The Bittman Project

Share this post

Vishwesh Bhatt and the Magical Flexibility of Food

www.bittmanproject.com
Beyond The Kitchen

Vishwesh Bhatt and the Magical Flexibility of Food

Plus: amazing food in L.A., swimming in Vegas, a chicken-free chicken sandwich

Mark Bittman
Feb 15
20
3
Share this post

Vishwesh Bhatt and the Magical Flexibility of Food

www.bittmanproject.com
Photo: Pableaux Johnson

It’s time for another episode of Food with Mark Bittman, and this week we’ve got Vishwesh Bhatt, the wonderful chef and James Beard Award winner for Best Chef: South.

LISTEN HERE

Vish, as he’s called by many, has a book out now that I just fell for. The book is called I Am From Here: Stories and Recipes from a Southern Chef — best title ever? — and as soon as I saw it, I was just grabbed. And then once you hear his story, and talk with him — well, you’ll see. It’s really fun to listen to Vish talk about traditions and authenticity; that’s a lot of what our conversation is about, and his take is really interesting, and just the right amount of sentimental. Hope you enjoy.

We also shared Vish’s recipe for Mom’s Rice “Pudding”; find that here.

“Just because we like something else or we take something else, or somebody else brings in other influences, doesn't necessarily mean we are giving away or losing what we have. We're just adding. Think of it as a quilt that somebody's adding another patch to.” — Vishwesh Bhatt

Follow Food with Mark Bittman:

Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Overcast | Pocket Casts | Amazon Music


Mark Travels and Recommends

VEGAS JUST FOR SWIMMING (ALAS)

Chilean Sea Bass at PRIME. Photo courtesy the Bellagio

I was in Vegas. The best thing, I think, was the Desert Breeze indoor municipal lap pool, which cost a buck for senior citizens; swimmers will want to go there. I looked for good food, I really did, but everything was mediocre and/or overpriced. (Well, I did find good food at Jean-Georges’ PRIME, but that’s kind of cheating.) I mean, Vegas is notoriously awful, but there is a huge strip of Asian food that I’m sure has treasures. I just didn’t find any of them.

TAOS FOR SNOW SPORTS

Then to Taos, which was a skiing trip, which didn’t do me much good, ‘cause I don’t ski. I snowmobiled, which was noisy and smelly and beautiful. I didn’t find good food there either. That wasn’t surprising—we were at a ski resort, after all.

Taos. Photo: Getty Images

L.A. FOR GREAT FOOD

Then to L.A., which is a different story. I cruised around with my friend Sam Polk, who founded EveryTable, and we looked at “new concepts” in restaurants, fortunately not eating in any. Interesting, though. Then I cooked with my friends Bob and Becky; that was the best meal of the week, until the next day. That was when I cruised around the east side, again poking into new restaurants and markets, and then stopped at Adana, an Armenian (but really multi-culti) restaurant in Glendale.

Keep reading with a 7-day free trial

Subscribe to The Bittman Project to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.

Already a paid subscriber? Sign in
Previous
Next
© 2023 Double B Publishing
Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start WritingGet the app
Substack is the home for great writing