Emmy Winner, International Acclaimed Journalist, Executive Producer, Food & Travel Lover, and Creator of the Beloved show "Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives" David Page takes us deep into the world of chefs, restaurateurs, and everything "foodie" from the nationally and internationally awarded to the locally loved on
Culinary Characters Unlocked
New episode every Tuesday.
David Page

Latest episode
2025 James Beard Award winner Nando Chang on Peruvian-Japanese cuisine, the threat to immigrants in the food world, and how hip-hop changed his life. The Chang siblings, born in Peru, emigrated to the U.S. as children, and now living in Miami, have locked up the James Beard award for Best Chef South for two straight years. Valerie won last year for her cooking at her Peruvian restaurant, Maty’s. Her older brother and co-owner Nando just won the 2025 award for what he does at his restaurant within that restaurant, the Michelin-star-winning Itamae AO. It is a ten-seat counter at which he serves his interpretation of the Peruvian-Japanese cuisine known as Nikkei, based mostly on raw fish and highlighting bold flavors. Chef Chang did not attend culinary school. In fact, he began working in restaurants to subsidize a music career that he pursued throughout his twenties before turning to the culinary side full-time.
Pitmaster Ali Clem on winning a Michelin star for her barbecue restaurant, and her remarkable rise from selling her barbecue from a trailer. Ali Clem says she was shocked when her La Barbecue restaurant in Austin, TX was recently awarded a Michelin star. She was mentored by members of a legendary Texas barbecue family, the Muellers of Louis Mueller Barbecue in Taylor, Texas and married founder Louis Mueller’s granddaughter, LeAnn Mueller. They worked together until Mueller’s untimely death and Clem now runs the restaurant alone, honoring the legacy of Mueller and her family through the barbecue she is making today. And unlike many in the barbecue world in Texas, she is excited about pushing the envelope, experimenting with new flavors and dishes, even making pickles and the Korean favorite, kimchi.
All Episodes

- CULINARY CHARACTERS UNLOCKED - EP 57
Pitmaster Ali Clem on winning a Michelin star for her barbecue restaurant, and her remarkable rise from selling her barbecue from a trailer. - EP 57

- CULINARY CHARACTERS UNLOCKED - EP 56
2025 James Beard Award winner Nando Chang on Peruvian-Japanese cuisine, the threat to immigrants in the food world, and how hip-hop changed his life. - EP 56
The Chang siblings, born in Peru, emigrated to the U.S. as children, and now living in Miami, have locked up the James Beard award for Best Chef South for two straight years. Valerie won last year for her cooking at her Peruvian restaurant, Maty’s. Her older brother and co-owner Nando just won the 2025 award for what he does at his restaurant within that restaurant, the Michelin-star-winning Itamae AO. It is a ten-seat counter at which he serves his interpretation of the Peruvian-Japanese cuisine known as Nikkei, based mostly on raw fish and highlighting bold flavors. Chef Chang did not attend culinary school. In fact, he began working in restaurants to subsidize a music career that he pursued throughout his twenties before turning to the culinary side full-time.

- CULINARY CHARACTERS UNLOCKED - EP 55
CHEF AND RESTAURATEUR NICHOLAS FANUCCI ON HIS CAREER AT LEGENDARY RESTAURANTS THAT WON MORE THAN 20 MICHELIN STARS. - EP 55
Born in Cannes, France, and raised in a food-centric French-Italian family, Nicholas Fanucci has run some of the greatest and best-known restaurants in America, including the French Laundry, Bouchon, Le Cirque, Le Bec-Fin, and more. Previously, he worked in Europe at legendary establishments including Alain Ducasse’s Louis XV. The restaurants he has worked at have amassed a total of more than 20 Michelin stars. Now he’s running two restaurants of his own in Los Angeles

- CULINARY CHARACTERS UNLOCKED - EP 54
CULINARY CHARACTERS UNLOCKED - CHEF YOTAKA AND ALEX MARTIN - EP 54

- CULINARY CHARACTERS UNLOCKED - EP 53
Chef and restaurateur Tyler Akin on re-opening his family’s favorite restaurant from his childhood and cooking a world of cuisines. EP 53

- CULINARY CHARACTERS UNLOCKED - EP 52
MICHELIN STAR WINNING CHEF SUZETTE GRESHAM ON BATTLING RESTAURANT WORLD MISOGYNY AND WHAT CUSTOMERS ARE DEMANDING TODAY .ep 52

