834: Vegetable Nerds Wanted with Ali Francis

Ali Francis (0:08)

Vegetables are just these unproblematic queens.

They're so cute, they're so delicious, they're little sculptural works of art. Nature just makes Romanesco. Ridiculous is just a thing that exists in the dirt in Italy. I just can't really fathom that, to be honest.

Aliza Abarbanel (0:25)

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

Ali Francis is an Australian writer and pastry chef living in Salt Lake City, Utah. She's the author of the new book, The Curious Lives of Vegetables, an artful exploration of the wonderful world of edible plants, their history, and their crucial role in our future. It's a must read for produce lovers everywhere, with in-depth reporting and beautiful botanical illustrations that ensure you'll never look at the grocery aisle or farmer's market the same. Today on the show, Ali and I nerd out on all things vegetables.

Matt Rodbard (1:04)

At the top of the show, it's the return of Three Things, where Aliza and I talk about what is exciting us in the world of restaurants, cookbooks, and the food world as a whole. Aliza, we are back with Three Things. How are you doing?

Aliza Abarbanel (1:18)

I'm doing well, Matt. How are you?

Matt Rodbard (1:20)

Great. I was in Chicago for 18 hours on Saturday.

I went to three restaurants and I'm going to talk about them. That's how I'm doing.

Aliza Abarbanel (1:29)

The three restaurants in 18 hours is a very real feat, but I believe that you're equipped for the challenge. Tell me about your first restaurant.

Matt Rodbard (1:36)

Yeah, the first restaurant, and this is in no order. I also saw my friend, Steven Stacey. Happy birthday, Stacey. I feel like I don't like to visit cities for one day just because of scheduling. We're working on some projects. There are some meals I wanted to have for future interviews, and a couple of these folks mentioned will be on our show in the coming months. I want to talk about Mi Tocaya from Diana Davia.

Unbelievable restaurant.

Aliza Abarbanel (2:00)

I love that restaurant.

Matt Rodbard (2:01)

You've been there, so you know. It is so incredible. I got to chat with Diana very briefly. As a reminder, it was opened in Logan Square in 2017, and has been awarded a Michelin Bib Gourmand for several years and BA Best New Restaurants.

The style of cooking there is deeply personal in some ways. I think it's very adventurous. For me, the seared barramundi had roasted fennel, rainbow trout caviar, and was just so perfectly seared. It's technically flawless. I had an Amish country chicken smothered in this like garlicky cremosa and bitter greens, and there was some agave sap in the sauce as well. I just really enjoyed this meal.

She's gonna be on the show in the coming months, as mentioned, and I just want it, which was in my neighborhood, is the kind of vibe I got from it. The Niximalization happening with the blue corn tortillas that we had on the side with the chicken, the style of service, the cocktails. I just really love this restaurant. Mi Tocaya in Logan Square.

Aliza Abarbanel (3:12)

Yeah, I love that restaurant. I'm glad that you got to go.

Matt Rodbard (3:14)

What's your first thing?

Aliza Abarbanel (3:15)

My first thing, since we're talking about Chicago, I guess I'll talk about a hot dog, because that seems relevant. And in true Chicago form, there was no ketchup on this hot dog. I went to the hot dog pop-up that Elbow Bread has been doing on Thursday through Saturday in the evenings, which I think is a really smart way for a bakery to kind of activate their space in the evening in a smart way. And they do, they make their own hot dog buns, obviously. They have their own kind of set menu, and then they bring in different chefs to do pop-up collab hot dogs. So I went over the weekend, I got their classic, which is caramelized onion, mustard on that hot dog in the house-made bun. But then also there was a special don-don hot dog that Charlene Lowell, who does this Sichuan pop-up, the bodega was doing, which had like pork don-don sauce on the beef hot dog in the bun, which is a lot of meat for me personally, but I think it really worked together in a delicious combination and then I of course also had to get a corn cake donut hole and a chocolate chip cookie for dessert and just sat and ate it all outside of Elbow in that nice little corner of downtown Manhattan and I thought it was a really sweet kind of end of summer meal.

Matt Rodbard (4:22)