San Diego Mag's Chef of the Year + His Truffle Hunter

Happy Half Hour

Truffles are food gold, one of the world’s most famous ingredients. Musky, lovely, funky, delicious, expensive, and fickle as hell. Why do some of them taste like cardboard? Did you know you can grow very good ones in the U.S., but that it might take over a decade to yield your first “crop”? On this episode, we pay a visit to San Diego Magazine’s 2024 “Chef of the Year” Brad Wise. He introduces us to his truffle guy, Vincent Gentile of Seminalia Truffles. Vince worked at Alinea with famed chef Grant Achatz until he and his partner launched their own truffle business. We go into some of the myths and science of growing, sourcing, and coddling one of the world’s most rarefied ingredients. We also talk with Brad about his whole-animal butchering classes at Wise Ox, which sell-out a lot faster than expected in a post-pan food world where we’re all more interested in doing the entire food experience ourselves.