Episode 156: Lisabet Summa (Big Time Restaurant Group); Brandon Jew on AAPI-directed Hate Crimes

She may not be a household name, but Lisabet Summa has led a storied career in the profession she loves as much today as when she first set foot in a professional kitchen. After coming up alongside such luminaries as Norman Van Aken and Charlie Trotter in Chicago, Lisabet moved to South Florida, eventually becoming executive culinary director of the prolific Big Time Restaurant Group. Lisabet takes us through her journey from acting to cooking to her current role overseeing 15 restaurants as well as her continuing commitment to learning and growing, from gardening to milling her own grains.

And in The Line-Up, our  weekly news and commentary segment, San Francisco's Brandon Jew joins us to discuss the alarming rise in AAPI-directed hate crimes in the United States, and how he experiences it as an Asian-American in the Bay Area. We also talk about his new cookbook (coauthored with Tienlon Ho) Mister Jiu's in Chinatown, which has an elevated poignancy in the context of these troubled times.

Andrew Talks to Chefs is sponsored in part by meez; please check out this revolutionary new interactive recipe database and tool for professional chefs and cooks.

Please consider supporting Andrew Talks to Chefs via our Patreon page–we have just eliminated tiered contributor levels and invite one and all to support us at a minimum of just $2 per month. 

Andrew Talks to Chefs is a fully independent podcast and no longer affiliated with our former host network; please visit and bookmark our official website for all show updates, blog posts, personal and virtual appearances, and related information.

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW:

Andrew is a writer by trade. If you'd like to support him, there's no better way than by purchasing his most recent book, The Dish: The Lives and Labor Behind One Plate of Food (October 2023), about all the key people (in the restaurant, on farms, in delivery trucks, etc.) whose stories and work come together in a single restaurant dish.

We'd love if you followed us on Instagram. 

Please also follow Andrew's real-time journal of the travel, research, writing, and production of/for his next book The Opening (working title), which will track four restaurants in different parts of the U.S. from inception to launch.

For Andrew's writing, dining, and personal adventures, follow along at his personal feed.

Thank you for listening—please don't hesitate to reach out with any feedback and/or suggestions!