Feb 21 – My good friend, wine lover & importer of Basque Wines from Spain Kerri Lesh (@DrTxakolina) is mjy guest this week. We will tell you all about Basque Country in the NW of Spain, the grapes, winemaking and more.
The Basque Country is a land of contrasts: it combines rural with urban areas, preserves the beauty of its natural environment and an impeccable architectural heritage, brings together unique ancestral traditions and cultures 
and avant-garde, and combines craftsmanship with cutting-edge technology. All these make this land infinite. Basque wine offers an array of textures, flavors and food afinity. We will taste severl wines, and talk about the grapes that are used. “Topa…Basque frppor Cheers”
Kerri Lesh, PhD, founder of Basque Wine Imports and a cultural anthropologist dedicated to sharing the rich history, language, and flavors of the Basque Country. Her lifelong connection to this unique region has shaped both her academic career and work in the wine world. Follow Kerri on Facebook
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Feb 28 – My guest this week is Helen Goh and her latest book “Baking & the Meaning of Life.”
Baking and the Meaning of Life: How to Find Joy in 100 Recipes by Helen Goh is a cookbook that blends 100 multicultural recipes (sweet and savory) with personal reflections on how baking fosters joy, connection, and meaning. Drawing on her Malaysian heritage, Australian upbringing, and work with Yotam Ottolenghi, Goh shares inventive yet accessible bakes like Chocolate Tahini Cake and Pandan Chiffon Cake, exploring themes of memory, community, and nurturing through baking. The book combines her expertise as a pastry chef and psychologist to offer both delicious recipes and a deeper look into the “why” of baking. Watch Helen describing her book!
Helen Goh, a renowned pastry chef and recipe developer for Yotam Ottolenghi, known for her precision and warmth. Follow Helen. She was born in Malaysia and migrated to Australia at age ten. After studying psychology, she combined psychotherapy practice with a cooking career, becoming head pastry chef at a landmark Melbourne restaurant before moving to London and joining Yotam Ottolenghi’s team. Co-author with Ottolenghi of Sweet and Comfort, she has developed recipes with him for more than 10 years, drawing on Asian, Western and Middle Eastern influences. Helen is a food columnist whose recipes appear in the The Sydney Morning Herald, The Guardian, and The Observer. She lives in London. @helen_goh_bakes Get your woon copy of Baking & the Meaning of Life.
Helen is multi-talented pastry chef and has a most interesting background and story.
Good Life Guy’s Wine of The Week: Korbel Sweet Cuvee
Korbel Sweet Cuvée is a medium-sweet, fruit-forward California champagne produced via the méthode champenoise. Blended with Chenin Blanc, Chardonnay, French Colombard, and Muscat Canelli, it offers notes of citrus, tropical fruit, and baked apple. With a 4.5% dosage, it provides a balanced, approachable taste ideal for desserts or spicy dishes. ABV12% Learn more here.
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Mar 7 – This week I’ll be chatting with Chef Tara Punzone, restauranteur and owner of Pur vita in Los Angles. Her new book is Vegana Italians – Traditional Italian the Plant-Based Way.
NATIONAL BESTSELLER • Discover the delicious flavors of plant-based Italian cooking with more than 100 vegan recipes inspired by classic Italian dishes, from the owner and chef of Pura Vita
“Part love letter to Italy, part encyclopedia of plant-based technique, Vegana Italiana is a joyous celebration of food, family, and heart. I want to make everything in this book!”—Joanne Molinaro, New York Times bestselling author of The Korean Vegan
Ever wish you could whip up vegan versions of fresh cheese ravioli or meatballs? As the owner and chef behind the first 100% plant-based Italian restaurant in the United States, Tara Punzone knows how to transform classic Italian staples into delicious vegan dishes without sacrificing any flavor. Growing up in a big Italian family in New York, food was always at the heart of Punzone’s community and gatherings. Her debut cookbook, Vegana Italiana, offers more than 100 vegan Italian recipes inspired by her family’s meals and fan-favorites from her Los Angeles-based restaurant Pura Vita.
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Chef Tara Punzone is an Italian American from New York who has thrived on a vegan diet for over thirty years. In 2018, Tara opened Pura Vita West Hollywood, the first 100% plant-based Italian restaurant and wine bar in the United States. She is also the winner of the National Award for “Chef of the Year” by VegOut Magazine.
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Good Life Guy’s Wine of the Week:
2022 Cellier des Dauphins – Reserve Cotes Du Rhone
This wine displays a deep red hue with ruby tints and notes of sun-ripened black fruit on the nose. The palate offers a velvety texture and spicy notes underpinned by ripe black fruit, blackcurrants and black cherries. A more modern take on the traditional Côtes du Rhône style, this wine combines structure, freshness and smooth tannins. It has a seductively elegant, intense and long-lingering finish. ABV13.5% Blend: 60% Grenache, 40% Syrah
