Food Traveler Magazine Winter 2016 | Page 106

Ali Khan Finally, I’ll throw Bribery Bakery, the Austin snack segment, in there. On paper I wouldn’t touch anything with pineapple in it unless it came with a mug of rum, but the blonde butter blondie changed my mind. It was ridiculously decadent and since shooting there I have come up with multiple excuses to make repeat visits since they opened a second location 10 minutes from my house. In the land of BBQ and breakfast tacos, Austin has managed to create a dining scene with serious culinary chops that fits the laid back motif. An ex-pastry chef from Per Se is making cupcakes 10 minutes from my door? Call me a regular. FT: Has there ever been a time on the show so far where you thought that you may go over-budget? What city was hardest to scope out? I guess the obvious answer is Charleston, because we did go over budget there! Charleston was also a bit of a challenge because even though it has an amazing food scene, much of it is beyond our price point and many 104 FoodTraveler l Winter 2016 shows have visited restaurants there. One factor that most people don’t think about is that we are looking for new restaurants to be featured and when you consider the price point we are aiming for, it can be slim pickings. Miami and Charleston were both tough in this aspect because they both were featured heavily on television. Places like Chicago are teeming with restaurants, many new ones popping up, which makes it a relatively easier town. It’s never too easy, which is the point, but Charleston and Miami were tough ones from this last season. FT: What types of food do you make for the family at home? Do you incorporate your fun findings into everyday meals? We grill a lot. In fact we try and cook meat and fish outdoors almost exclusively. We watch a lot of sports at home; my wife’s family is from Philadelphia and they are obsessed with every team, so we will make fun meals for the games like ballpark night hot dogs and cheesesteaks if the Phillies or Eagles are playing. When the Copa America games were on, we would make meals inspired by the countries that were playing like Jerked chicken for Jamaica or Asado for Argentina (I could