Dishing It: From Soup to Nuts

Are you hungry to eat healthy? Do you want your kids to learn to cook well? Do you have a secret desire to become a professional chef? Have you always wanted to work in the restaurant business? Or, are you stumped about how to boil water? Do you live to eat, or eat to live? Then you’ll want to meet Ann Butler, CEO and founder of Edible Education. The former high school cooking teacher took her skills to new heightsClick here to listen to the podcast!

Named the “Best Burger of 2014” by Richmond Region Tourism’s Burger Beatdown, Brux’l Cafe has become one of the hottest new bistros in town. Located between Virginia Commonwealth University and Carytown at 1731 West Main Street, this taste of Brussels is a welcome addition to Richmond, which is being touted as the next great American food city. “We love Richmond,” says Chef Xavier Meers, who opened the restaurant with his wife, Stephanie Danis, last year. “And we love beer andClick here to listen to the podcast!

Michele Muska is a woman who speaks in textures. The fiber artist based in Enfield, Connecticut lives, creates, and works in a colorful world where fibers and textiles tell her story. Michele started her company, LolaRae, over a decade ago to showcase her fanciful creations, wearable art, quilts, and adornments. But that’s her side business! By day, she’s the Marketing Communications Manager for Simplicity Creative Group and their family of brands which include Simplicity Patterns, Wrights, Boye, EZ Quilting, ConsoClick here to listen to the podcast!

Step inside the cozy Fredericksburg, VA, shop, Taste: Oil, Vinegar, Spice, and you may not know exactly what to do first. Lining the walls are two rows of silver tanks, each filled with one of Taste’s 40 varieties of top-grade olive oil and vinegar. A spigot at the bottom of each tank invites shoppers to fill a tiny plastic cup with the nectar. Do you dip in your finger? Do you instead dip one of the the petite salted crackersClick here to listen to the podcast!

Back in 1997, Taqueria el Poblano founder and chef Glen Adams landed in DC, his latest stop in a career that led him through the States and Europe. By 1999 the California native was eager to showcase the food he grew up with in LA. From the taco trucks of his youth to the regional Mexican specialties he tasted during his travels, Glen developed a menu to showcase his favorites—duck tacos, frijoles charros, and steak tampiquena. Then he took onClick here to listen to the podcast!

Restaurants that Shine: Castagnola’s Seafood & Chophouse Since 1916 This restaurant on Fisherman’s Wharf is a seafood and chophouse that Thomas Castagnola opened in 1916 soon after he created the Dungeness Crab Cocktail for the San Francisco World’s Fair the year before. The former fisherman knew he was on to something big. And indeed, his crab stand on the Wharf quickly gained a reputation as the perfect place for locals and travelers alike to find the catch of the dayClick here to listen to the podcast!