Shut Up 'n Eat

“We honor tradition, but it doesn’t stop us from being creative,” says chef Nhu Ton, and the food she's cooking at Bánh Anh Em (and Bánh) in New York City is delicious testament to that philosophy.

Here she pushes Vietnamese cuisine past stereotypical notions of northern and southern styles to delve into both crowd-pleasing hits — like her flaky, well-stuffed bánh mì — and lesser-known regional treats, like bánh ướt chồng, a tower of delicate rice rolls you can fill with everything from grilled pork jowl to tart green mango. If you think you know Vietnamese food — even if you grew up eating Vietnamese food — Bánh Anh Em will show you how dazzlingly diverse the cuisine truly is.

And at the center of it is Nhu Ton, whose work ethic is unmatched. She bakes her own bread, ferments her own pickles and hot sauces, spends months on R&D to develop recipes that match her memories, and can often be found sleeping overnight in the restaurant itself, just to make sure everything goes right. In this interview, she reveals the flavors she grew up on, the at-times difficult journey that turned her into a chef, and how she transforms a country's worth of dishes and traditions into a restaurant that's on everyone's best-of lists.

Well, we gave it a shot — at SushiCon, the third annual NYC gathering of raw-fish aficionados. (I was going to say a-fish-ionados, but I didn't. You're welcome!) And as we stuffed ourselves with slabs of tuna, salmon, steelhead trout, scallops, and more, we met the farmers, ranchers, restaurateurs, and importers who make the industry work.

Tune in to learn about the dominance of two big fish species, the way to judge the quality of sushi rice, and the artful savagery of a tuna-cutting demonstration. Featuring guest appearances by Bret Thorn of Nation's Restaurant News, SushiCon founder Alex Choi, and Monica Lee of Route 66 International.

Matt's recent trip to Japan — his umpteenth in the past 19 years — was only ten days long, but he managed to fill it with such a diversity of food experiences that the only name that fit this episode was "The Japan Episode."

Tune in for tales of punk-rock izakayas, airport sushi, craft beer on remote mountaintops, complex reservation systems, and, of course, the essential souvenirs to seek out on any trip to Japan.

In Manhattan, right on the edge of the Lower East Side and Chinatown, there's a restaurant called Corima that will make you rethink Mexican cuisine. There are no tacos, no enchiladas, no combo special no. 3. The ingredients encompass edamame, mimolette, and golden osetra caviar. There is an entire world here.

And yet Corima is also quintessentially Mexican, a showcase for corn, nopales, chapulines, and chiles that reflects the world-spanning but deeply rooted experiences of its chef, Fidel Caballero, who grew up in the border towns of El Paso, Texas, and Ciudad Juárez and cooked in France and Spain, Shanghai and Bangkok, before coming to New York City.

In this episode, chef Caballero sits down with our host Cathy Erway to discuss the currents and flavors that shaped him — and created Corima.

From brown rice to sweet corn to mangoes and beyond, the flavors of the pastries at Lysée evoke the sensory memories of chef Eunji Lee's Korean upbringing — while also demonstrating her mastery of French patisserie technique.

In this episode, co-host Cathy Erway talks with chef Lee about the inspirations behind her life-changingly delicious confections.

For nearly 30 years, Matt has been going to Taiwan to eat — but it's been seven years since his last visit. What's changed in the night markets? What new trends have arisen? What old favorites have stuck around? He and Cathy (author of 'The Food of Taiwan') get into it, from mango shaved ice and Latin/Taiwanese gua bao to exploding, cucumber-stuffed squid.

For more on eating in Taiwan — including a map of our favorite, most delicious destinations — check out https://shutupneat.com/taiwan.

This episode is sponsored by HEYDOH soy sauce. Take 10% off your next order by using code HEYDOHNEAT at checkout.

The Fancy Food Show is America's biggest convention for "consumer packaged goods," or CPG — spices, snacks, hot sauces, simmer sauces, condiments, frozen dumplings, frozen seafood, exotic hams, cheeses foreign and domestic, and just about everything else a human being can eat (apart from, like, straight-up fruits and vegetables).

In this episode, Cathy and Matt visit the latest incarnation of the show, held at NYC's Javits Center, in search of the latest trends — and whatever else catches their eye (and palate). Join them as they talk about everything from flour and vinegar to potato balls and meat sticks!

The new South Indian restaurant Kidilum brings the cuisine of Kerala — think fresh spices, tons of seafood, and hearty meats — to Manhattan. The look is chic, the atmosphere a party, and the origins are deeply international.

In this episode, Cathy and Matt speak with Kidilum's chef, Vinu Raveendran, and its beverage director, Devender Sehgal, about how the restaurant began, the freshness of their spices, and their own circuitous careers.

Chapters

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Introduction (00:00:20)

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First Cooking Memory (00:10:11)

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Kitchen Tour (00:20:37)

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Chef vs. Robot (00:24:48)

Lei is an exquisite little wine bar smack in the heart of Manhattan's classic Chinatown. The flavors are Chinese, with exceptional clarity and creativity — Lei's celtuce salad is already an icon — and the wine list ranges from the Loire Valley and Burgundy to Eastern Europe, Lebanon, Mexico, Japan, and, of course, China.

When Shut Up 'n Eat hosts Cathy and Matt ate (and drank) there, they had no idea it was about to win the 2026 James Beard Award for Best New Restaurant in America, putting it alongside legends like Craft, Per Se, and Nobu. It's an honor Lei has thoroughly earned.

In this episode we sit down to talk with owner Annie Shi and chef Patty Lee about underage wine criticism, childhood Thanksgiving, and how Lei fits into its neighborhood. Plus, we play "Chef vs. Robot" with the trendiest ingredients we can think of. (Subscribe to our newsletter at http://shutupneat.com/subscribe to vote for the winner!)

What to expect:

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Introduction (00:00:20)

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First Cooking Memory (00:06:35)

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Kitchen Tour (00:37:10)

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Chef vs. Robot (00:42:49 )

When we first went to Kabawa, we knew that chef Paul Carmichael's ode to the Caribbean was a wonderful laboratory of intense flavors and easy fun. (Well, Cathy knew, but Matt had no idea.) What we didn't know was that Kabawa was about to land at the very tippy-top of the New York Times's annual Top 100 restaurant list.

It's an honor that Carmichael has certainly earned, having done time everywhere from Aquavit and WD-50 to the Momofuku group: Ma Pêche, Seiobo (in Australia), and now Kabawa (and its even chiller sibling, Bar Kabawa). Come join us as we delve into the factors that shaped Carmichael as a chef, from cooking eggs in Barbados to the noisy frogs of Puerto Rico.

In our very first episode, co-hosts Cathy Erway and Matt Gross head to the best Korean restaurant in Brooklyn — Insa, in Gowanus — to talk with chefs Sohui Kim and Yong Shin about kitchen wounds, one-item restaurants, Korean cultural domination, and the food trends that are due for a comeback. Raspberry vinaigrette, anyone?

Plus, Sohui and Yong play "Chef vs. Robot": How would they make a dish with three random ingredients? And will their concoctions be better than what ChatGPT comes up with? Listen to the episode, then subscribe to the Shut Up 'n Eat newsletter to vote for the winner!

What is Shut Up 'n Eat? Who's behind it? What can you expect from this soon-to-be-world-dominating podcast? This brief teaser will explain ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING!