This week's episode of Cooking Issues starts off with a slightly off-topic discussion: food aesthetics. Tune in to hear Dave Arnold and Nastassia Lopez talk about the the importance of the appearance of a dish or cocktail versus its taste. What role does food presentation have in defining the quality of a meal? Later, Dave tackles a question about centrifuges and clarifying agents, as well as some methods to re-bottle vermouth. Dave offers some equipment suggestions to a caller, and follows up about picky-eating children. Check out this listener's suggestions for children's foods here. What is involved with making a maraschino cherry? All this and more on this episode of Cooking Issues! This program has been sponsored by White Oak Pastures.

"We're in an era now where a lot of food work is done on the Internet, in books, on television programs, and demonstrations. There's a lot of work that's done where you can tell that it's done for the look, and not necessarily the taste."

"When you're doing a demo or dish or a cocktail it's important to have it look appetizing. The way a dish looks can be enchanting and captivating and make an already good tasting thing taste better, but nothing is worse than something that's taken forever to make look great but doesn't even taste good."

-- Dave Arnold on Cooking Issues

Chef Kevin Nashan joins HRN's Sari Kamin in the studio to talk about his upcoming event at City Grit with fellow St. Louis chef, Gerard Craft. Tune into this HRN Community Session to hear how Kevin turned Sidney Street Cafe into a a restaurant with high-end taste that still appeals to the neighborhood restaurant crowd. Learn about Kevin's training in the French tradition and his time in New York City at Daniel. How does Kevin capture 'The Spirit of St. Louis' in his dishes at Sidney Street Cafe, and why did he fall in love with the city? Find out more about the St. Louis food scene, and learn how the Midwest is holding their own in the culinary landscape. This program has been sponsored by Route 11 Potato Chips. Thanks to Four Lincolns for today's music.

"It's all about making it an experience. Going from New York to St. Louis, you have to gain trust, and the people of St. Louis didn't know who I was, even though I went to college there." [20:15]

-- Chef Kevin Nashan of Sidney Street Cafe

This week's guest on Chef's Story is none other than Jonathan Benno - Executive Chef of Lincoln Restaurant and former chef at Per Se. onathan tells the story of how he went from Hawaii to the Bay Area and worked his way through some of the most celebrated kitchens in the country. Find out what it was like being the opening chef at Per Se and how Jonathan's vision for Per Se helped inform his future endeavors as a chef. Jonathan is a humble team oriented chef, sometimes referred to as a "gentle giant" in the culinary industry. Tune in and hear his story straight from the source! This program was sponsored by Hearst Ranch.

"It was in Hawaii that I realized I wanted to pursue food as a career and wanted to become a chef."

"The goal [with Per Se] was to bring that level of product driven refinement that is so special about The French Laundry to New York."

"With Lincoln Restaurant, I wanted to take traditional italian cuisine and take it to a very modern and unique location in Lincoln Center."

--chef Jonathan Benno of Lincoln Restaurant on Chef's Story