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Adrienne Cheatham

Adrienne Cheatham

Things Adrienne Says on Podcasts

Trained at Le Bernardin before running kitchens for Marcus Samuelsson, including Streetbird and Red Rooster in Harlem, and finished runner-up on a national season of Top Chef. Talks through restaurant management, kitchen leadership and the gear and habits that separate a working kitchen from a home one. Co-hosts The Chef's Cut, working through kitchen tools, restaurant hospitality and life after a televised cooking competition. The show also covers James Beard Award judging and the tradeoffs of running a restaurant while keeping a personal life.

Where to Find Them

Adrienne Cheatham hosts The Chef's Cut . They have also been a guest on Food with Mark Bittman (3 times) and Radio Cherry Bombe .

Recently: “Pumpkin Spice Is Here to Stay, But Chefs Say These Food Trends Need to Go!!” on The Chef's Cut (October 2026); “Chefs Reveal How to Get Into the Hottest Restaurants In Your City!!” on The Chef's Cut (October 2026); “Marcus Samuelsson on Top Chef Success, Bouncing Back From Failure, and Showing Up!! (Part 2 of 2)” on The Chef's Cut (October 2026); “Marcus Samuelsson on His Rise, Roots, and The Chefs Who Shaped Him!! (Part 1 of 2)” on The Chef's Cut (September 2026); “Top Chef, Michelin, 50 Best, & James Beard: The Race for Restaurant Recognition!!” on The Chef's Cut (September 2026); “Top Chefs’ Pantry Must-Haves: What’s Worth Buying and What Isn’t” on The Chef's Cut (September 2026).

What They Said

“I hate things that only have one use.” — Adrienne Cheatham, The Chef's Cut

The two chefs were working through a list of kitchen gear, and the garlic press had just come up for judgment. Cheatham's answer was that a microplane, a grater or a knife already covers the job, and that a press earns no space in a New York kitchen. She applies the same rule a few minutes later to the air fryer.

The Chef's Cut · 2026-08-31 Permalink → Listen →
The Chef's Cut Around 39:51 into the episode
Adrienne Cheatham

My problem is that. Do other people in my house use

Joe Flamm

it?

Adrienne Cheatham

I don't think people need it. If you have a microplane, if you have a grater, if you have a knife, I hate things that only have one use. A garlic press has no other use, so it can't take up space in my kitchen. Get out of here. What you got next?

Speaker 3

This one I know everybody is wondering what you guys think about. We have the workhorse, the air fryer.

Adrienne Cheatham

Okay. People are going to hate me. And I don't have one. So I can't really speak on it, but I have no problem turning my oven to 475. It's an air fryer is essentially just a very hot, very small convection oven. So, I mean, I get it. You're not heating up your whole. House. It's not going to get as…

Joe Flamm

listen, I

Speaker names from our own diarization · position estimated from where the line sits in the episode

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