Brian McGinn

@studiomut FRANCO PEPE: PIZZA CHEF — available now please support your local bookstore ♥️🍕

FRANCO PEPE: PIZZA CHEF — available today 🍕 find it at your favorite bookstore 📚 shot on @leica_camera 📷

For the past year and a half, @brimcgi and I have been journeying to Caiazzo to photograph the beautiful work of our friend @francopepeingrani . The book comes out October 29th—we can’t wait to share it with you! Thank you to our friends at @phaidonpress and @leica_camera for their trust and support.

With Loquat, AJ and the other co-owners wanted the opportunity to fully dedicate themselves to craftsmanship. Sourcing and roasting their own coffees lets the Loquat team share their exact coffee perspective with their customers through every espresso shot they pull. Video by Brian McGinn and Justin Kane

Eat chicken without seeing chicken. 吃鸡不见鸡. FURONGHUANG GARDEN RESTAURANT Chengdu, China The dish is called xuěhuā jīnào — snowflake chicken puree, and it’s the signature of Master Chef Wen Xing at Furong Huang. It takes twelve steps to arrive at the cloud-like chicken mush. Breast meat is pulverized to a paste, folded into whipped egg whites, dusted with crushed Yunnan ham… etc… et voila — the most ordinary of ingredients, rendered unrecognizable. A fine-dining trick far predating molecular gastronomy. Snowflake chicken used to be served at state banquets, but almost nobody makes it anymore. Furong Huang is the exception. Let’s rewind to the ‘80s. Back then, Chengdu had two top-tier state-run restaurants — Chengdu Restaurant and Furong Restaurant — where Sichuan’s most complex dishes were cooked at the highest level. Both eventually closed, and the traditions nearly died with them. In 2004, Master Wen gathered some of the original Furong Restaurant kitchen team and opened Furong Huang (Furong being the poetic historical name for Chengdu, Huang the female phoenix — rebirth from the ashes, beauty preserved through hard times, you get the gist). His mission was clear: preserve the old-school canon — the less-spicy, banquet side of Sichuan cuisine that’s been drowned out by mala/hotpot mania globally. The 2000s were brutal. People wanted to eat jianghu cuisine: louder, spicier, rougher. Furong Huang was barely 1/3 full. Then China’s 2012 austerity reforms gutted the high-end government-banquet business almost overnight. No more lavish meals. Furong Huang was on life support. What saved it was a small group of obsessives. Chief among them: @qinou_zhang . He discovered Furong Huang around 2018 and started “running the menu.” He estimates he ate there nearly a hundred times in 2019-2020 alone (Damn, Qinou! 100 times!). He organized food groups to fill the empty seats and soon, other chefs and writers became regulars. Then the awards began, culminating in a 2023 Michelin star. Now there’s a queue every day. Traditions only survive through obsessive care, inside the kitchen and out. Wen Xing is still cooking every day, and Qinou still brings his friends to eat.

No master. No apprenticeship, no path to follow. And some of the best noodles in Chengdu, at 杨伯英传统杂酱面. CHENGDU, CHINA The heart of Sichuan province, a city I’d wanted to visit since reading Shark’s Fin and Sichuan Pepper, @fuchsiadunlop ’s iconic memoir of training at the Sichuan Higher Institute of Cuisine in the 90s. I had four days before work in Hong Kong, and @graemedyk kindly put me in touch with food writer @qinou_zhang for some tips. What began as a plan to grab a quick meal turned into an incredible four-day primer on Sichuan cuisine. Delightfully, my Chengdu dates also overlapped with the great @evehly @kentayjw . Qinou planned us a feast at Yang Boying Traditional Zajiang Noodles before they flew home. Yang Boying — 杨伯英 — is self taught. No master, no shifu. He learned to cook by ordering food at restaurants and going home to replicate (and improve) the originals. The one Chinese-language profile I found says he spent seven years running the wok at the Min Shan Hotel, one of Chengdu’s old state-era banquet institutions. What’s for sure is that, by the mid 2000’s, he was burnt out and wanted a simpler life. So he walked away from the high-end food world. Other hotels came after him with lucrative deals to run their kitchens, but he turned them all down. It wasn’t until his nephew needed help with a failing lease that Yang decided to open his own shop. In short, there’s a banquet kitchen behind these noodles. Qinou pre-ordered tianshui mian — sweet water noodles (甜水面) — and Yang waved us into the back of his shop to show us how to assemble a proper bowl. First a layer of fuzhi jiangyou, a compounded soy sauce, then the thick, barely cooked noodles. Some rock sugar, a bit of numbing Szechuan peppercorn, crushed peanuts, and a generous splash of chili oil on top. Then, a parade of clever, occasionally spicy, noodle twists on classic Sichuan cuisine — twice-cooked pork on noods; wontons in sour and spicy oil; Yang’s signature suijiao zajiang: flat noodles, minced pork crisped to its essential pork-ness, sesame paste, chili oil, Sichuan pepper. As Yang explained, his menu is infinite — you can put anything on noodles. Helluva welcome to Chengdu.

