844: Adrianna Adarme Was Supposed to Make Movie Trailers. Instead, She Made the Meatballs.

This Is TASTE

The episode begins with a 'Three Things' segment where hosts Matt Rodbar and Aliza Barbanal discuss recent culinary highlights, including Melissa

Key takeaways

Adrianna Adarme transitioned from a career producing movie trailers for Disney (including WALL-E) to running the 'A Cozy Kitchen' blog.
Adarme's cookbook is uniquely structured around moods rather than traditional seasons or courses.
The hosts highlight Melissa Clark's prolific career, noting she has authored 42 cookbooks.
Adarme shares a romantic backstory of reconnecting with her husband, Greg, whom she first knew as a child on a school bus.
Culinary influences in Adarme's cooking include Peruvian, Colombian, and Haitian traditions, focusing on braising and slow cooking.

Main topics

Food blogging and brand building
Career pivots from Hollywood to culinary arts
Uzbek and Soul Food highlights

Notable quotes

I don't think I want any of their jobs.

Conclusion

A deep dive into how personal history and professional shifts can fuel

Transcript preview

Speaker 3 (0:07) And I just was like, I don't think I want any of their jobs. And I think that's really important. When you're at a place and you're young, you know, you should be looking around going, I want that job. I want that job. And so you have something to aspire to. And I was like, I don't want any of these people's jobs. And I think that's a problem. Speaker 1 (0:22) This is Taste. I'm your host, Matt Rodbar. Speaker 1 (0:35) Adriana Adarme has been cooking out loud since 2011, when A Cozy Kitchen was just a bored-at-work blog. This fall, she's releasing A Cozy Kitchen Cookbook, a terrific book built not around seasons or courses, but moods. On this episode, I speak with Adriana about her unique cooking style and growing her highly personal brand online and off. And at the top of the show, it's the return of three things, where Eliza and I talk about what is exciting us in the world of restaurants, cookbooks, and the food world as a whole. Speaker 1 (1:13) Eliza, we are back with three things. How are you? I'm Speaker 2 (1:15) doing well, Matt. How are you? Speaker 1 (1:17) Good. Do you want to start? No, Speaker 2 (1:18) you start this time. Speaker 1 (1:19) Okay, I'll start. All right. I have this great book that I've previewed and I got a lot to say about it. It's called The Big Book of Dinner by Melissa Clark. Speaker 2 (1:30) Ever heard of her? Ever Speaker 1 (1:31) heard of her? She's written 42 cookbooks. Speaker 2 (1:34) 42? Speaker 1 (1:34) Isn't that insane? Yeah. She's prolific. I love it. But Melissa comes back on the show. every couple of years. And Anabellus has been a restaurant critic, has written a column for The Times since 2012, and really just one of my favorite people in food. She's such a wonderful energy and just so smart. And this book, The Big Book of Dinner, is a follow-up to her book Dinner, which came out a few years back that I loved. I think it was maybe seven, eight years ago. I still cook many things from it. But this book has 175 any night recipes plus 150 tested variations. So if you do the math, that's a hell of a lot of recipes in this book. It's a very big book. She's been working on it for a while. And, you know, there's some great recipes like classic Italian-American meatballs, you know, and then kind of twisted into a kibbeh version of it with kibbeh spices, cooked on a sheet pan. You know, there's a sweet and spicy chicken with cumin and honey, pivots to ginger marmalade or honey mustard lemon. So it's like riffing on some of these mains that we love in the Melissa Clark way, which is always just like word economy. and just tightly written recipes and, of course, well tested. And I also want to announce on the show that Melissa and I will be appearing at Rizzoli Bookstore on Sunday, November 15th. Tickets are not on sale yet, but I'll definitely link to those in our Friday newsletter. And I will be in conversation with Melissa about this book. And that's at Rizzoli Bookstore. Sounds Speaker 2 (3:12) fun. Speaker 1 (3:12) Yeah. What's your first thing? Speaker 2 (3:13) My first thing is I went to Uma's in Rockaway Beach recently for dinner. This is a Uzbek mainstay that's been open there since I believe 2013. And I don't know about you, but I think like after a day at the beach, eating some hearty Uzbek food is kind of the perfect pair there. Sadly, they were out of the plov when I was there. Oh, really? which