Greenpoint resident Chef Jenn de la Vega and Chef Clara Park started a podcast called The Cinema Chefs. In each episode of the podcast, the two chefs teach listeners about cooking by exploring food scenes in films. Episodes include “cooking tips, chef hacks, kitchen folklore, and industry tea.”
The first season of The Cinema Chefs, which will total 10 episodes, launched in May. Chef de la Vega and Chef Park have been publishing bi-weekly episodes leading up to the season 1 finale on September 8, which will include a YouTube premiere and live chat that night.
Season 1 featured films like Chef, Forrest Gump, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, Oldboy, The Menu, and Pulp Fiction. The finale will be about Big Night.
“Season 1 was filled with something for everyone,” Park told Greenpointers. It included “everything you wanted to know about shrimp from Forrest Gump, the keys to perfect dumplings courtesy of Oldboy, and a clever way to discuss multi-course menus via Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.”
The hosts of The Cinema Chefs have tons of culinary experience. Chef de la Vega is an author at Family Party Catering, a small hospitality group based in Brooklyn, and Chef Park is the founder of the culinary school, eat cetera philly.
The pair are “relatively new friends.” They met at The Summer Fancy Food Show two summers ago while they were both trendspotters for the show. They were introduced in the press room, and “started walking the show together and have been friends ever since.”
Chef de la Vega was a radio DJ and music publicist before she became a chef. “I was missing that part of my life and joined a tabletop RPG podcast in 2019 called Fun City. It scratched the itch of working with audio again, beyond just listening to music when I’m cooking,” she explained.
Chef de la Vega started out catering weddings, but really fell in love with craft services and food styling for indie films. “I’ve always loved movies, and it was neat to be a small part of making them.”
“Last year, a former wedding client asked me to develop a ‘movie quiz’ dinner party where guests had to guess the movie that inspired each course: onion rings for Shrek, breakfast from Phantom Thread, jjapaguri from Parasite, and crème brûlée from Amélie,” Chef de la Vega said.
Chef Park told Greenpointers that she saw de la Vega’s Instagram post about the breakfast from Phantom Thread and “immediately” called her to suggest the idea for the podcast.
“We decided on a podcast as the most appropriate format for what we were trying to do. It’s relevant, it’s easy to digest (pun intended!), and people can listen on the go,” Chef Park said.
The Cinema Chefs is accessible on Apple podcasts or through the subscription-based platform Fourthwall. On Fourthwall, listeners can choose one of three subscriptions for $2, $5, or $15 per month. All subscribers gain access to ad-free episodes, and the more expensive subscriptions offer bonus content and early access to merch, which is also sold on Fourthwall.