So delighted that CHEF'S TABLE: LEGENDS has been nominated for a 2026 @beardfoundation Award for Best Docuseries. It's a testament to the hard work of our team that, nearly 12 years after we filmed the first episode with @benshewry in Melbourne, Australia, the show continues to reflect the food community enough to be recognized by the Beard Committee. Huge congrats are in order to fellow trench-dweller @dannyomalley.film as well as EPs @thisisdavidgelb and @afriedboardwalk , co-ep @danelillegard , director @clayjeter and our amazing DPs and producers @drewpalombi @_michaelhilliard @middletonthemrs @realadambricker @willbasanta , who, along with the whole glorious CT team, too numerous to mention in a single post, have formed a family of people chasing creative excellence since 2014. Last but not least, the biggest thank you is saved for the four chefs featured this season: @jamieoliver @chefjoseandres @alicelouisewaters and @chefthomaskeller . Separate shout-out for @stcavish and @graemedyk for their well-deserved nomination for their film about Zigong's influence on regional Sichuan cuisine. If you haven't watched their series on Youtube, it is well worth your time; their artistry is admirable, and I hope this nomination brings them the viewership and support they deserve. See you in Chicago, gents!

Fernando Vela and Eugenío Martinez fell deeply in love with Texas BBQ, the old school stuff from spots like Snow’s and @louiemuellerbbq , before starting to smoke meats in Fernando’s backyard in 2015. It wasn’t long before their experiments became an obsession, and the guys quit their day jobs to open a brick and mortar location. Pretty normal BBQ story, right? Except Fernando and Eugenio aren’t from Texas; they’re from Monterrey, Mexico, a place where, for years, eating BBQ meant playing the dangerous game of ordering sweet-assed glazed ribs at Chili’s. So introducing real Texas BBQ to Monterrey was a grind. The guys chose to lean in, spreading the legend of their shop’s owner, the iconic and wholly fictional Old Jimmy, and importing a not insignificant amount of Texas memorabilia/chotchkies (only Texas itself could love Texas more than these guys do). Today, Old Jimmy’s is one of the most celebrated Texas BBQ spots outside of the States, and the guys have become pioneers in Monterrey’s burgeoning ‘que scene. Texas Monthly’s resident BBQ King @bbqsnob even chimed in, raving that it was “hard to distinguish it, with or without a blindfold, from what you’ll find at some of the best joints in Texas.” Not too bad for a couple dudes from Monterrey, huh? 🔥🔥🔥 P.S. when you visit, count the amount of photos you spot of the guys with Snow’s / Chef’s Table: BBQ legend Tootsie @misstootsie_pitmaster on the walls; she’s an omnipresence. 1. Our full spread, pre-meat sweats. 2. Close-up. 3. The guys: Fernando and Eugenío, in the third round of me forcing them to pose for a portrait. 4. Brisket, going low and slow. 5. Burning oak. 6. Am I in Mexico? 7. A second set of pits, and the holy flag of Texas. 8. Smoked Pecan Pie. 9. Alternate BBQ spread, butcher paper edition.

A few days in Monterrey with @jasonsterman @jamie.mcbriety @ryankalil67 for our Osos series. King @edgarrico said we should eat at @chuyvillarreal ’s spots for his twists on classic Nuevo Leon dishes (you may know him internationally from @tarantulaparis or the Orinoco branch in Mexico City). Then we discovered he basically runs Monterrey’s dining scene, with restaurants and cafes of nearly every kind. So we did them all. If you’re headed there for the @fwc26monterrey you’ll want to check these out. 1/2. @elbambiscafe is a delightful spin on a diner, with excellent eggs, refried beans, and flour tortillas. Really good coffee as well. Did this multiple days and it’s highly recommended if you’re in Monterrey. 3/4. @taqueriaorinoco is Chuy’s first restaurant, and now a successful taco chain across the country (Rosalia’s endorsement probably didn’t hurt). Perfect late night dinner after the @ososlfa game, with a great selection of delicious salsas. 5/6. @mariscoschinosmx is his newest restaurant. Had an excellent grilled fish, some mariscos, and some good classic cocktails. 7. @comandocafe is his cafe and donut shop, located in a flower shop in the center of Monterrey. 8. @caradevacamexico is Chuy’s most famous restaurant. While the original location burnt down last year, it’s now moved to a temporary location. Delicious twists on classic dishes, my favorites of which were the tacos tiesos bathed in two salsas, octopus tacos served in aguachile, a really good asada taco, and a much-needed arugula and brussels sprout salad. #monterrey #food #worldcup #méxico #leicam11

