The Splendid Table: Conversations & Recipes For Curious Cooks & Eaters

This week, we’re turning peak-season produce into bold, flavorful dishes. First, we talk with Rick Martínez, author of Salsa Daddy: Dip Your Way into Mexican Cooking, about transforming simple ingredients – think tomatoes, onions, garlic, and chilis – into salsas that sing. Rick explains why salsa is its own food group and leaves us with his family-inspired peach-and-pecan Salsa Tejana recipe. Then, we visit New York chef Sunny Lee of Sunn’s, a restaurant devoted to banchan, Korea’s iconic side dishes. Sunny teaches Francis how to elevate fresh vegetables into inventive, season-forward sides, including her recipe for Tahini Pickled Mushroom banchan.

Broadcast dates for this episode:

September 5, 2025 (originally aired)
September 4, 2026 (rebroadcast)

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This week, former bartender turned culinary historian Bobby Hicks joins us to talk about his passion for retro cooking. He gives us a history lesson on how recipes evolved thanks to industrial advances, and explains the thinking behind his redos of post-World War II-era recipes, like his carrot croquettes. Bobby Hicks is the author of Retro Recipes: Vintage Dishes with a Modern Twist, and he left us with an amazing recipe for Tomato Aspic. Then, we turn to the science behind human taste with Italian scientists Davide Risso and Gabriella Morini. They talk about distinguishing taste from flavor, how humans use a combination of senses to taste, how preferences change over time, and how understanding the fascinating taste preferences of animals (mosquitoes!) helps us understand taste in humans. Davide Risso is a molecular biologist with a PhD from the University of Bologna, and Gabriella Morini is a professor of taste and food sciences at the University of Gastronomic Sciences of Pollenzo, Italy. They co-authored On Taste in Humans and Other Animals.

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Broadcast dates for this episode:

August 28, 2026 (originally aired)

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This week’s stop in our road trip series is Thailand: We’re revisiting an episode from a couple of years ago where we talked to Salvadoran chef Karla T. Vasquez and food journalist Austin Bush, author of The Food of Southern Thailand.

This week, we’re taking the stress out of back-to-school cooking with food that’s fast, fun, and full of flavor. First, we talk with Peter J. Kim, author of Instant Ramen Kitchen, about transforming those humble packets you associate with college kids into surprisingly elegant meals. Peter shares why instant ramen deserves a spot in your pantry and leaves us with his recipe for Aglio e Olio. Then, we catch up with chef David Nayfeld and his approach to quick, comforting meals. Known for his acclaimed restaurant Che Fico in San Francisco, David opens up about learning to cook for (and with) his daughter as a single dad. His new book, Dad, What’s for Dinner?, features kid-friendly recipes like the one he shared with us: Zucchini Parmigiana.

Broadcast dates for this episode:

August 22, 2025 (originally aired)
August 21, 2026 (rebroadcast)

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Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Pandora | Amazon Music | YouTube

This week, we’re all about the beauty of the South of France with Steve Hoffman, author of A Season for That. Here we go!