Episodes

March 9, 2021

Pastry Chef and Author Lisa Donovan Talks About Writing Her Memoir, the Restaurant Industry and Chess Pie

On this week’s show, I speak with Lisa Donovan. She’s a pastry chef and James Beard award winning writer. She’s helmed the pastry kitchens of some of the most important restaurants in the country, including Husk in Nashville…
March 2, 2021

Chef Christina Pirello - Beating Terminal Leukemia Through Diet and Lifestyle, and Building the Christina Cooks Brand

On the Chefs Without Restaurants podcast this week I have chef Christina Pirello of Christina Cooks. After already losing her mother to cancer, Christina was diagnosed with terminal leukemia in her mid-20’s. Not wanting to u…
Feb. 23, 2021

Pastry Chef Bria Taylor of Killa Cakes on Big Flavors, Being a Self-Taught Baker and Starting a Business

On the Chefs Without Restaurants podcast this week I have pastry chef Bria Taylor. She’s the owner of Killa Cakes, a Washington D.C. area cake business. Trained in graphic arts, Bria has no formal training in baking. In fact…
Feb. 16, 2021

Chef and Culinary Instructor April DuBose – Teaching, Nostalgia and the Loneliness of Entrepreneurship

On the Chefs Without Restaurants podcast this week I have chef and culinary instructor April DuBose. She’s currently the culinary director and instructor at Baltimore Outreach Services in Baltimore, Maryland, a nonprofit she…
Feb. 9, 2021

Research Chef Shola Olunloyo of Studio Kitchen - Cultural Appropriation, Staging and Cooking Nigerian Food at The Stone Barnes Center

This week I speak with Philadelphia chef Shola Olunloyo. Shola has carved out a creative niche in modern cooking instruction as a consulting chef. The Studiokitchen was created as a research and idea space to support his ma…
Feb. 2, 2021

The Cooking Gene- A Discussion with Culinary Historian, Food Writer and Historical Interpreter Michael Twitty

This week, I have Michael Twitty. He's a food writer, independent scholar, culinary historian and historical interpreter personally charged with preparing, preserving and promoting African American foodways, and its parent t…
Jan. 27, 2021

The Season 2 Trailer for The Chefs Without Restaurants Podcast

Welcome to season two of the Chefs Without Restaurants podcast. I'm your host, Chris Spear. On the show, I have conversations with culinary entrepreneurs, and people in the food and beverage industry who took a different rou…
Dec. 29, 2020

Chef Charles Hunter III on Using Social Media and a Blog to Launch His Personal Chef Business

This week we speak with Charles Hunter III. He’s a personal chef, recipe developer and food blogger based in Nashville, Tennessee. He’s the owner of The Salted Table Company, an in-home catering company that prepares meals f…
Dec. 21, 2020

When Passion Doesn't Pay The Bills - Pastry Chef Ryan Dumapit

On this weeks show I have Ryan Dumapit. He has a degree in pastry arts, and food service management. But Ryan doesn’t have a singular path in the food industry. In fact, he also went to school for IT, and has worked for a po…
Dec. 14, 2020

In Pursuit of Better BBQ - Chef Alex Smith

On this week's Chefs Without Restaurants podcast, I speak with chef Alex Smith. While Alex has been in the food and beverage industry for over 20 years now, he’s only spent the last 10 years cooking. He started out in the fr…
Dec. 7, 2020

Pastry Chef Monica Glass on Exploring Opportunities Outside of Restaurants

On this week's Chefs Without Restaurants podcast, I speak with Philadelphia pastry chef Monica Glass. Upon graduating from Penn State, Monica moved to New York City to embark on a career in public relations. But after a brie…
Nov. 30, 2020

Caterer Sam Hefter Brings the Taco Party to the People

On this week's Chefs Without Restaurants podcast, I speak with Sam Hefter, the chef and owner of Hefter Catering in Kansas City. Sam's catering business focuses on upscale taco bars. We talk about how he came up with that i…
Nov. 23, 2020