I’m an obsessive, which means I listen to the same albums and songs on repeat, will eat the same thing over and over for a week or two, and will rewatch movies until, one morning, I’ll wake up and realize I can’t bear to look at/listen to/eat whatever it is anymore. This is probably not fun to live with (sorry, Jess, for the last four months of Cameron Winter’s solo album!). I fall in love with restaurants in the same way, but I try to only wax poetic about the music, movies, restaurants, etc that manage to outlive my short-term intensity and become true favorites. I’m so happy to say I have found another restaurant for that category (for others, pls see the below feed!). With the acknowledgement that my enthusiasm is out of control, are there many more delightful restaurants to eat at in Italy right this second than @ostreriafratellipavesi ? It’s not the most fancy (not my jam, or shall we say, mio marmellata), it’s just f*cking right. Three brothers (Os-tre-ria, apparently Italians also make puns) run this place, fronted by @giacomo.pavesi1984 , who is the 👑 of front of house. Camillo and Giuseppe are in the kitchen, kicking ass. The giardiniera! Pasta: yes, of course, incredible. Vegetables: irregular, wild, and alive. Meat: on point, nothing superfluous, great product, great execution. No bullshit at this place. I think what I’m saying is I’m moving to Piacenza. Grazie mille, Giacomo. A presto! 1. For me, the best dish and one of the best pastas in Italy. Fresh tagliolini with Calvisano white sturgeon, Calvisius caviar bottarga, buttered fish stock. Good lord. 2. Fried 🧠. 🔥 3. One of the signature dishes: Rabbit plin with sweetbreads sautéed in Madeira, fresh thyme and Taggiasca olives. 4. The panna cotta. Holy sh*t, @diegorossichef has competition. 5. Gelato and Balsamico. #leica #italy #m11 #food

24 Hours in Paris A whirlwind layover day started with an expectedly gorgeous dinner at @le_doyennerestaurant_ alongside @akiraakuto and Omar Koreitum, aka The King of @mokonutsbakery . The next AM, got a hit in with rising French tennis star @james_edward_henry_ , then, in classic fashion, not realizing I was already grotesquely late for lunch at Mokonuts, casually ambled my way through the butter and vinegar selections at the boutique (thank you James for the kilo of the good stuff). That resulted in a sprint with accidental-yet-delightful Le D run-in pals @merlin_johnson and @oliveanderson (rumor was flying around Saint-Vrain that it was her birthday, HBD Olive!) towards a rapidly receding train back to Paris. It took a bit of extra huffing and puffing, but finally landed at Mokonuts only around 90 minutes late. I am admittedly lucky that Moko didn’t put me 6 feet under. A delicious lunch, then it was time for coffee. Akira took me, at long last, to @klovercoffee.paris , where Byungchul “Harry” Kim @__amuser (formerly @aprilcoffeecph @dotcomspacetokyo @fuglencoffee_tokyo ) is roasting incredible green coffee from the best producers in the world every Wednesday (sup @fincasoledadintag ). The rest of the week, Harry’s tending bar, making drinks with the same precision and elegance as his roasting. Some of the best coffee in Europe at the moment, IMHO. I can’t wait to return — and if you’re curious, Harry ships from his online store. 1. Lobster and Morels, Le Doyenné style. 2. Le D’s dining room in the quiet AM. 3. I am an omelette monster and will never stop. 4. Morning Fireplace. 5. A banging green rice at @mokonutsbakery . 6. Moko’s awesome kumquat tart with a buckwheat and sesame base photographed, obviously, on the floor tiles (I am nothing if not consistent.) 7. Post-lunch caffeination menu at @klovercoffee.paris 8. Byungchul “Harry” Kim of Klover Coffee Showroom. 🇫🇷🇫🇷🇫🇷🇫🇷🇫🇷🇫🇷🇫🇷🇫🇷🇫🇷🇫🇷

After I heard about Roy Shvartzapel from the great @seanbfeeney , I immediately ordered his panettone. Maybe it was the way Roy declared: “You have to have a certain level of insanity to pursue something this difficult for this long,” but it was clear right away that Roy-ettone was a required purchase. And as I’m sure many of you know, to order From Roy is to become an addict (right @akiraakuto ?). Since then, sharing Roy’s insane product with friends and family has been a core part of my holidays — at least as long as I remember to order before it sells out. So, when the Chef’s Table team thought of ways to celebrate the show’s 10th anniversary, I suggested a collab with King Roy himself (also his 10th anni!). Now, thanks to @hievelynkim and the teams at @chefstableofficial and @fromroy , CTxFR is available for purchase! If you don’t know, Roy was a competitive basketball player before he became a baker, and he brought that (may I say, @dukembb -like) mentality with him to the kitchen. “You have to do the drills until your hands bleed if you want to be a starter." He may be a baker, but he’s got the attitude of a Navy Seal. After working for some of the greats (Adrià, Hermé, Keller), Roy eventually decided to pursue baking rather than traditional kitchen work. Then he began the ultimate quest: he set out to find the hardest thing in his craft, and tried to conquer it. That trial by fire, in baking form, was panettone — what he calls "the Mount Everest of baking," a multi-day process dictated by a living, breathing leaven that doesn’t give a damn about your sleep, your schedule, or your ego. As Roy says, "you have to be a slave to the dough. If it needs you at 3 AM, you're there at 3 AM. There is no such thing as a day off." Roy went to Italy with no job, no plan, and almost no money. He worked for free for years, eventually studying with the ultimate panettone master, Iginio Massari. The failures were constant. But while "most people quit when it gets difficult or repetitive… mastery is found in the repetition of the mundane." Now, Roy is a master himself. Order some of Roy's CT collab at FromRoy.com.