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The Fell Into Food Podcast, where culinary craft meets the evolving world of kitchen innovation. Hosted by Chef Jeff Fell, each episode pulls back the curtain on the tools, technology, business strategies, and human stories shaping how modern kitchens actually work. If you’re a chef, operator, manufacturer, educator, or anyone obsessed with where food and technology intersect, this podcast gives you the conversations you won’t hear anywhere else. Real talk. Real expertise. Real innovation—served with the curiosity and candor. It’s the future of the kitchen, one conversation at a time.
Based on 6 episodes we listened to · June 2026
Fell Into Food turns kitchen-level conversations into practical business listening about margins, supply chain, regulation, demand, and operator risk.
Fell Into Food Podcast belongs in Business & Finance because it treats food work as operating work. The show follows guest conversations where labor, fulfillment, regulation, social media demand, and customer pricing all collide in ordinary business decisions.
You want the part where kitchen dreams meet 3PLs, food dyes, and rent.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A practical story about getting vendors to build a one-off faucet part and a stainless-steel prototype.
This episode follows the practical grind of turning a tricky faucet idea into something manufacturers will actually produce. The best stretch is the back-and-forth with vendors: learning what MOQ means, asking for one valve instead of a standard order, and finding a way toward a…
A grounded look at work, family, and the tradeoffs behind building a life on your own terms.
The piece lands on a simple tension: what it costs to leave a familiar path, and what opens up when work fits the life around it. The strongest material comes from the everyday details, like being able to handle sick kids, take advantage of a nice day, or go on an unplanned bike…
A grounded service-story episode about humility, discipline, and learning judgment on the job.
An origin story about service work and ego, this episode keeps coming back to a plain lesson: hospitality has a fast way of teaching humility.
A blunt, useful look at where AI actually saves time in supply chain work.
Pedro M. Rejai keeps the focus on where AI is actually useful in supply chain work: inventory reconciliation, supply planning, bill of materials, and the spreadsheet tasks founders keep putting off. The strongest part is how concrete it gets.
A plainspoken guide to choosing partners and testing judgment on operational work.
This discussion tracks how operators pick partners and narrow a vendor list when the work touches fulfillment, Amazon, or a possible DTC channel. It keeps circling back to a simple question: what job needs doing, and how do you trim the field without wasting time?
Brand voice works when the story starts with a real why and survives customer feedback.
The piece treats brand voice as part of the business, not a decorative layer. It keeps coming back to a simple founder test: the story has to start with a real why, then still make sense once customers hear it.
A food-science conversation that keeps one foot in the line and one in the lab.
This episode traces a line from classical culinary training into the odd, useful overlap between kitchen work and food science. It moves through brigade kitchens, the abuse that was once accepted there, and the later turn toward food labs, food technology, and modernist cooking.
Mushrooms are treated as a serious cooking material for meaty umami and chew.
The episode keeps its focus on mushrooms as food first. It treats them as a way to get meaty umami and a firmer chew, not as a substitute pretending to be something else.
Used-car industry talk with operational teeth.
Dealer news with market evidence.
Used-car retail timing, measured weekly.
American muscle, market sense, and garage truth.
Shane Lee traces his path from sweeping peanut shells at Longhorn Steakhouse to building a 2009 plant in Athens, Georgia, where Building Cuisine made 80 medically tailored meal SKUs and about $20 million a year in senior meals.
The episode stays focused on a tiny daily meditation habit.
He walks through the move from bigger roles into a new management setup.
Heather Johnson and Al Schuster connect graphic design, accounting, and experiential marketing to build SampleFinder, an app tied to Polaris Brand Promotions.
Aaron Sharpe traces a path from decorating cakes at 16 or 17 to pastry school in Brecksville, Ohio, then through Hawking College, a technical degree, and a business degree.
Chef Jeff Fell talks with Franck Desplechin, a classically trained French chef who started an apprenticeship at 15, worked in Michelin-starred restaurants and luxury hotels, and now runs Incrementum.
Charles Wong, owner and pit master of UmamiQ in Chicago, explains how a finance career turned into a barbecue business built around residencies, smokers, and careful margins.
Stephanie Lind, founder and CEO of Elohi Strategic Advisors, traces her food career from Girl Scout cookies at age five to sales leadership at Frito-Lay, Nabisco, PepsiCo, and Impossible Foods.
Mike Mezoroff returns to Fell Into Food Podcast after episode 35 to talk about the self-hospitality collective, which he launched in November 2025 and says now includes monthly events and leaders sharing vulnerable work experiences.
Chef Adina Mullen says her vegan cookbook grew out of casein and egg allergies, years of travel, and a goal to make plant-based food feel tied to specific cuisines rather than generic substitutions.
