About the Splendid Table

Francis Lam - Photo by Nate Ryan

The Splendid Table, hosted by award-winning food writer Francis Lam, is an original weekly companion, celebrating the intersection of food and life for more than two decades. A culinary, culture and lifestyle program, it hosts our nation's conversations about cooking, sustainability and food culture and introduces us to generations of food dignitaries

In 2018 Francis took over the program from founding host Lynne Rossetto Kasper. The Splendid Table explores different cultures, cuisines and ideas, as well as the small personal stories that come out of the expansive world of the table. As a former restaurant cook and culinary school graduate, Francis can handle virtually any food query and loves taking listener’s calls.  He is keenly interested in people and their stories and believes that one of the keys to understanding people better is to learn what they cook and how they eat. The program is produced and distributed by American Public Media.

Press

For press inquiries, please contact:
Tsering Yangchen, Public Relations Manager
Email: mediarelations@mpr.org

Program History

In 1994, acclaimed food writer and cooking teacher Lynne Rossetto Kasper was receiving accolades for her debut book, The Splendid Table, which at that time was the only book to have won both the James Beard and Julia Child Cookbook of the Year awards. Among the many people enchanted by the book was producer and foodie Sally Swift, who thought the time could be right for a radio program on food.

Appropriately, Lynne and Sally met over lunch to discuss the radio idea. They weren't interested in creating a show based on "talking about recipes"; instead, they wanted to explore everything they loved about food: the culture, the science, the history, the back stories and the deeper meanings that come together every time people sit down to enjoy a meal. And so it was The Splendid Table — "the radio program for people who love to eat" — was born.

The Splendid Table began as a live, Saturday-morning call-in show on Minnesota Public Radio in 1995. As the program's popularity continued to stretch across the nation, The Splendid Table eventually became the pre-recorded program that is heard on more than 400 public radio stations in the United States, available as a podcast, on SIRIUS satellite radio and World Radio Switzerland.

The Splendid Table has been at the forefront of food issues and policies since its inception. Long before eating local became a catchphrase and farmers' markets became ubiquitous, The Splendid Table was talking about the changes needed in the food system and what was happening on the grassroots level. In fact, when The Splendid Table first went on the air, Lynne had to make sure to define such terms as "organic" and "sustainable" for listeners. Today those terms have become part of the everyday lexicon, and people's hunger for wholesome food and the rituals surrounding it has only increased.

At the end of 2017, after 22 years of hosting The Splendid Table, Lynne Rossetto Kasper retired from the show. From its first mealtime brainstorm to the award-winning weekly program it is today, The Splendid Table continues its celebration of food and the roles it plays in our lives, thanks largely to the amazing passion and culinary contributions of Lynne.

Recognition

The Splendid Table has won two James Beard Foundation Awards (1998, 2008) for Best National Radio Show on Food, an IACP award for best radio show in 2021, a Gracie Allen Award in 2000 for Best Syndicated Talk Show, and five Clarion Awards (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2014) from Women in Communication. Lynne is also included in the James Beard Foundation's Who's Who of Food and Beverage in America.

The show has been listed on numerous “best of” podcast lists including being named an outstanding food podcast by New York magazine Huffington Post, Oprah Magazine and CNN.

The Team

Food has a way of creating bonds among people, and that is certainly the case for the people behind The Splendid Table. The program's production team includes Sally Swift, Jennifer Luebke and Erika Romero.


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