Restaurant news from inside the kitchen economy.
The gist
The Repertoire Podcast is a hospitality news and commentary show centered on restaurants, chefs, workers, and the business pressures shaping food culture. Its recent episodes move between wage-theft lawsuits, Noma fallout, fine-dining debates, tariff disputes, diner behavior, and the everyday realities of kitchen work.
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About The Repertoire Podcast
The Repertoire Podcast covers restaurants as workplaces, businesses, cultural symbols, and fragile operating systems. It is not a food-trend show in the light sense. Recent episodes spend more time on wage claims, kitchen hierarchy, consumer behavior, leadership failures, and public accountability than on what is merely new or fashionable. The show’s center of gravity is the Repertoire Report, where Justin Kanna and Ray DeLucci discuss the stories moving through hospitality media and industry circles. The pace is conversational. The arguments are usually built from articles, social posts, lawsuits, reviews, Reddit threads, and personal context from restaurant work. Fine dining is a recurring pressure point. The show questions the mythology around genius chefs, unpaid learning, prestige kitchens, and diners who accept theater without asking what it costs the staff. It also leaves room for nuance. A discussion about whether fine dining should exist becomes a debate about accountability, better leadership, and kitchens that can pursue excellence without treating people as disposable. Noma’s allegations, protests, public response, and related departures become a broader case study in how hospitality handles power. Other episodes widen the frame. The French Laundry lawsuit leads into labor-law implications. A debate about restaurant monologues opens into Michelin trust and review culture. A snowstorm story becomes a conversation about margins, closing decisions, and staff safety. Even tariff refunds and packaged-food news are pulled back toward how consumer dollars move between restaurants, groceries, and packaged food. The show is candid without being careless. It can be inside-baseball, especially when talking about externships, prep work, chef titles, tasting menus, and kitchen systems. That is part of its appeal. It gives hospitality workers and serious restaurant followers a place where the moral, practical, and financial sides of the industry are all allowed in the same conversation.
Made for: Built for hospitality workers, chefs, operators, food-media followers, and serious diners who want restaurant headlines connected to labor, leadership, and business realities.
What sets it apart: The show pairs current restaurant discourse with working-kitchen context, treating fine dining, labor disputes, reviews, and operator decisions as connected systems rather than isolated scandals.
In their own words
Your Repertoire is the most valuable asset in your career. It's the collection of skills, stories, experiences, and lessons you've had to hard-earn in this hospitality industry. What if you could ask some of the best professionals in the world how they built their Repertoire? In this podcast, you can look forward to expert-led interviews by Chef Justin Khanna, breakdowns of news and stories that are impacting the industry, and the occasional bonus episode that might include a tactic or strategy that drastically improves your life. Subscribe for weekly episodes of The Repertoire Podcast.
As heard by us
Based on 6 episodes we listened to · August 2026
The Repertoire Podcast makes restaurant economics clear through sharp conversations about labor, reputation, consumer behavior and hospitality business pressure.
The Repertoire Podcast looks at restaurants as businesses under stress. Its Repertoire Report format follows hospitality news through labor disputes, reputation swings, customer behavior and food retail.
Why you'd press play
A restaurant scandal lands, and Justin Khanna and Ray DeLucci make your outrage sit through the context.
Press play if you want
- fine-dining scandals examined alongside wages, internships, and the business model underneath them
- Justin Khanna and Ray DeLucci to challenge each other's first read before you settle on yours
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Episodes
- 1
The French Laundry Lawsuit Isn’t Just About One Restaurant
Hidden gemJustin Kanna and Ray DeLucci open with The French Laundry facing a wage-theft suit from former dishwasher Alina Flores-Batata, who alleges unpaid overtime, missed rest breaks, and final wages not paid after separation.
Apr 7, 2026·1h 12m·5 clips - 2
Should Fine Dining Exist? My Take After the Debate
Ray DeLucci discusses the debate over whether fine dining should exist, along with other restaurant industry topics.
Apr 1, 2026·49m·2 clips - 3
Influencers Are Ruining Restaurants… Chefs Are Finally Fighting Back
Justin Kanna and Ray DeLucci discuss how influencers are negatively impacting fine dining restaurants and chefs are fighting back, along with updates on Noma.
Mar 22, 2026·1h 16m·2 clips - 4
Why the “Genius Chef” Model Doesn’t Work
Ray DeLucci discusses the flawed 'tortured genius chef' model in restaurants, sustainable fish ordering, Costco's tariff refund lawsuit, and a Reddit post about chef career doubts.
Mar 19, 2026·38m·2 clips - 5
Noma’s Response to the Allegations Is a Disaster
The host uses a story about Formula One's safety evolution to draw parallels to the podcast industry's response to allegations against Noma.
Mar 11, 2026·51m - 6
Why Diners Are Tired Of The "Restaurant Monologue"
Hidden gemJustin Kanna and Ray Delucci open with 11 Madison Park’s first Infatuation review after adding meat protein back to the menu, which landed at 6.2 out of 10.
Mar 7, 2026·1h 3m·4 clips - 7
Roundup at the Supreme Court: The Immunity Fight That Could Reshape the Food Industry
Hidden gemRay DeLucci opens with a Supreme Court fight over Bayer, Roundup, and glyphosate, citing a Trump executive order that calls glyphosate central to American economic and national security.
Mar 1, 2026·32m·2 clips - 8
The Noma Abuse Scandal of 2026
Hidden gemThe Repertoire Podcast episode on “The Noma Abuse Scandal of 2026” centers on Jason Ignacio White’s Instagram account @microbes.vibes, which the hosts say began posting on February 6 and later drew more than four million impressions.