is the national dish of Uzbekistan. So it has that kind of tender, fatty lamb over rice, carrots, onions. And that's because this is an incredibly popular restaurant. And I was there after a... beach performance of a dance after a dance performance on the beach and so I think other people probably had my idea so when they told us that we're out of the plov I do think Shirley cried like it was a very sad moment but everything else I had was also quite good we got lagma noodles which were kind of handmade noodles they're steamed manti dumplings with meat palmini And this Korean carrot salad that they do very well. The carrot Speaker 1 (4:08) salad, yeah. Kind of like Speaker 2 (4:09) ribbony sesame carrot salad. I think Uzbek food is so cool. Like it has so many influences from Turkey, from Iran, from Asia, from their own kind of national dishes. And it's really cool to kind of get to go across that menu. So I really loved eating there. And I think like, I don't know if I have another fall beach day in me, but if I do, I will be there after. Speaker 1 (4:30) Love that carrot salad. Speaker 2 (4:32) It's really good. And actually I'm going to manifest on the show. show, I would love to do a Taste Travels in Uzbekistan. Speaker 1 (4:38) I would love to make that happen in Manifest as well. I feel covering the stands would be amazing for us to go on the road. They have tourism. people. So reach out or we can just go and like book our flights. I have like Speaker 2 (4:49) a dear friend who is in Uzbekistan right now and going to Tajikistan after. So I'm getting some hot tips. Speaker 1 (4:55) Yeah. I wonder what it's like to travel there. I've never I've never been to that part of the world. So I've Speaker 2 (5:00) heard great things. We can we can discuss it more. Let's Speaker 1 (5:03) discuss offline. What's your next thing? My next thing is not traveling to Uzbekistan, though. That is my mind now. It is. Back in the US, it is a product that I really, really like. I've actually been sent some samples and I bought a whole box. It is called the Flora Bar from Jenny Britton. Jenny Britton founded Jenny's Splendid Ice Creams and has since left the company and like at least the CEO role, but is still advising. And this is like her next pivot, her next act. And this bar is it's all about the fiber in this bar. There's 15 grams of fiber per bar. And the fiber comes from this flour that they make that uses a lot of like like byproducts from from fruit processing and fruit cutting. So they're using like. fermented watermelon rind, apple cores, cantaloupe, honeydew, mangoes, and pineapple. And so they're using all these trimmings. So it's really like definitely like an eco-friendly conscious, eco-conscious product. But I think for me, it's like a delicious way to get that 15 grams of fiber. I really love these bars. There's a really cool lineup of flavors. It really kind of echoes the way Jenny. thought about her ice cream flavors. You know, it's there's, of course, like a chocolate mint chip and a brownie batter. But then she goes into really more interesting territories for me, like a raspberry rose, a bramble berry lavender and a mango cardamom. I've tried a lot of the fruit based ones, delicious bars. So it's 15 grams of fiber from 12 plants. But Eliza, I love these bars. And really fiber is something that we are talking more and more about on this show, in our lives. We need more fiber, I feel, as a society. Yeah, Speaker 2 (6:51) speak for yourself. I'm fiber rich. Speaker 1 (6:52) You're great with fiber. I think the stat that I had read was like under 10 % of Americans get the proper fiber in their diet. Speaker 2 (7:01) Wow. How much fiber do we need, I guess? I Speaker 1 (7:03) think it's like somewhere, I'm going to like, please don't quote me. It's like 28 for women and 35 for men, something around there, grams a day. Yes, Speaker 2 (7:11) 25 to 38 grams per day. Yeah, Speaker 1 (7:14) yeah. Speaker 2 (7:14) Depending on your age. Speaker 1 (7:15) Depending on your age. So this bar is 15. So you're like halfway there. We love vegetables here. So we're eating like fiber rich vegetables. Speaker 2 (7:27) Now there's another way. Speaker 1 (7:28) Some days are better than others for all of us. What's your next thing? Speaker 2 (7:32) My next thing is, okay, I have a niche recommendation, which is if you find yourself at the Atlanta airport, Paschal's, which is a very legendary soul food restaurant in Atlanta, has a stand at Terminal B, I believe. And I ate there recently. And