Former 星空无限传媒 "All Sides" host, Ann Fisher, and restaurant reviewers, Rich Terapak and Steve Stover, have resurrected the popular program "Chefs in the City" as a podcast.
Terapak has been a familiar voice to 星空无限传媒 listeners for 40 years.
星空无限传媒鈥檚 Debbie Holmes spoke to Terapak about his time at 星空无限传媒, the state of the Columbus restaurant scene and what lies ahead for "Chefs in the City."
Debbie Holmes: You were on 星空无限传媒 for four decades. Do you remember your first appearance?
Rich Terapak: As I recall, it was in the early 1980s, something like 1983, and the interview was done by Ellen Rogers. They were brief interviews that essentially in five or 10 minutes gave you the information on the new restaurant, its location, its cuisine, etc.
Debbie Holmes: Do you remember exactly what you talked about, which restaurant you talked about that day?
Rich Terapak: Boy, I do not. That's a while ago.
Debbie Holmes: Now you were a foodie before most of us knew what a foodie is. You've lived the changing Columbus restaurant experience. How has it changed over those years?
Rich Terapak: Tremendously, the different cuisines that are currently offered in Columbus, an enormous amount, I think we've accounted 70 different cuisines in the metropolitan area, as opposed to the early 1980s, we probably had Italian, Chinese, and steaks and chops.
Debbie Holmes: You're a world traveler, so tell us where you have been and have other cities seen these changes?
Rich Terapak: Yes, we've been traveling essentially all our marriage, which is for 52 years. The changes, again, have been pretty extraordinary. For instance, I think, you know, we first experienced haute cuisine in Paris when they were doing the little precious plates. Thank goodness they passed up the cuisine and got back to classic French cuisine and most of the places we go, particularly like bistro food in France.
Debbie Holmes: What other cities have you been to?
Rich Terapak: Well, we've been to Lucca and Tuscany was our first. The Loire Valley Chateau, second. The Villa in Sicily, third. A manor house in Sussex in England. We took over a little hotel in Evora, Portugal. We did the same in Croatia and recently rented a very lovely villa on an island called Syros in Greece.
Debbie Holmes: Do you have a favorite type of food and place to go in town?
Rich Terapak: It varies upon what kind of day of the week it is. If it's a Friday and I don't feel like cooking at home, we generally find an Italian spot. Most recently, we were at Filio's last week. One of our favorite neighborhood places is a place called Scali's. It isn't all red sauce. They have an interesting menu that incorporates a lot of different Italian areas. Northern, Tuscan, Pasquale, etc.
Debbie Holmes: Tell me about your favorite restaurant.
Rich Terapak: My favorite place to eat in a celebratory sense for an anniversary or birthday or whatever is the Refectory restaurant on Bethel Road and it is essentially classic French cuisine.
Debbie Holmes: That鈥檚 my favorite. C鈥檈st tres bon ca (English translation 鈥� That is very good). My mother was from France, so you鈥檙e right up my alley with that one.
Rich Terapak: We鈥檝e been to France a number of times as well. We love it. Mostly in Provence, but also of course in Paris.
Debbie Holmes: Your new podcast features you, Ann Fisher and Steve Stover. We used to hear you monthly on "All Sides. How will the "Chefs in the City" podcast compare to the radio program?
Rich Terapak: A radio program is generally an hour, and the podcast is more in the area of 20 to 25 minutes, sort of news bites, featuring either a restaurateur or somebody involved in the industry, a chef, a bartender, again a member of the restaurant community, to reflect on things like the impact on COVID on the industry locally. Five or 10 minutes on the newest and best places we visited.
Debbie Holmes: So how often are you trying out new places?
Rich Terapak : Not that frequently, three or four times a month.
Debbie Holmes: Do you think things are getting better and better then with new places?
Rich Terapak: Indeed, yeah, there's a lot more competition. I think the palette has changed in the community and people are essentially attending, approving, enjoying by being the traffic, as we call it, butts in the seats at the restaurant.
Debbie Holmes: Thank you so much. That's Rich Terapak, long time 星空无限传媒 restaurant reviewer. Thank you so much for joining me today and even more thanks for all you've done for 星空无限传媒.
Rich Terapak: Oh, thank you, Deb, for this opportunity.
Debbie Holmes: Bon app茅tit!
Rich Terapak: Bon app茅tit!