Exploring Gullah Geechee Cuisine with Chef Amethyst Ganaway

In this episode, Chris Spear talks with Chef Amethyst Ganaway about her culinary journey. Amethyst shares insights into Gullah Geechee cuisine, the impact of gentrification on her hometown, and the political nature of food. …
Nov. 16, 2020

On the Farm - A Discussion with Photographer Aliza Eliazarov About Heritage Breed Animals and Their Portraits

On this week’s Chefs Without Restaurants podcast I have renowned photographer Aliza Eliazarov. On November 17, she has a book coming out called On the Farm: Heritage & Heralded Animal Breeds in Portraits and Stories. The boo…
Nov. 9, 2020

Vietnamese-American Chef Tu David Phu Talks About His Upbringing, His E-Commerce Food Store, and What Community Means to Him

On the podcast this week, I have chef Tu David Phu. Tu is a first generation Vietnamese-American, born and raised in Oakland, California. You might know him from season 15 of the Bravo Tv show Top Chef . He’s also a San Fran…
Nov. 2, 2020

A Conversation with Pastry Chef Kate Holowchik of Lionheart Confections

This week I speak with pastry chef, and self-proclaimed culinary renegade Kate Holowchik. After working her way through some of Boston's eclectic kitchens, she's now finding her personal voice with the launch of Lionheart Co…
Oct. 26, 2020

Mr. Bake - Talking About Sweets, Cooking on TV and Representation in the Food Media

This week I speak with Kareem Queeman, better known as Mr. Bake. He’s the owner and operator of Mr. Bake Sweets, a small dessert studio located in Largo, MD. He’s been baking for 20+ years. In the years that Mr. Bake Sweets …
Oct. 19, 2020

25 Years at Crook's Corner Restaurant - A Conversation with Chef Bill Smith

On the show this week, I have chef Bill Smith. Bill was the chef at Crook’s Corner in Chapel Hill, North Carolina for 25 years, before retiring in January 2019. I wanted to talk to Bill about his time working at Crook’s Corn…
Oct. 12, 2020

Discussing the State of the Catering and Personal Chef Industries with Chef Brendon Hudson of Liliahna Catering

On the podcast this week I have chef Brendon Hudson. He’s owner and chef of Liliahna catering company. Brendon was recently voted Best Chef by Baltimore Magazine’s readers poll. We discuss the state of the catering and perso…
Oct. 5, 2020

Chef Kimberly Schaub Discusses Being a Research and Development Chef, and Kitchen Culture

On the podcast this week I have chef Kimberly Schaub. She’s spent much of her culinary career in the research and development field, working for companies like Beecher’s Handmade Cheese and Bulletproof 360 . She also spent s…
Sept. 28, 2020

Charging For Your Services, Content Creation and So Much More - A Discussion with Chef Justin Khanna part 2

This is part 2 of a discussion I had with chef Justin Khanna. If you haven't listened to part 1 yet, I suggest listening to it first, as this episode jumps right into the middle of our discussion. On the podcast this week I …
Sept. 21, 2020

The Transition From Restaurant Cooking to the Personal Chef and Events Business - A Discussion with Chef Justin Khanna part 1

On the podcast this week I have chef Justin Khanna. He's the co-founder of Voyager's Table, a bespoke event production company. He’s also the host of The Repertoire Podcast (formerly The Emulsion podcast), and has a YouTube …
Sept. 14, 2020

Mike Tholis of Rendezvous Farm - Leaving the Chef World for The Farming Life

On the podcast this week I have Mike Tholis. Mike is the owner of Rendezvous Farm in Frederick, Maryland. Before starting his farm, Mike was a chef for 5 years in Washington D.C. restaurants, and has also worked as a butcher…
Sept. 8, 2020

Chef Matthew Jennings - Getting Healthy, Moving to Vermont and His New Job and Business Ventures

On today's show, we have Matthew Jennings, a chef and consultant who is also the Vice President of Culinary at Healthy Living Market & Cafe in Vermont. Along with Jason Rose, Matt is the founder of Full Heart Hospitality. Pr…