833: The Sheet Cake Plot Twist with Zola Gregory

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Zola Gregory (1:08)

I was so in my head, like, why would I make a new chocolate cake recipe? If it's not going to be like amazing.

Trying to make something that's amazing and basic at the same time, is like a really high bar. I think I made at least 17 variations of that cake.

Eliza Abarbanel (1:25)

This is TASTE. I'm your host, Eliza Barbanel.

Zola Gregory is a writer, recipe developer and food stylist based in Seattle. Her bi-weekly recipe column for TASTE, Extra Good, has yielded countless hits, and now she has a debut cookbook to enjoy. Sheet Cakes! In this long overdue episode, Zola stops into the studio to talk about her distinct cooking point of view, going down the chocolate cake rabbit hole, and much more. Zola Gregory, this is TASTE. Thank you for coming on the podcast.

Zola Gregory (2:05)

Thank you so much for having me.

Eliza Abarbanel (2:06)

This is a momentous moment for me because I have had the pleasure of being Zola's editor for her TASTE cooking column for almost three years now. And I feel like we're kind of best friends, honestly, but we've never met in person.

Zola Gregory (2:21)

It's true. I was looking forward to this day. I was wondering how tall you were gonna be.

Eliza Abarbanel (2:24)

Yeah, how did I measure up?

Zola Gregory (2:25)

You're actually a little taller than I thought you would be. You're almost my height.

Eliza Abarbanel (2:27)

Well, you're tall.

Zola Gregory (2:29)

I'm wearing big shoes.

Eliza Abarbanel (2:29)

How tall are you?

Zola Gregory (2:30)

Five, eight and a half.

Eliza Abarbanel (2:31)

Wow, you're a five, eight and a half vision in, are they Tevas?

Zola Gregory (2:35)

They're Tevas, or Teva. I don't know how to, don't make me say it.

Eliza Abarbanel (2:38)

I could say that you're walking around the city shoes because you're finally visiting New York on Book Tour, no less. How does it feel?

Zola Gregory (2:45)

Feels crazy. The last time I was here, I was 18 years old, like 12 years ago. Wow. And I had no fun at all, so this is way better.

Eliza Abarbanel (2:52)

What was so bad on your last trip?

Zola Gregory (2:53)

On my last trip, I was here alone, and I was trying to become a model.

And I was just being rejected for my looks and body. Were you doing gossies? Yeah. Wow.

Eliza Abarbanel (3:04)

The America's Next Top Model, that I made mine as a teenager is really catching up with me right now.

Zola Gregory (3:09)

No, it was horrible. And I was alone staying with my friend who was 30, and she abandoned me.

It was my first trip outside of Washington pretty much.

Eliza Abarbanel (3:19)

Well, a cool parallel because now you're back and you're still going to lots of different places to talk about your work, but now it's for your work as a recipe developer and a cookbook author.

Zola Gregory (3:29)

Yeah, like a different dream. Different dreams being actually fulfilled this time, which feels really nice.

Eliza Abarbanel (3:34)

Okay. So the New Yorker and me obviously wants to know where you've been eating or if there's anywhere that you're looking forward to eating while you're in town.

Zola Gregory (3:41)

Okay. So I did ask you for recommendations last night for those who don't know. We did go to Little Banjan, which for the whole night I kept calling Mini Banjan. Cute. Which was totally by accident. That was delicious.

We really enjoyed that. Then I went to Radio Bakery yesterday with a friend and had one of the best. I'm really picky about bakeries. I know you're going to ask me about bakeries. That was one of the best chocolate chip cookies I've had in a bakery. Wow. It was very undercooked, which is absolutely key.