833: The Sheet Cake Plot Twist with Zola Gregory

Zola Gregory (0:08)

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.

Aliza Abarbanel (0:25)

This is TASTE. I'm your host, Aliza Abarbanel.

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 (1:05)

Thank you so much for having me.

Aliza Abarbanel (1:06)

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 (1:21)

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

Aliza Abarbanel (1:24)

Yeah, how did I measure up?

Zola Gregory (1:25)

You're actually a little taller than I thought you would be. You're almost my height. Well, you're tall. I'm wearing big shoes.

Aliza Abarbanel (1:29)

How tall are you?

Zola Gregory (1:30)

Five, eight and a half.

Aliza Abarbanel (1:31)

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

Zola Gregory (1:35)

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

Aliza Abarbanel (1:38)

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 (1:45)

It 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.

Aliza Abarbanel (1:51)

What was so bad on your last trip?

Zola Gregory (1:53)

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

So that was and I was just like being rejected for my looks and body. Were you doing gossies? Yeah.

Aliza Abarbanel (2:03)

Wow. The America's Next Top Model. Mainline as a teenager is really catching up with me right now.

Zola Gregory (2:09)

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

It was my first trip like outside of, outside of Washington pretty much.

Aliza Abarbanel (2:19)

Well, kind of 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 like a recipe developer and a cookbook author.

Zola Gregory (2:29)

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

Aliza Abarbanel (2:34)

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 (2:41)

Okay. So I did, I did ask you for recommendations last night for those who don't know. We did go to Little Banchan, which for the whole night I kept calling Mini Banchan. 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, 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.

Aliza Abarbanel (3:10)

Did you get any of their laminated flaky pastries?

Zola Gregory (3:12)

Yeah. I got a chocolate croissant.

I don't know. I didn't look at the sign close enough. I think it has rye in it or some dark flour. But I ate it for breakfast this morning, so I can't give it a perfect grade.

Aliza Abarbanel (3:24)

It was a day old.

Zola Gregory (3:25)

It was a day old, but it was pretty good.

Aliza Abarbanel (3:27)

That's interesting. I feel like to me, their seasonal produce ones are always the ones that I covet. I don't know if they're still doing it, but they were doing a tomato danish earlier in the summer that just captivated my imagination.

Zola Gregory (3:39)

We were there at two, so a lot of stuff was sold out. But I wish I had gotten five cookies, and I could have brought one to you.