KCRW’s Good Food x Grocery Goblin’s Stories In-Store: Lunchtime

Lineup

• More details about VANESSA ANDERSON (AKA GROCERY GOBLIN)

  VANESSA ANDERSON (AKA GROCERY GOBLIN)

  Vanessa Anderson is a writer and culinary anthropologist. Her project Grocery Goblin examines American culinary and consumer culture through the lens of the grocery store.

• More details about ANGEL DIMAYUGA

  ANGEL DIMAYUGA

  Angel Dimayuga is a culinary artist and cultural producer based in Los Angeles. They are best known for their work as an acclaimed chef in New York City, applying classical technique to Filipino immigrant home cooking; for creating immersive dining concepts with artists and art institutions worldwide; and for their contributions organizing nightlife celebrating queer and trans people of color. Notable work includes their time as a James Beard–nominated chef at Mission Chinese Food, creative director of Food & Culture at the Standard Hotels, and cofounder of GUSH, a progenitor of QTBIPOC sapphic nightlife. In 2021, they published their debut cookbook, Filipinx: Heritage Recipes of the Diaspora, coauthored with Ligaya Mishan. Recent commissions include an experimental talk show staged inside a living room installation at Performance Space New York and Haus der Kunst in Munich, Germany, complete with a midshow dinner delivery from the fake restaurant Angel's World; a pop-up "11-Eleven" convenience store selling artisanal renditions of Asian junk food at The New Museum; and a 300 person gala for Fondation Beyeler in Basel, Switzerland, where hors d'oeuvres were served through glory holes. Their newest adventure is in broommaking, with their first-large scale commission featured in each hotel suite at Pocketbook Hudson.

• More details about BROOKS HEADLEY

  BROOKS HEADLEY

  Brooks Headley is the owner/operator of Superiority Burger on Ave A in Manhattan. He started working in fancy restaurants in 1999 in Washington DC. He worked at Campanile in 2004. Headley has a very strong commitment to farmer’s markets in both NYC and LA. Mr. Headley has recently relocated to Los Angeles temporarily. Lately his Los Angeles obsessions are the Sunday Encino mkt, the hot food bar at the Studio City Erewhon, and the desserts at Hyatt’s Kitchen.

• More details about LAUREN BETHKE

  LAUREN BETHKE

  Blending her time in the kitchen as a line cook with her passion for storytelling, Lauren Bethke writes about community, inclusivity and the city she loves the most—Los Angeles.

• More details about FRANK SHYONG

  FRANK SHYONG

  Frank Shyong is an independent journalist writing a newsletter about foodways and diaspora called Lunch Box. Most recently he was a columnist and reporter for the LA Times for more12 years, where he helped create the Asian Enough podcast and wrote a story adapted into the 2026 film "Rosemead." His work has also appeared in Synonym Magazine and Buffet.

• More details about DORRIN SHAHSAVARI

  DORRIN SHAHSAVARI

  Is it real or is it cake? It’s both. Tummy Depot is a project born out of curiosity, grief, and silliness. Dorrin hopes to push the boundaries of how we interact with food, people, politics, and access. What does it mean to use water, flour, and sugar? How does the weight of it affect the people around it depending on geography? What does it mean to have access to these things, and what happens when we don’t? How can we use cake as storytelling? Happy Birthday? Tummy Depot may not have all the answers, but she’ll try to ask them through cake.