Chef Alison Roman dishes out "solicited advice" on life, love and food on new tour
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Alison Roman appears on "The Late Show" with host Stephen Colbert in March 2023. Photo: Scott Kowalchyk/CBS via Getty Images
Alison Roman — famed chef, food writer and recipe creator — launched her new Solicited Advice tour in Denver this month and dished out words of wisdom in response to live questions from the audience.
Denverites asked her about life, love and, of course, food. Here's what she had to say:
🍴 Which local restaurants she tried: La Diabla, where staff helped her remove the pozole she spilled on her white T-shirt.
- She also snagged pastries from Reunion Bread, which she said offered "one of the best bakery experiences" and served the tastiest pastel da nata she's ever had. "Zero hyperbole ... This is the gold standard," she wrote on Instagram after the show.
🥾 Three things that scream "Denver:" Hiking, pickleball and craft beer.
🤝 How to make friends: Hit up a restaurant or bar alone and talk to people. Go on double dates if you have a partner. For nature-lovers, join a birding group. "It's not a team sport, so no one's going to, like, freak out if you're not pulling weight."
❌ The ultimate deal-breaker: A line cutter. "I would rather my partner bring home 4 million dogs" than cut someone in line.
👎 Food trends she hates: Restaurants with impossible-to-get reservations, and phones at the dinner table.
💼 Tips for aspiring small-business owners: "Don't be so focused on the outcome … Feel comfortable building slowly" and "allowing yourself to make mistakes along the way."
🥪 The perfect sandwich: A Subway sando with turkey, pepperoncini, yellow mustard, pickles, oil, vinegar, and salt and pepper. "It's a gorgeous sandwich."
😨 What to fear: An instant pot. "I will never ask you to use one. I think they're scary" — and "in 10 years, we're all going to be like, 'Whoa, what was that? Why did we all have those?'"
🌡️ One trusty kitchen tool: A Thermapen. "It's a wonderful device. You'll buy one and never need to buy another one again. It's also kind of chic-looking."
♨️ Food to eat around a hot tub: "I'm gonna go ahead and say nothing. I'm going to say that's gross and you shouldn't."
😋 Best ingredient: Fennel. "It just, like, gets along with everyone. It's like, 'I'm here to party and I want to make everything good.'"
🤢 Worst ingredient: Green bell pepper. When asked if there is "a place for [it] in this world," her answer was simple: "No."
👀 F***, marry, kill: Dill, cilantro, basil. "You can't have dill around all the time — but when it's good, it's really good. Cilantro is a real standby and kind of goes with everything. And basil is not as good as people think it is."
🐚 Unconventional opinion: Clams can be casual. "I would like to normalize cooking clams on a weeknight because they require almost no technique. … Clams are for Tuesdays."
❤️ Relationship advice: Long-distance relationships can "1,000%" be meaningful and worthwhile as long as "you are having fun and it makes you happy." In fact, when she and her now-husband first started dating, it was long-distance.
💍 How to know if they're the one: "It's so cheesy and stupid to be like, 'When you know, you know.' But you do just kind of know."