Cooking By Heart with Chris Sarandon

In this episode, singer/songwriter/producer/former record exec Billy Mann talks about his educated mother's moderate quality but volume-heavy cooking, formal meals with grandma (and her giant meat pies), his after-college road busking tour living in his car with Mom's gift of many cans of Chef Boyardee spaghetti while he discovered America and it's food...and his world travels as a record executive and those many culina...

In this episode, legendary Broadway producer Emanuel  “Manny” Azenberg and I discuss his Bronx upbringing, his mother’s relentless cabbage and chicken soups, eating out in delis, and food and making friends for life in the army. We talk about his Broadway intro working for David Merrick, and a softball game with Neil Simon that led to producing 20 of Simon’s plays (while also producing Sondheim & Stoppard and “Rent”). Producer ...

In this episode, Federal Judge Goodwin offers up memories of a small-town childhood, his mother's cinnamon rolls, and a kitchen helper's amazing homemade bread. He also talks about his serendipitous entry into the law,  and being mentored by the legendary Senate Majority Leader Robert C. Byrd (with great stories from Byrd about Richard Nixon). Food and politics are a potent combination in this fascinating episode. 

Don'...

In this episode Rick Nielsen, co-founder, songwriter and lead guitarist for Rock and Roll Hall of Fame band Cheap Trick tells of his working parents and growing up eating almost exclusively in restaurants, and flying with his parents to 48 states while sampling local food. He also tells of his early days as a touring musician, and discovering Japanese food while being lionized in that country. A unique and sometime hilarious conver...

In this episode, veteran child and character actor Clint Howard talks about his normal, happy childhood growing up in an acting family, his mother's fondness for serving canned vegetables, and acting with a PB&J sandwich at the age of 2 on the Andy Griffith Show. And he relates that both his and his bother Ron's earnings were saved for their future by their parents, who never spent on themselves. Howard's journey th...

In this episode, Food Channel Star, Chef, and Author Carla Hall talks about her parent's cooking, her grandmother's Sunday divine skillet cornbread, and her family's weekly haul of that day's leftovers. She also relates her journey from accountant, to model, to caterer, to chef, to her current status as cookbook author, Food Channel Chef, and host of her upcoming MAX TV series. A lively and informative conversation ...

In this episode, actor/director/producer LeVar Burton talks about his army family's time in Germany, his mother's cooking, and his grandmother's farm fresh food juxtaposed with the 'horrendous' food at the seminary where he studied. He also relates how his travels to Asia and Africa spurred marvelous food discoveries. A stimulating and humorous conversation with this multi-talented, Renaissance man.

Don't f...

In this episode of  'Cooking By Heart,' long-time show business actress/producer Lucie Arnaz talks about growing up with famous working parents, having meals made by the family’s help and by her grandmother, followed by weekends with father Desi’s improvisational Cuban cooking and her mother Lucy’s basic All-American, health-conscious cuisine, fun family picnics, and dining out at exotic LA eateries. She bravely recounts he...

In this episode, the inimitable Tony Todd talks about his being raised in Hartford, CT by his extraordinary Aunt Clara, whom he watched cook with both Jamaican and South Carolinian influences. He remembers watching and discussing classic films with her after dinner and loved the city's fish sandwiches and Italian grinders. He talks about discovering Shakespeare at 13, the great teacher who set him on his acting path as an actor...

Join the inimitable Melissa Gilbert and me as we discuss her unusual childhood food experiences, her growing up on television, and her becoming a hardworking Hollywood icon. She’s a brilliant life force who now facilitates empowering ‘evolving’ women.

@OfficialModernPrarie

@MelissaGilbertOfficial

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In this episode, “High Cuisine” creator & Michelin-trained Chef Noah Tucker talks about growing up in NYC in a mixed Jewish/African-American Family, resulting in some unique and hilarious growing-up food stories. Now a successful restaurateur in Amsterdam, he contrasts the every day “drugs” we all consume, such as caffeine and sugar, with his current passion for cooking conventional haute cuisine that incorporates cannabis and ...

In this episode, Kelli O’Hara, whom the NY Times calls Broadway’s undisputed queen, remembers her teacher mom making comfort food for a busy farming family, her mom’s loving attitude at Kelli’s being a chubby kid, and helping mom make exciting tailgate meals during harvest time. Kelli also talks about school classmates fighting over attendance at her grandma’s copious homemade lunches, prepping dinner at 8 years old until her mom c...

In this episode of Cooking By Heart, the prolific and critically acclaimed Director Mike Flanagan talks about growing up in a military family, his childhood aversions to food and his mother’s efforts to circumvent them, his discovery of sushi, his youthful stabs at filmmaking, his discovery of his life‘s work as a Director, staging food scenes in his movies, and his unique, very personal approach to a successful career in the horro...

In this episode, Oscar winner and social activist Susan Sarandon talks about chaos at meals with & younger siblings, countless tuna casseroles, spam, and pasta from an overwhelmed mother who grew up in foster care, her father's Thanksgiving cooking, and "running away from home" at 7 yrs old (and no one noticed!). Susan & and Chris reminisce about their potluck BY wedding, their early cooking disasters, and the...

In this episode, actor/performer/writer/Sirius XM host and

Unofficial Broadway encyclopedia Seth Rudetsky talks about his

mom’s TV dinners and Jewish/Israeli specialties, his father’s

barbequing, his sister’s vegan cooking, heated story

competitions at the dinner table, and his family’s outdoor

camping/cooking. He reveals growing up gay and overweight,

and navigating the dichotomy of being bullied and feeling

smarter than his torme...

In this season 1 finale episode PBS TV chef/restaurateur/author Lidia Bastianich reminisces about her idyllic hometown, her Italian family being forced to flee a new Slavic Communist government, 2 years in a refugee camp, and immigration to America. Settling in Queens, NY, as she grows from a Queens restaurant owner to a culinary star by being true to the flavors of her youthful homeland. A wise, funny, remarkable woman!

Don't ...

In this episode, up-and-coming chef and finalist on Gordon Ramsey's 'Next Level Chef' talks about his Italian-American family's standard dishes growing up, his youthful forays into special popcorn recipes, and his pop tart fetish. He also discusses his early college start in catering, experiments into more exotic food, and his first real cooking job in a pub. Then culinary school, followed by work as a line cook at ...