at Enrique Olvera’s Cosme, another award-winning Mexican restaurant. Isabel Coss in front of Pascual. | Photo by Alex Lau. In 2020, Chef Coss moved to Washington, D.C., and overhauled the pastry program at Lutèce, a notable French bistro in Georgetown. She now heads the kitchen at Pascual, developing menus for both the sweet and savory sides. The centerpiece of Pascual is a hearth oven where the chef crafts the restaurant’s specialties. Coss’s culinary skills have landed her on lists like Food & Wine’s Best New Chefs in America and as a semifinalist for a James Beard Best Chef Mid-Atlantic award. Listen as she describes her love affair with masa, what she’s cooking and baking now and what’s next in her culinary journey.

26 мин.

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Menu Talk, formally Menu Feed, is a podcast hosted by Pat Cobe of Restaurant Business and Bret Thorn with Nation’s Restaurant News. We are veteran reporters on the menu beat and eager to bring you inspiring conversations about what’s happening in restaurant kitchens, including weekly interviews with chefs, operators and food professionals.