Chef Manish Tyagi

Manish Tyagi has followed his passion, through fate and circumstance, through the hand of God and most importantly through his own diligence and determination to succeed.

At every chance Manish said, “yes sure”. He found himself at hospitality school rather than engineering. He found himself being interviewed by an Executive Chef instead of a Food & Beverage Manager and ended up in a kitchen.

When a phone call came from the USA, following an award he received in India, he said yes and jumped on a plane, with his wife, to a new country and a new adventure and is now making waves in the US city of San Francisco which officially has the largest number of restaurants per capita.

His new venture August 1 Five, named for the Indian day of Independence is a unique blend of true Indian family food lovingly caressed into a modern presentation for the diner.

His dream is to bring you the story of his own journey, of his family and of the country he has for now left behind. Manish shares all this and more – his parents have had their visas revoked to visit, his wife is unable to work in the USA too, but they have the grit to stick this out and to live every day thankful for the opportunities that have come to them.

When you listen I guarantee you will be uplifted and energised and probably ready to book a ticket and then a table to visit this Chef in the heart of San Francisco.

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Food, Family & Friends Podcast, hosted by Vanessa Baxter and brought to you by Podcasts NZ and World Podcasts.

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Niki Bezzant & Vanessa Baxter

Niki Bezzant is a writer, a speaker, an editor and an eater! She loves food and all of it. She is a believer in balance and speaks out against diets and ‘faddish’ eating types of lifestyles. Why? Because to her they are unsustainable. Her feeling is that people have become obsessed by what they can’t or shouldn’t eat rather than concentrating on a balance of lovely fresh foods – mostly from the land and the sea – that nourish us – body and soul.

Niki is the President of the Food Writers of NZ Association and Editor at Large of the Healthy Food Guide NZ. She has a TedX talk – Cupcakes and Carrots which is fabulous, and she can be heard often on the panel at RadioNZ. She is passionate about clothes and sews her own – she loves vintage designs (and rainy weather which is the perfect excuse for cooking and sewing). You will hear loads from her in our chat and you can also find out more about Niki by visiting her website.

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Food, Family & Friends Podcast, hosted by Vanessa Baxter and brought to you by Podcasts NZ and World Podcasts.

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Jacques Reymond, a composer of ingredients into dishes and dishes into occasions. Known as the founder of modern Australian cuisine, Jacques came to Melbourne over 30 years ago, bringing his well-honed technical skills and intimate knowledge of hospitality which he combined with Australian indigenous ingredients to capture the essence of his new home.

Whilst demanding of those around him, he has expected no less of himself and at 23 he was running the kitchens at a hotel in South America, supervising over 100 chefs, the menu planning and events. Jacques will play an integral part in the upcoming Melbourne Food and Wine Festival, held over 2 weeks from the 31st March 2017. This is an annual event which is much treasured in the food world, showcasing world leading Chefs, fabulous cooking techniques and wonderful ingredients.

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Jacques Restaurants – in Melbourne, Australia are Bistro Gitan and L’Hotel Gitan.

Food, Family & Friends Podcast, hosted by Vanessa Baxter and brought to you by Podcasts NZ and World Podcasts.

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Peter Gordon is a Chef extraordinaire, Consultant Chef to AirNZ, passionate food lover, Executive Chef of The Providores in London, The Sugar Club and Bellota in Auckland, and co-founder of Cross Town Doughnuts in London.

He is a caring supporter of many charities – all of which have touched him personally. This Founding Father of fusion cuisine (as he is known in NZ) has a wonderful story telling ability that draws you in and has you wishing you could join him on his next adventure. How this man has packed so much into his days and life to date is extraordinary. That he still gives his time for fans like me is testimony to the wonderful person he is known to be.

