Carla Lalli Says Food Is A Feeling, from Expense Account

Hi, this is Yuri Lisordo, the managing producer of The Recipe with Kenji and Deb. We all know eating out in New York has become an extreme sport. If you treat dining out like a full-time obsession and care about the scene just as much as what's on the menu, you need to listen to Expense Account. Expense Account uses food as an entry point into bigger conversations about restaurants, culture, taste, and how it all relates to life and the world at large. Hosted by Jay Lee, food critic at Emily Sundberg's Feed Me media empire. Jay has one million opinions about food, but since he wants to hear everyone else's take, Jay will talk to chefs, writers, musicians, actors, and more, like writer Molly Baz, Chef Carla Lalli, and PBS host Patty Hinich. You'll hear about their best meals and worst meals, favorite spots around the world, and you might even get a peek inside their fridges to find out how they're really eating. The conversations will start with food, but will always wind up somewhere else because food is culture and everybody eats. I'm going to play the first episode for you now. In it, Jay Lee talks with chef and author Carla Lalli about her journey from Shake Shack to Bon Appétit, her new cookbook, and why we should eat our feelings. I'm down with that. You can listen to Expense Account wherever you get podcasts.

I heard rumors that Expense Account was done. I heard that Expense Account was canceled, that Expense Account was never coming back. I got a request for comment from a food media reporter asking me if Expense Account was over. And guess what? I'm here to say that the answer is no. [laughs] I'm here to say that those rumors are categorically false. In fact, it's an outright lie. Expense Account is back, baby, and we're better than ever. We're working with Higher Ground, which for those of you who don't know, is Obama's production company. I've not yet met Barack himself, but when I do, I promise, I promise, I promise that you guys will be the first to know. We're making some changes around here. I'll start at the top of each episode, just me telling you about my likes, my dislikes, what I've been up to. Maybe I'll talk about some food I ate, some drinks I drank, maybe some news, maybe a hot take or two. And then there's always an interview, and we've got some really great guests this season. I cannot wait for you guys to meet them. They'll be fun and full of surprises. We'll take a peek inside of some of their fridges. We'll dissect some of their dinner receipts. We'll play Marry, Fuck, Kill with them. Guess what? I'm marrying pork. So welcome back. This is Expense Account. Cue the music. [upbeat music] So as this is the first episode back, I've got a treat for you guys. We're talking all things fall with my friend, my boss, the queen of Substack, Emily Sundberg. Emily, welcome to Expense Account. How's it going?

Great. Thank you for having me on the show. I'm so excited for this season to kick off.

The first time of the season, but not the last time. Uh, how was your summer?

It was great. I, uh, traveled a bit at the beginning of the summer. I was in Europe. I did a little road trip from-

Mm

... France to Italy, which was super cool. It