We're having a blast checking in with some past Zest guests. As part of a 2019 series on honey, Dalia visited owner Jennifer Smurr at her wildly popular Born & Bread Bakehouse in Lakeland. The bakery uses local honey in many of its recipes. Dalia recently caught up with Jenn, and boy did she have some big updates to share.Thanks to our friends at Florida Matters Live & Local for sharing this conversation.

As if we ever needed an excuse to eat tacos, Sept. 16 is Mexican Independence Day. (Thought that was Cinco de Mayo? Now you know.) In this bonus episode, The Zest’s brand manager and taco connoisseur, Alexandria Ebron, discusses her favorite local taco spots: René’s Mexican Kitchen (Hey, René Valenzuela!) Xtreme Tacos Jimmy’s Tacos Tacos Las Californias Don’t see your fave on this list? Shout out your go-to taquería on our Facebook and Instagram pages.

Labor Day weekend is upon us, and you’re definitely invited to the cookout. In this bonus episode, The Zest’s brand manager and foodie-about-town, Alexandria Ebron, discusses her favorite local barbecue spots: Wicked Oak Barbeque The Brisket Shoppe BBQ Time Don’t see your fave on this list? Shout out your go-to barbecue joint on our Facebook and Instagram pages.

The Zest is nominated for Best Podcast. To vote, please click on this link, select "entertainment" and then select "podcast." You can vote daily until Aug. 30. Thanks in advance! This summer, The Zest Podcast is checking in with some past guests. In 2022, we met Ellen and Cameron Macleish. They’re a mother-and-son duo working to reduce food waste while tackling food insecurity in Northern Pinellas County. Their nonprofit, 360 Eats, turns surplus food donations into meals for the hungry and compost for gardeners. Cameron is the executive director and Ellen, a professional chef, works her magic in the kitchen to turn random ingredient donations into delicious meals. The Macleishes and their team then distribute the meals via a food truck, where hungry people can eat for free.Dalia recently caught up with Cameron. She shared the update with Matthew Peddie on Florida Matters Live & Local.

The Zest is nominated for Best Podcast. To vote, please click on this link, select "entertainment" and then select "podcast." Thanks in advance!All summer long, WUSF is highlighting interesting food trucks in the Tampa Bay region. And one is a taco truck with a niche: Everything they sell is 100 percent plant-based. It's called The Meatless Mexican. Our colleague Sky Lebron spoke with co-owners Paul Zampieri and Jodie Kurrle. You can watch a video of The Meatless Mexican here. Thanks to our pals at The Bay Blend for sharing this story.

The Zest is nominated for Best Podcast. To vote, please click on this link, select "entertainment" and then select "podcast." Thanks in advance!This summer, The Zest Podcast is checking in with some past guests. In 2020, St. Petersburg Deputy Mayor Kanika Tomalin released a cookbook called St. Pete Eats. Today she is the president and CEO of Foundation for a Healthy St. Petersburg.Tomalin, who holds a doctorate degree in law and policy, chatted with Dalia Colón in 2020. They caught up again in July of this year at her office in South St. Pete.

The Zest has been nominated for Best Podcast. Vote now!Today, let's listen in as our colleague Sky Lebron plays with fire. He sits down with Carlos Sanchez, the owner of Carlos' Consuming Fire hot sauce, to try some of his sauces. In this conversation from The Bay Blend, Carlos also discusses his passion for spice, what made him want to start his business, how he became partnered with multiple minor league ballparks and how business has boomed since he started in 2021. To see a video of the hot sauce taste test, click here.

The Zest has been nominated for Best Podcast. Vote here!This summer, we're checking in with some past Zest guests. Marques Clark grew up in South St. Petersburg, in a neighborhood considered to be a food desert. He went on to study culinary arts and as an adult founded the nonprofit YES CHEF Village. Dalia first spoke with Chef Marques when he visited the WUSF studio in 2024. She caught up with him again in June 2026 and shared the updates with our colleague Matthew Peddie on Florida Matters Live & Local.

The Zest has been nominated for best podcast. Vote now!Our colleague Sky Lebron introduces us to Steve Smith, a.k.a. the Hoodbachi God. Hear how Smith turns the trunk of his car into a hibachi dining experience. Thanks to our pals at The Bay Blend for sharing this conversation.

Rate and review The Zest wherever you're listening to this episode!Our colleague Gabriella Paul catches up with environmental activist and friend of the pod Robin Greenfield. Find out why he's once again sworn off grocery stores and what he's eating instead. Thanks to our pals at The Bay Blend for sharing this conversation. The feature is introduced by Susan Giles Wantuck.

This summer, we're checking in with some past Zest guests. René Valenzuela is the founder and former owner of the popular local chain Taco Bus. He owned several restaurants in his native Monterrey, Mexico, before moving to the United States in 1995. In 2018, Chef René was badly burned and nearly died after a gas explosion in his food truck. Chef René chatted with The Zest’s original host, Robin Sussingham, in 2020. And in June 2026, host Dalia caught up with him at a picnic table at his René's Mexican Kitchen food trailer on Tampa’s bustling Nebraska Avenue, adjacent to Southern Brewing & Winery.Thanks to our friends at Florida Matters Live & Local for sharing this conversation.

“Retro food” can mean different things to different people. For today’s kids, it’s the Jell-O Pudding Pops and vintage Pizza Huts of their parents’ childhood. For Bobby Hicks, retro means tuna noodle casserole, chicken Kiev and gelatin rainbow cake—the food of his parents’ and grandparents’ heyday.But retro recipes are more than a list of ingredients. They’re a feeling. During the pandemic, Hicks shared this nostalgia with a growing number of social media followers who watched him make these sentimental dishes, providing a much-needed sense of comfort.And now he’s captured that feeling in a new cookbook. It’s called Retro Recipes: Vintage Dishes with a Modern Twist. We caught up with Hicks, who grew up on a farm in Central Florida and now lives in South Florida. In this conversation, the content creator and self-taught private chef discusses how to modernize retro meals for the 21st century, staples of a vintage kitchen and which recipes should stay in the past.Want to hear more from Bobby? Catch him in conversation with Dalia at Tombolo Books in St. Petersburg on June 30. Get event details here.