What I Learned From Talking With Dolly Parton, Bobby Flay, Kevin Gillespie, and 27 Other Superstars

Dear Pros,

You've got Kat this week. It's never lost on me how lucky and thankful I am to get to talk with smart, creative, hardworking people for a living. Part of my role at Food & Wine is hosting the Signal Gold Award-winning podcast Tinfoil Swans, which just wrapped up its second season with the soul-stirring author and host of the PBS shows Pati's Mexican Table and La Frontera, Pati Jinich. I can't stop thinking about that conversation — about her "doubly blessed" identity as a Mexican and American chef and the beautiful cuisine of border towns — and, really, all of the talks I've had with my guests across 27 episodes this season.

Yeah, 27. In addition to Pati, I spoke with Daniel Boulud, Rodney Scott, Asma Khan, Emeril and E.J. Lagasse, Claudia Fleming, Dave Beran and Will Poulter, Dan Giusti, Priya Krishna, Lee Anne Wong, Cody Rigsby, Kevin Gillespie, Pete Wells, David Chang (live onstage in Aspen with his eye swollen shut from wasp stings), Raphael Brion, Christine D'Ercole, Channing Frye, Nick Cho, Ti Martin, Kylie Kwong, Yotam Ottolenghi, Dolly Parton and Rachel Parton George, Tom Holland, Darron Cardosa, Bobby Flay, Joel McHale, and Cheetie Kumar — each one bringing their expertise, insight and soul to the table in different ways that continued to surprise and inform me.

A few highlights from Season 2:

Bobby Flay on finding his path to being a chef

"When I was a kid, they weren't testing us every 10 minutes for learning disabilities, but I certainly had one. I don't even know how to define it, but I wasn't interested in learning through an English textbook. I didn't know it then, but I needed to work with my hands to really be excited about anything."

Dolly Parton on still getting nervous at restaurants

"I remember feeling awkward for a long time, being from the country, when I first came to Nashville and having to go have meetings in restaurants. 'Cause we didn't go to restaurants and when we did, it was just a hole in the wall little country thing where they'd serve the same kind of food we grew up eating. But I was always so nervous, 'cause I didn't know how to use the right fork, or the right spoon, or the right glass. Even to this day I'm not sure I know how to do all that. … I still have a tendency when I'm at big banquets and stuff to be sure I'm watching to make sure I've got the right thing at the right time — the right fork, and all that."

Kevin Gillespie on living with purpose

"The doctors have been really clear that the chances of me living a very long life are extremely low. I'm just not going to be in this thing for a really long time, and I'm OK with that. But that is one of the reasons that I am doing what I am doing now. I will not be given the luxury of being a Paul Bocuse where I'm a chef until I'm in my 90s — it's not going to happen. That's OK, but that also means that I intend to live it to the fullest.

I've started speeding up the life that I wanted to live. I'm gonna continue being a chef despite the fact that my doctors have told me to retire 25 times at this point. I'm not ready to retire yet. But I'm also not delusional enough to think that I get to just wait to do a lot of the things that I wanted to do in life, like I should just start doing those now."

There's so much more wisdom in these two seasons worth of conversations. I hope you can find a moment to catch up on the archive before Tinfoil Swans returns in early 2025. It's available on all platforms including Apple Podcasts and Spotify, or you can stream it straight from our website at foodandwine.com/tinfoilswans.

The Food & Wine team and I wish you a warm and satisfying holiday whether you're working, hosting, or getting to be a guest this year.

Most of all, we're thankful for you.
Kat