- CULINARY CHARACTERS UNLOCKED - EP 51
THIRD GENERATION OWNER OF LEGENDARY SEATTLE RESTAURANT CANLIS, MARK CANLIS, ON KEEPING THE HIGHEST STANDARDS WHILE HITTING RE-SET TO KEEP FROM GETTING STALE AFTER 75 YEARS. EP 51
On Food and Wine’s list of America’s top restaurants for 2025, Canlis came in at number two. That, after decades as a Seattle landmark and a nationally known pinnacle of fine dining. It is also a time of great challenge for Canlis – a new Executive Chef; the departure of Mark’s brother, who had been his business partner for twenty years; and the tough post-covid economic environment that has hit the restaurant industry extremely hard. Yet Mark Canlis says he is not concerned – rather, he is committed to continually raising the bar in both food and service. And he is strikingly candid on a wide range of subjects – from food critics (he says they are too focused on the food as opposed to the overall experience) to a highly publicized lawsuit that accused Canlis of exploiting workers and misleading diners, accusations he vehemently denies, insisting that his restaurant has been at the forefront of improving worker pay by replacing tipping with a service charge.

- CULINARY CHARACTERS UNLOCKED - EP 50
MICHELIN AWARD WINNING CHEF JULIA MOMOSÉ ON CREATING THE TASTES SHE GREW UP WITH IN JAPAN AT HER CHICAGO RESTAURANT KUMIKO, AND THE MIXOLOGY THAT JUST WON HER A JAMES BEARD AWARD. EP 50

- CULINARY CHARACTERS UNLOCKED - EP 49
CLASSICALLY TRAINED BOUNDARY-SHATTERING CHEF JORDAN KAHN ON SIMULTANEOUSLY HOLDING MICHELN STARS AT TWO DIFFERENT RESAURANTS, AND HIS SINGULAR APPROACH TO STORYTELLING THROUGH FOOD. EP 49

- CULINARY CHARACTERS UNLOCKED - EP 48
CHEF ANITA JAISINGHANI ON CREATING A WILDLY SUCCESSFUL INDIAN DINER IN HOUSTON, TEXAS . EP 48

- CULINARY CHARACTERS UNLOCKED - EP 47
MICHELIN STAR WINNING CHEF LAURENT TOURONDEL ON HIS RESTAURANT BLOWING UP ON TIK TOK. EP 47

- CULINARY CHARACTERS UNLOCKED - EP 46
CHEF MARISA BAGGETT ON SHATTERING EXPECTATIONS AS A FEMALE, BLACK, JEWISH SUSHI CHEF, AND REDEFINING SUSHI HER WAY EP 46

- CULINARY CHARACTERS UNLOCKED - EP 45
CHEF ERIC LEVINE ON TURNING BROOKLYN FAVORITES LIKE HOT DOGS AND KNISHES INTO ELEVATED CULINARY MASTERPIECES— AND ON ACHIEVING CELEBRITY AND SUCCESS WHILE REPEATEDLY BATTLING CANCER . EP45

- CULINARY CHARACTERS UNLOCKED - EP 44
OWNER AMY MILLS ON SECRETS BEHIND THE ICONIC BARBECUE RESTAURANT FOUNDED BY HER FATHER, MIKE MILLS, THE FIRST PITMASTER NAMED GRAND CHAMPION THREE TIMES AT THE INTERNATIONALLY RENOWNED MEMPHIS IN MAY BARBECUE COMPETITION. EP44

- CULINARY CHARACTERS UNLOCKED - EP 43
CULINARY CHARACTERS UNLOCKED - JAMES BEARD AWARD WINNING CHEF ALON SHAYA - EP 43

- CULINARY CHARACTERS UNLOCKED - EP 42
CHEF ALYCIA WAHN MARTINDALE ON MICHELIN RECOGNIZING HER NEW TORONTO RESTAURANT; COOKING CREOLE, CARRIBEAN, AND LATIN AMERICAN FLAVORS NORTH OF THE BORDER; AND WHY SHE’S SCRATCH- MAKING HER OWN BUTTER AND BACON. EP 42
Chef Alycia Wahn Martindale is cooking up southern flavors north of the border at Conejo Negro (Black Rabbit in Spanish), the massively popular Toronto restaurant she owns with her husband and their good friend. The menu is a combination of Creole, Caribbean, and Latin American cooking. And she is making everything possible from scratch— bacon, butter, pickles and much more. The former punk rock musician says she wants diners to feel the love in her food, which should feel like something someone’s grandmother would make. After little more than a year, Conejo Negro was feted by Michelin with a bib gourmand and an award for outstanding service.

- CULINARY CHARACTERS UNLOCKED - EP 41
Katz’s Deli owner Jake Dell with the inside story of the 137 year-old American institution and having Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal back to re-do their famous movie scene – EP 41