Chef Jeff Fell interviews a chef about his journey, the harsh realities of the industry, and the importance of innovation and community.
Dustin Selvaggio describes chefs as "modern day pirates," recounting injuries, hazing, and abusive kitchen culture while arguing that the old guard is losing its grip.
Chef Jeff Fell speaks with Jeannie Jones, the food blogger behind A Jeannie in the Kitchen, about how a leftover-reuse idea turned into a blog she has run for about seven and a half years.
Amra Nation of Oregon Fruit Company says beverage menus are being reshaped by a drop in alcohol use, citing a record low where only 24% of Americans reported having a drink in the past 24 hours.
Chef Jeff Fell interviews Emmanuel Laroche about A Taste of Madagascar: Culinary Riches of the Red Island, framing Laroche as the VP of marketing and consumer insights for a major flavor manufacturer, host of Flavors Unknown, and author of Conversations Behind the Kitchen Door.
Chef Ed Harris traces his path from Guyana to Brooklyn in 1996, describing a freezing arrival, supermarket culture shock, and produce that "didn't compare" to Caribbean fruit ripened on the tree.
Chef Jeff Fell interviews Evan Duignan, founder and CEO of Alpha Made It, about Roller Express, a machine that automates rolling silverware and turns hours of labor into minutes and seconds.
Ian Sutherland traces Hospitalitychain.com back to 50 years in freight logistics with his wife, including air freight, sea freight, shipping, and container leasing.
Host Chef Jeff Fell interviews Nicole about recruiting in the hospitality industry, discussing the term 'headhunter' and her journey from working in an Italian deli.
Chef Jeff Fell discusses the changing culture and business of high-end kitchens, using Noma as a case study for industry imbalance and personal career choices.
Deep dive into bartending entrepreneurship with Naoki Sonoda covering cost structure fundamentals, scaling strategies, market differentiation, and sustainability trends in the beverage industry.
Chef Alvaro Lima (Chef Alvy) discusses how AI is transforming culinary creativity and operations, shares his journey from foster care to corporate chef success, and reveals the story behind launching his apparel brand Chef Alvy's Threads.
Mario Gomez-Hall says Zest replaces public restaurant reviews with a friend-based map built from linked credit-card dining history, and he says the app can find up to two years of past visits automatically.
Solo narrative episode from Chef Jeff Fell tracing his career from cornfield farm life through entry-level retail (gas station/deli, Home Depot) to culinary school and executive kitchen leadership.
An AI conversation talks through the parts of automation that actually matter to operators.
Pedram Rezaei, former Unilever supply chain leader, discusses his career in food manufacturing and the strategic decision to vertically integrate egg blending at Hellman's mayonnaise factory.
The conversation opens on brand voice.
Chef Jeff Fell interviews Michael Smith, founder of Ramaking, about his journey from helicopter mechanic to hospitality leader and inventor.
The guest follows a path from classical culinary training into food science and modernist cooking.
Chef Jeff Fell interviews Jim Fuller, co-founder of Fable, about his journey from fine dining chef and chemical engineer to mushroom expert.
Rob Maddock traces his path from a Hawaiian family food culture to 20 years in kitchens, then into equipment manufacturing with Tux in Princeton, Minnesota, where he says cook-chill can scale from restaurant technique to 50-to-800-gallon kettles.
Interview-cooking show featuring Jeff Fell and old school friend Lewis.
Chef Tommy, a vegan cooking specialist from Atlanta, demonstrates how to cook lion's mane mushrooms into chicken cutlet-textured dishes using a pressing technique learned from Derek Sarno.
Chef Jeff Fell interviews Lindsey Ruffin, who transitioned from an IT career to the food industry, discussing his journey and the intersection of technology and culinary arts.
Host Jeff Fell interviews Aaron Shapiro, founder of Grillicious, about his flavor-infused cooking wipes and the business of culinary innovation.
Host Chef Jeff Fell interviews an AI expert with a restaurant background about the intersection of artificial intelligence and the food industry.
Host Chef Jeff Fell interviews Chris Stein, a corporate innovation chef with a biology and food science background, discussing how science and cooking intersect to create innovative food.
Host Chef Jeff Fell interviews registered dietitian Ryan Babich about the differences between RD and LDN credentials and the importance of proper licensure in nutrition.
Host Chef Jeff Fell interviews corporate chef Michael Marsh about his career journey and the evolution of blast chilling technology in professional kitchens.
Host Chef Jeff Fell interviews Unilever corporate chef Alvi Lima about kitchen technology and innovation, with sponsor segments on vacuum packaging solutions.