Next Great American Chef/Portland, ME

In the second episode of the podcast, host John Rudolph and local expert Sarah Gelber, a blogger and owner of the 207 Foodie website, Instagram, and Twitter accounts, chat with the winner of NGAC/Portland, Thomas Takashi Cooke, executive chef and co-owner of Izakaya Minato in Portland. Among the topics — how Cooke and his wife made their way from the San Francisco Bay area to Portland; being a pioneer in Izakaya dining in seafood-blessed Maine; dealing with sea urchin purveyors; nuances of sake; Cape Elizabeth mackerel; and the secrets to success with his “life-changing” Japanese Fried Chicken. Gelber dishes on the food scene in Portland, including the rise of poke, proliferation of amazing new restaurants, most anticipated openings, and old standbys that still can’t be missed. The podcast also bestowed Next Great American Chef/Portland Honorable Mention awards on Damian Sansonetti and Ilma Lopez, chefs and co-owners of Piccolo and Chaval, and Paolo Laboa, Executive Chef at Solo Italiano. This episode was sponsored by Cambridge School of Culinary Arts, https://cambridgeculinary.com; Feet in 2 Worlds, http://www.fi2w.org/; and Old Port Candy, https://oldportcandy.com.