it was... Probably the best food I've had at an airport. Really exciting for me. Fried chicken, mac and cheese, collards, and then this really good fluffy, almost like flan-like sweet potato pie. This is an Atlanta lunch counter that opened in 1947 and in the 1960s was really actively involved in the civil rights movement. There are many photos of civil rights leaders like Martin Luther King Jr. and his lieutenants eating there. And they also would post bond for arrested protesters and the restaurant served as a meeting place. for family and loved ones who could find their people after jail and go to Paschal's, eat some good fried chicken, which does feel kind of a world away from the experience of being at the airport and getting some food. But I really liked getting to eat. like local Atlanta food without, you know, I wasn't able to leave the airport. I was just kind of connecting through. And instead of going to, you know, Popeye's and getting that fried chicken to go to Paschal's instead. And then I got a slice of the pie to go. And then I ate it on the flight, which was kind of like the perfect in-flight snack. So if you're ever at the Atlanta airport, you have another place to eat. Speaker 1 (8:54) You know, Atlanta, in my mind, has great local restaurants at the airport. Like this is one example. You Speaker 2 (9:00) know, they had, um, Wu-Tang Asian Kitchen was another one that I walked by that I Speaker 1 (9:04) was Speaker 2 (9:04) like, I don't know who owns this or what the involvement is, but I would love to know more about that. But, you know, sometimes you just need some mac and cheese. I did, you know, fall asleep on the flight after eating that meal, which is probably Speaker 1 (9:16) for the best. It's for the best. It helps you travel. So like in the morning, do you eat at the airport as well? Do you have like a routine? Speaker 2 (9:22) If I have enough time, I go to the bagel place by my house in Brooklyn and I get a bagel and then I bring it with me to the airport and then I eat it there. Speaker 1 (9:29) I think the bagel is the perfect plain food, especially for like across the country flight. It's like good carbs. Yeah. Speaker 2 (9:35) You know, it's unfortunate. I think like the Portland airport is the only airport I've been to where they have a law that the prices have to be the same at the airport outside of it because it is demoralizing to go to JFK and they're selling like a bagel and cream cheese for $15. I would much rather go to my place and do that. But on my connecting in Atlanta, this was my option. This is Speaker 1 (9:54) a good tip there. What's Speaker 2 (9:55) your last thing? Speaker 1 (9:56) My last thing is just a quick shout out that I will be at the LA Chef Conference appearing. Speaker 1 (10:02) on Monday, October 5th. I love this event. This is like my third or fourth time there. Brad Metzger puts it on. And I am hosting, I think it's 10 a.m., so it's like right at the beginning of the day, a really fun panel about the future of food media, which is a topic we talk about on the show a bit. But I'm so honored to have this crazy lineup of speakers. Bill Esparza. Mona Holmes from Eater. And Bill, of course, you know, doesn't need an introduction, but just an incredible journalist and, you know, covering, you know, Mexican cuisine and Mexican-American cuisine. I also have Danielle Dorsey from the LA Times and Luca Servodio from the LA Food Podcast. So we've got some folks in the creator world. We have some journalists. And we're going to be chopping it up about media in 2026. And I love this event. If you're there, come say hi. I just wanted to shout it out because I'm prepping. I've gone over several drafts of the questions. I'm thinking about the angles. You know, there's Speaker 2 (11:06) a Speaker 1 (11:06) lot to cover in the future of food media in 2026. Or I guess one of the ways of saying is, what is food media anyway? I think that might be the name of the panel. Speaker 2 (11:15) Well, I look forward to hearing what you guys find out. Speaker 1 (11:17) We'll do a recap of that. What's your last thing? Speaker 2 (11:19) My last thing is just a quick product recommendation, which is I just tried the pumpkin brown sugar blondie ice cream from Jenny's, which is one of their fall ice cream flavors. And it is so delicious. It has pieces of pumpkin pie kind of. Well, I guess it's not really a pumpkin pie. It's brown sugar blondie and then pumpkin puree. But it does taste like eating. Speaker 1 (11:39) Adjacent. Speaker 2