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Chef Eli Kulp and friends launch ‘Delicious City,’ a set-in-Philly food podcast

The new show is “more fun, a little bit more lighthearted and not so deep,” when compared with his "CHEF Radio Podcast."

The hosts of the "Delicious City" podcast (from left): Writer Sarah Maiellano, radio producer Marisa Magnatta, and chef Eli Kulp.
The hosts of the "Delicious City" podcast (from left): Writer Sarah Maiellano, radio producer Marisa Magnatta, and chef Eli Kulp.Read moreCOURTESY ELI KULP

Chef Eli Kulp is drawing on his love of morning drive-time radio for his second podcast, launching Wednesday, Sept. 22.

He said Delicious City, with a cast of characters including WMMR’s Marisa Magnatta and free-lance journalist Sarah Maiellano, is “more fun, a little bit more lighthearted and not so deep,” when compared with The CHEF Radio Podcast, which he launched in 2020 to address issues of concern in the restaurant industry.

Delicious City’s approach is “an audio food blog,” he said — like “being in a room with other people.” The idea is to entertain and inform at the same time. The episodes will run 35 to 40 minutes. Although the premiere will be Sept. 22, subsequent episodes will begin Oct. 4 and run every two Mondays on Apple, Spotify, Radio Kismet, and other services.

Kulp, a James Beard Award finalist and co-owner of High Street Hospitality Group (Fork, a.kitchen, High Street), said he found Maiellano (an Inquirer contributor) through her work and said he noticed a lot of chemistry between them. Magnatta, who produces WMMR’s Preston & Steve morning show, won her spot by responding to Kulp’s Instagram solicitation for someone “audacious and irreverent.”

“She was like ‘me me me me me,’” Kulp said.

» READ MORE: After a devastating accident, chef Eli Kulp finds his voice with a podcast

Magnatta, who lives to eat, brings what she calls “an every Jane” spin to the show. “I didn’t want another culinary professional or a food journalist in the studio,” Kulp said. She will approach dining out from a customer standpoint.

The show will include a call-in line, much like Preston & Steve’s “Love You/Hate You” line, for listeners to call in to rant about restaurant jobs, rave about restaurants, or ask for recommendations. Other segments will be “the best thing we ate” and restaurant news. A comedy segment called Street Beets, recorded as a person-in-the-street news report, will feature comedians/correspondents Alejandro Morales and Betty Smithsonian.

Kulp said that although Delicious City will be focused on Philadelphia, he would like to expand to other cities.