Seriously, everyone I spoke to about him, without fail, told me how lovely he is. Yet, I was still so nervous to interview him. But I can assure you his reputation is confirmed – this man in a delight. Caring, genuine, fun, and crazy busy, Peter is desperate for more time in a year and would love to go and hang out to cook with the locals in South America. I truly hope he gets there because he so deserves to do that for himself.
Enjoy sharing a little of Peter’s journey with me, here, on my podcast.

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Food, Family & Friends Podcast, hosted by Vanessa Baxter and brought to you by Podcasts NZ and World Podcasts.

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Trudi (the Foodie) Nelson and I met properly on the Tall Ship, Esmeralda, from Chile that was in Auckland’s port in November 2016. I was a little nervous, Trudi is such a well-known personality through her cross media work as a Broadcast Journalist and a feisty foodie who was on the Executive Committee of the NZ Food Writers Association. However, as soon as I met her, I realized my fears were unfounded. She is fun and vibrant. She is a busy Mum, has a load of TV and Radio work, is passionate about food and has just sold up the family home and poured money, heart and soul into a new venture with her husband – the Fresh Factory in Mt Eden.  

Trudi and I chat about our mutual love of food, of sharing food and how our lives are totally intertwined with our passion of food. Trudi shares how she and her husband Mark are literally living and breathing their business – and physically living on the other side of the wall.

Trudi also shares the story of coming to NZ with an Aussie accent as a child and being teased so often that she tirelessly worked on her Kiwi intonation and how grateful she is now or she may not have ended up in broadcasting! We laugh that she hates to read fiction and only enjoys reading cookbooks – she is not alone.. This is a fast paced episode which I hope you will love!

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Food, Family & Friends Podcast, hosted by Vanessa Baxter and brought to you by Podcasts NZ and World Podcasts.

Recipe of the week, here it is: Shepherds Pie (Serves 6)

> Ingredients:

8 Agria potatoes, peeled and halved
Dash of milk
Knob of butter
Salt and pepper
500g cooked lamb mince (or your left-over roast lamb, minced up)
Left over roast gravy or make 250ml
Handful of fresh baby spinach leaves
1 can of baked beans
1 cup grated cheese

> Method:

1. Boil the potatoes, drain and make into a mash with a bit of milk and butter. Season and set aside.
2. Mix the lamb and gravy together and place in a pie dish. Layer with spinach leaves and then baked beans.
3. Spoon over the mashed potatoes and sprinkle grated cheese on top.
5. Cook at 200° in a fan-bake oven for 15 minutes or until hot and golden. Serve with a leafy salad or freshly steamed peas.

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What I loved when I first met Kelli Brett, was her comment “oh I think I’m going to like you as I enjoy your sense of humour on social media.”

There was also an almost Kiwi humbleness about this Australian when she insisted that she is still shocked at the reaction in a crowd when she mentions she is the Cuisine Magazine Editor.  I laughed when she said this because she has only been in the country for just over a year and whilst I am also an import, I have learned that the Cuisine magazine is the holy grail of mags for all true foodies in this country. I figured, she is newish to town and whilst a big wig and crazy busy, surely as a compatriot she will give me time for an interview!

What I was not expecting was the hint of constant co-incidences between us.  I wanted to shout throughout the whole interview – but hang on ‘same here’, but hey ‘that happened to me too!’ but I was aware that she herself is a professional and well- practiced interviewer and I needed to keep her focussed on her story – and not mine!

She is worried her story is not enough about food. Yet she mentions her 1200 cookbooks (of which I sighted at least 10%) so that is testimony to her love for food surely. And for heaven sakes we already know she is into food or there is no way any one would have her as Editor of Cuisine.

The fact she also curated the award-winning, Australia Cooks, which chronicles Aussie artisan producers and their food which itself spun from her “The Main Ingredient” food radio programme that aired on the ABC nationally, is enough to put her credentials in perspective.

For you the listener, this is an episode all about the woman behind the brand – and the brand is Kelli Brett.

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Food, Family & Friends Podcast, hosted by Vanessa Baxter and brought to you by Podcasts NZ and World Podcasts.

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