Feb 22, 2026·1h 19m·5 clips - 9
McDonald’s Lowered Their Prices… And Customers Came Back
Feb 15, 2026·30m - 10
The Biggest Restaurant Openings of 2026 (From a Chef’s Perspective)
Feb 6, 2026·1h 6m - 11
The Value Crisis Hitting Restaurants
Feb 3, 2026·39m - 12
What Noma’s $1,500 Pop-Up Tells Us About Fine Dining in 2026
Jan 23, 2026·1h 9m - 13
The Momofuku Model: How Restaurants Really Make Money in CPG
Jan 20, 2026·38m - 14
Is Automation Here For Restaurants? Justin and Ray React
Jan 14, 2026·59m - 15
The Real Cost of Bringing Michelin to Your City
Jan 2, 2026·33m - 16
If You Work in Restaurants, You Need to Hear This (2026 Predictions)
Dec 19, 2025·1h 29m - 17
2025 in Review: Why Restaurants Took a Beating
Hidden gemJustin Khanna and Ray DeLucci use The Repertoire Podcast's year-end Repertoire Report, 2025 in Review: Why Restaurants Took a Beating, to argue that restaurants were squeezed by tariffs, higher rents, ingredient costs, and Seattle's January minimum wage of $17.13.
Dec 18, 2025·1h 21m·5 clips - 18
Why New Tariffs Might Literally Stop Italian Pasta from Entering the U.S.
Dec 5, 2025·44m - 19
MICHELIN’s New “Grapes” Award Explained (2025)
Dec 5, 2025·1h 12m - 20
Why You Can’t Afford Restaurants in 2025
Nov 24, 2025·1h 16m - 21
About Michelin's November Announcements
Nov 19, 2025·34m - 22
The "Meta" of Michelin
Nov 13, 2025·1h 11m - 23
Can You Own a Sandwich? What the Uncrustables Case Means for CPG & Chefs
Oct 30, 2025·32m - 24
This Tech Outage Broke the Restaurant Industry
Oct 23, 2025·30m - 25
Restaurants Tasting the Same? Not Always, Here’s Why
Oct 16, 2025·57m - 26
Tyson Settles Record Price-Fixing Laswuit
Oct 10, 2025·30m - 27
The Chef's Table Collab You Need to Know About
Oct 1, 2025·1h - 28
How Sushi Became A Commodity
Sep 26, 2025·35m - 29
How Ozempic is Reshaping and Changing the Way We Eat
Sep 4, 2025·37m - 30
The Truth About $100K Chef Salaries in 2025
Aug 29, 2025·1h 5m - 31
The "Foraging Chef" Trend is Ruining Food
Aug 22, 2025·37m - 32
Why Eleven Madison Park's Vegan Menu Is Changing
Aug 15, 2025·1h 39m - 33
The (Attempted) Cancelling of Joshua Weissman
Aug 6, 2025·1h 38m - 34
Discussing The Passing Of Anne Burrell
Aug 1, 2025·40m - 35
Repertoire Report: How YouTube Changes The Way Chefs Learn To Be Chefs
Jul 24, 2025·1h 6m - 36
Repertoire Report: The Mindset That Holds A Chef Back
Jul 16, 2025·32m - 37
Repertoire Report: How Influencer Private Chefs Are Gaming The System
Jul 11, 2025·1h 6m - 38
Repertoire Report: How GLP-1 Is Changing The Food Industry
Jul 3, 2025·37m - 39
Repertoire Report: Michelin Debate, Reservation Charges, and JBS Hits The Stock Market
Jun 23, 2025·1h 5m - 40
Repertoire Report: Restaurants Hold Strong, Virginia Drops Michelin, and Nerds Gummies To The Moon
Jun 11, 2025·44m - 41
The MAD7 Symposium Recap: How Was It?
Jun 4, 2025·1h 6m - 42
The Repertoire Report: Next Generation Of Cooks, Domestic Producers Poised To Win, And Klarna
May 28, 2025·37m - 43
The Repertoire Report: Airbnb's Big Bet On Chefs, CIA Investments, And SNAP Risks
May 21, 2025·55m - 44
The Repertoire Report: Menu Prices Rise, Groceries Fall, And The Success Of Shake Shack
Ray Delucci discusses rising menu prices, falling grocery costs, Shake Shack's success, and Wegmans' new NYC sushi concept.
May 14, 2025·35m - 45
Repertoire Report: Tariffs, Michelin Guide Expansion, And Reservation Platforms
Justin and Ray discuss recent industry news including tariffs, Michelin Guide expansion, and reservation platforms, while introducing Ray's new role covering food business trends.
May 7, 2025·1h 1m - 46
Alessandra Ciuffo | Food “Unicorns”, Documenting in Kitchens, and Growing Food Media - Ep. 168
May 22, 2024·1h 8m - 47
Eddie Shepherd | Productivity in Pop Ups, Skill Stacking, and Plant-Based Tasting Menus - Ep. 167
Apr 25, 2024·1h 31m - 48
My Problem with "Heard" in Kitchens, and Why I Prefer Mirrored Callbacks
Apr 2, 2024·13m - 49
On "Quantifying Cooking Performance" - My Message to David Chang
The host responds to David Chang's podcast on quantifying cooking performance, agreeing and disagreeing with points while promoting his own system, Total Station Domination.
Mar 26, 2024·52m - 50
Myles Snider | How to Cook Intuitively, Growing Online, and Techniques-over-Recipes - Ep. 165
Justin Kanna interviews chef Miles Snyder about intuitive cooking, building an online presence, and prioritizing techniques over recipes.
Jun 5, 2023·1h 26m