{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"Analog-ish: Seeking low-tech ideas in a high-tech world","title":"Food Makes You Feel Like You Belong Somewhere with celebrity chef Aarthi Sampath","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":1965,"description":"Chef Aarthi Sampath of Beat Bobby Flay, Chopped, and her new East Village restaurant Dravida joins Becky to talk about food as identity, technology's real role in a professional kitchen, and why she thinks restaurants matter more than ever in an AI-saturated world. \nAarthi traces her path from swapping lunchboxes as a kid in India to running a restaurant built around a cuisine scattered by colonialism and migration across South Asia and its diaspora. \nThey dig into how tech has actually changed restaurant work (POS systems, AI-standardized recipes, automated payroll), why she isn't nervous about AI taking chefs' jobs, the real villain behind food delivery apps, and what it means to train a staff to bring genuine hospitality (\"your inner auntie\") to every table.\nTopics Covered (with timestamps):\n(00:59) Aarthi's origin story: trading lunchboxes as a kid and discovering food as connection\n(04:21) How TV and shows like Chopped changed the cultural status of the chef profession\n(05:43) The real ways technology shows up in a restaurant — POS systems, inventory apps, AI-standardized recipes, automated payroll\n(07:34) Why Aarthi isn't nervous about AI in the kitchen, and where she thinks it can't replace people\n(10:17) The \"alter ego\" of being on camera, and why some chefs thrive on TV and others don't\n(13:40) The \"duck on water\" metaphor, the chaos of the kitchen versus the calm experience in the dining room\n(16:36) Why she thinks people are craving in-person dining again after years of delivery-first eating\n(19:01) The real problem with delivery apps: the 30–35% cut they take from small restaurants\n(19:43) The origin and meaning behind Dravida, tracing a cuisine across colonialism, migration, and the South Asian diaspora\n(22:39) The throughlines across cultures: hospitality, tropical produce, and spice as historical connector\n(24:06) How she trains her staff to bring authentic hospitality — \"bring in your inner auntie\"\n(27:16) Aarthi's version of self-care as a chef...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/fPW6xaQdObbHuGsU5vjZ9UAqm4t6N4aArny6duTpePk/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9kN2E3/YWU0N2NiMGJlMjU5/ZmQ1OWRiODgyOWJk/YzRjYi5wbmc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}