Home Podcasts Special Sauce with Ed Levine
Special Sauce with Ed Levine

Special Sauce with Ed Levine

Ed Levine 459 Episodes Jul 24, 2026

Special Sauce with Ed Levine is a podcast from Serious Eats where host Ed Levine chats with famous friends and acquaintances about food and life. Each episode offers an intimate conversation that gives food lovers a behind-the-scenes look at the food culture. The show features a mix of well-known chefs, writers, and other personalities from the culinary world.

Episodes

Loving Food Can Actually Be the Secret to Eating Less of It
Loving Food Can Actually Be the Secret to Eating Less of It Jul 24, 2026 42:04 This week on Special Sauce Dr. Dana Small, a professor at McGill University and one of the leading experts on the neuroscience of food decisions, and longtime friend of the podcast Pete Wells of The New York Times join us to explain how the pleasure and enjoyment of food can be the most important element in helping us stick to a healthier diet. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.o
The Russ and Daughters Story
The Russ and Daughters Story Jul 17, 2026 43:21 How does a family business survive more than a century of selling smoked fish, bagels, and candy? Russ and Daughters' Niki Russ Federman explains all.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
The Bear's Final Season with the NYT's James Poniewozik
The Bear's Final Season with the NYT's James Poniewozik Jul 10, 2026 45:35 If there is a smarter or better TV critic than The New York Times's James Poniewozik I have yet to come across him or her. So when I was dying to talk to someone about The Bear's moving final season I rang up James and he graciously agreed to come on Special Sauce to talk about it. We had a blast talking about Carmy and Sydney and all the other finely etched characters on the show.  Lear
A Pie Reheat for the 4th of July
A Pie Reheat for the 4th of July Jul 3, 2026 27:16 Here at Special Sauce we love pie in all its forms: we love shepherd's pie, apple pie, key lime pie, lemon meringue pie, and our absolute favorite, peach pie. And given that we're coming up on America's 250th birthday and Americans love pie we thought we'd reheat one of our favorite pie episodes to get in the spirit of things. Stacey Mei Yan Fong catalogued her love of pie when she publis
Summer Burgers Part 2: Kenji and George Motz
Summer Burgers Part 2: Kenji and George Motz Jun 26, 2026 37:17 This week on Special Sauce serious eaters get to eavesdrop on part 2 of my hilarious and informative conversation with burger mavens Kenji and Hamburger America's George Motz. Nobody knows more about cooking and eating burgers than these two burger mavens.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
The Collective Joy of Knicks Fans
The Collective Joy of Knicks Fans Jun 19, 2026 35:10 As one of the millions of long-suffering Knicks fans I am still basking in the afterglow of the team's historical and magical run. I decided I had to devote another episode of Special Sauce to the team's amazing playoff run to the NBA championship. And who better to join me on mic than the The New York Times' terrific writer Matt Flegenheimer, who to my way of thinking has become the poet
Burger Madness Part 1 with Kenji and George Motz
Burger Madness Part 1 with Kenji and George Motz Jun 12, 2026 29:17 With grilling season underway I felt the time was right to talk burgers with Kenji and Hamburger America's George Motz. We talk burger history, burger cooking methods, and all things burger.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
The Knicks: Orange and Blue Skies, Baby!
The Knicks: Orange and Blue Skies, Baby! Jun 5, 2026 45:36 As one of the millions of long-suffering New York Knicks fans, I decided I had to devote an episode of Special Sauce to the the team's amazing playoff run. Joining me on the pod is the The New York Times's Matt Flegenheimer, who wrote a great piece about NYC coming together to celebrate this magical run the team is on so far, and food writer Chris Crowley, a former Serious Eater who is no
Mateo Kehler: The Cheese Visionary Behind Jasper Hill Farm
Mateo Kehler: The Cheese Visionary Behind Jasper Hill Farm May 29, 2026 40:11 This week on Special Sauce we talk to Mateo Kehler, the cheese visionary behind Jasper Hill Farm.  Mateo and his brother Andy, carpenters by trade, pooled together their life savings and bought a 200 acre dilapidated dairy farm in Greensboro, Vermont, in 1998. They were cheesemakers on a mission to save a disappearing way of life in Vermont's Northeast Kingdom, where dairy farming had bee
A Hot Dog Reheat for Memorial Day
A Hot Dog Reheat for Memorial Day May 22, 2026 46:16 I have written thousands of words about the joys of eating hot dogs, so when Memorial Day rolls around, this serious eater's thoughts immediately turn to the humble frankfurter. A couple of years ago we had my friend and fellow food writer J.J. Goode on Special Sauce to talk about our love for the hot dog in all its forms, including the many regional styles we both have encountered along
The Big Bagel Taste Test
The Big Bagel Taste Test May 15, 2026 32:46 This week on the pod we are back with Part 2 of our deep dive into bageldom with bagel baker and celebrated chef Mark Strausman of Mark’s Off Madison in NYC. He and I taste-tested bagels from Wall Street darling PopUp Bagels, which was just valued at 300 million dollars, a classic traditional NY bagel concern Utopia Bagels, next-gen sourdough bagel bakery Apollo, and of course, Mark’s own
Bagels Are Having A Moment
Bagels Are Having A Moment May 8, 2026 26:42 Like slice pizza and smash burgers bagels are having a moment. One concept Pop Up Bagels was just valued at $300 million in its most recent round of financing. Pop Up's rip and dip bagels are a viral sensation but have left some traditional bagel purists unimpressed. One of those purists is the great chef turned master bagel baker Mark Strausman, so we traveled to Mark's restaurant Mark's

Recommended