The Art of Curation

Why food matters so much 🥘 The Bittman Project

Episode Summary

A conversation with Mark Bittman and Melissa McCart of The Bittman Project about building a new kind of food media brand and curating recipes, food newsletters and podcasts, and even one's own kitchen and grocery shopping trips.

Episode Notes

“I came to realize, over 20 years, that food was much more important than what you cooked for dinner or what cool ingredient you were into or what groovy restaurant you’re going to. And gradually what I wrote about...became the bigger picture in food. I don't want to leave cooking behind; cooking matters. But it's a small part of the food picture and talking about that is really important to us.” — Mark Bittman

Mark Bittman, Melissa McCart and the team at The Bittman Project are building a new kind of food media empire — one that can only be born in the post-2020 era. Naturally, recipes and cooking advice are at the heart of why people might subscribe to their newsletter or listen to Mark’s podcast. But their strategy is for you to come for the cooking and stay for the impact, whether that’s learning how to eat less meat, expanding the voices you might hear from in food, or bucking conventional wisdom in and out of the kitchen. 

Highlights, inspiration and key learnings:

• How Mark developed his brand and expertise around food after he left the New York Times
• How Melissa helped to shape The Bittman Project as editor
• How current issues, like the coronavirus, climate change, and racial injustice, impact their content strategy
• The criteria for what’s curated into The Bittman Project Substack newsletter
• The values of The Bittman Project
• What Mark and Melissa read to keep up on food trends and the industry
• How the art of curation comes into play when planning and writing a cookbook like “How to Cook Everything”
• How they curate their team
• How they curate guests and content for the “Food With Mark Bittman” podcast
• How they use data to inform content decisions
• What’s challenging about running The Bittman Project
• How a home cook should curate their kitchen
• Ideas for curating your grocery shopping
• Olive oil, demystified

👋 Say hi to Mark and Melissa!
🔎 Browse the Storyboard of all their recommendations, including the cookbooks, food TV shows, and podcasts they love.
➕ This podcast was created by Flipboard, where enthusiasts are curating stories they recommend across thousands of interests. Head over to our website to learn more.