Celebrating World Food Day: The Stories of Our Everyday Ingredients

In San Francisco, where we have access to a multitude of international ingredients, our kitchens tell a story of globalization, experimentation, and cross cultural cuisine. To celebrate World Food Day, food writers, cookbook authors, and local chefs have been invited to dive into their pantries and discuss the origins of their favorite food items. Featuring Sara Calvosa Olson, Linda Tay Esposito, and Nandita Godbole, the panel will showcase their favorite ingredients and discuss the history of the ingredient and how it speaks to their heritage, culture, and home country. The ingredients will be displayed on an exploration table which the audience will get to touch, smell, and taste. Moderated by Cecilia Phillips of KQED's Check Please! and Beyond The Menu.

About the Speakers

Linda Tay Esposito is a teaching chef whose food represents a tribute and commitment to the authentic cuisines of the Pacific Rim. Linda teaches at The Civic Kitchen, internationally for Milk Street Kitchen, and at 18 Reasons. She led the development of La Cocina Municipal Marketplace, an innovative, community-led development offering economic opportunity for low-income women entrepreneurs while creating jobs and delicious, affordable food for the community.

Nandita Godbole is the author of several cookbooks, including the forthcoming Masaleydaar Bar (out Fall 2026), as well as the creator of the Curry Cravings Kitchen blog. Nandita's work has appeared in Washington Post, Food Network, Eater, Healthline, and others. She has appeared on NBC Asian America (2018) to speak about the importance of comfort foods particularly for the immigrant community.

Sara Calvosa Olson (Karuk) is a food writer and editor living in the Bay Area with her husband and two teenage sons. Her work dwells at the intersection of storytelling, Indigenous food systems, security, sovereignty, reconnection, and recipe development. Her writing has appeared in News from Native California and Edible Shasta-Butte. Visit her website at akihsara.com, and follow her on Instagram at @thefrybreadriot.

About the Moderator

Check, Please! Bay Area Coordinating Producer and On-Camera Reporter Cecilia Phillips began her journalism career as a reporter at KIEM in Eureka, California, before joining KQED as an intern for Check, Please! Bay Area. She has long been a part of the Bay Area food scene, working under several celebrity chefs and serving as a food tour guide for many years in San Francisco. In her special series "Cecilia Tries It," she scours the Bay Area in search of off-the-beaten-path spots for exciting, culturally diverse culinary experiences that fans can’t miss. Recommend your favorite hidden-gem food spots to her on Instagram at @ccroundthetown

Host or Publisher Mechanics' Institute