Welcome To Connecticut

Ken Tuccio has frequently called Anthony Bourdain his "biggest inspiration". Sadly, Anthony Bourdain is no longer with us. In this very special episode of FOOD & DRINK, Ken sits down with some of the most well known names in the Connecticut culinary scene; Chef Bill Taibe (Jessup Hall / Kawa Ni), Chef Matt Storch (Match/ Nom-Eeez) and Casey Dohme (The Blind Rhino) to talk about the life and legacy of Anthony Bourdain.

Ken Tuccio sits down with Johnny Kraszewski from Armada Brewing in this week's episode of Food & Drink, but the conversation isn't just about beer or the Connecticut beer scene. It's a conversation about marketing, promotion, the challenges associated with self-employment and more. Ken is also joined during the monologue by Patrick DiCaprio from the Full Pours Podcast and Ken gives Pat the rundown of his experience with cruise food last week.

Chef Prasad Chirnomula has made a name for himself across the state, and the country, for being one of the foremost experts on Indian cuisine. His new venture, Chef Prasad Indian Kitchen, opens up in New Caanan in June and he sits down with Ken Tuccio to talk about his goals and inspiration for the new spot, the importance of a Chef being present in the kitchen and how he approaches work now as opposed to when he was younger.

Athletic Brewing Company in Stratford are not just making waves in the Connecticut beer scene, but also the country. They are the first US based beverage company to focus solely on non-alcoholic craft beers. Building an entire brewery focused non-alcoholic beers has caused many to raise a lot of eyebrows and stirred a lot of curiosity and speculation among the beer community. Ken Tuccio sits down with the owner of Athletic Brewing, Bill Shufelt, and head brewer John Walker to talk about why they decided to launch an entire brewery dedicated to beer that won't get you drunk.

It's the premiere episode of FOOD & DRINK hosted by Ken Tuccio and Ken's first guest is Chef Tyler Anderson. Tyler gained national notoriety recently by competing on the Bravo reality series Top Chef, but he's been well known in the state for years thanks to his restaurants Millwright's, The Cook and the Bear and the recently opened Restaurant Porrón. Tyler talks to Ken about his experience on Top Chef, what he's learned from each restaurant he's opened and the importance of a work/life balance.

Prior to the premiere of Food & Drink on May 17th, Ken Tuccio wanted to give his listeners a behind the scenes look at the last year of his life when he was the host of a morning drive radio show, First Thing Fairfield County, on 95.9 The Fox. This episode is moderated by Patrick DiCaprio from Full Pours Radio and serves as a bridge between Ken's previous show, Welcome To Connecticut, and his upcoming show Food & Drink. Ken openly discusses how the morning show job came about, his creative frustrations, battles with the sales staff, why it all came to an end and what he learned from the experience.

The first episode of 2018 is a monologue based show, where Ken Tuccio takes a look at why he was unhappy with 2017 and how he can try to improve upon that in the upcoming year. This episode of the Welcome To Connecticut Podcast is brought to you by SoNo Bowl 3, happening Super Bowl Sunday from 4pm - Kickoff at The Blind Rhino in Norwalk.

During the 2 months where Ken Tuccio took a break from Welcome To Connecticut this year Ken conducted an interview with the voice of the WWE, Jim Ross. That interview was broken up into shorter segments and aired on Ken's morning show First Thing, but the long-form unedited version hasn't been heard yet. That's what this is. Ken Tuccio talks to Jim Ross about his past personal problems, his impact on announcers of today and the challenges writing his new book Slobberknocker …

Ken Tuccio met Hangman Page years ago when he was first starting his pro-wrestling journey. Nowadays Hangman is part of the most popular faction in pro-wrestling, the Bullet Club. Hangman talks to Ken about how Bullet Club changed his life, his struggles with social anxiety and more. This episode of the Welcome To Connecticut Podcast is brought to you by MK&T Design and Print in Norwalk. Visit them online at MKATDesign.com!

Evan Beller started the SoNo Proper clothing line to celebrate South Norwalk and since starting it he's learned a lot about the pride people in this area carry for SoNo. Evan sits down with Ken to talk about why he started the company, his background in the nightclub industry and how that impacted the way he promotes the brand and more.

Desiree Bassett is a Connecticut based singer/songwriter. She's traveled the world thanks to her music, has taken the stage with Sammy Hagar, played alongside Living Colour and has a ton of amazing stories about her journey and career. She shares those stories with Ken.

Jim and Dave Baulsir are a Father/Son duo whose relationship was strengthened through brewing beer together. It became so much of a passion that they teamed up to launch the Redding Beer Co, a brand new brewery in Redding. They sit down with Ken to talk about their relationship, their brewing experience and how beer strengthened their bond ...

Former WWE Superstar Austin Aries joins Ken Tuccio on this week's episode of the Welcome To Connecticut Podcast. The talk isn't wrestling though, it's much deeper than that. Austin sits down with Ken to discuss his brand new book Food Fight, which chronicles the unique journey that led to his adoption of a plant based diet.

H.K. Domino from The Domino Effect Podcast joins Ken Tuccio on Welcome To Connecticut to discuss the art of podcasting. Ken and Domino discuss the challenges in putting together a podcast that they want taken seriously and they also dive into why they fell in love with the medium to begin with ...

It's been close to two months since the last episode of the Welcome To Connecticut Podcast, the longest since the show started three years ago. Ken Tuccio returns to explain the reason for the lack of content and tell you what's going on with the show moving forward ...

Maybe you know Dennis Quaid from movies like Great Balls of Fire, The Rookie or The Day After Tomorrow. Perhaps you know him from TV shows like Vegas. No matter what you know him from, the guy's a star. He joins Ken Tuccio this week to talk about his passion for music and his band Dennis Quaid and the Sharks and how playing music for him flexes a different creative muscle than the one he uses while he's acting. The theme song for the Welcome To Connecticut Podcast is "I Know Where You've Been" by Forget The Whale (www.facebook.com/forgetthewhale).

Ken is off this week, but he still has something for you to check out!

Paul Mannion from The Green Grunion, one of Connecticut's most successful food trucks, joins Ken on the podcast to talk about his unique journey that ultimately led him to The Green Grunion. They also chat about their similar approaches to life and thoughts on what it takes to be successful in any field. The theme song for the Welcome To Connecticut Podcast is "I Know Where You've Been" by Forget The Whale (www.facebook.com/forgetthewhale).

Ken sits down with Joseph Bow and Mike Borruso from Fairfield Craft Ales for the second time on the podcast. The first time they chatted was a little over a year ago, so they catch up about how their brewery has grown over the last year. They also chat about Everyday, the brand new beer that Ken is collaborating with them on. The theme song for the Welcome To Connecticut Podcast is "I Know Where You've Been" by Forget The Whale (www.facebook.com/forgetthewhale).

Steve Wood was supposed to be one of the first 10 guests on Welcome To Connecticut but technical issues caused that episode to never see the light of day, but now he finally made his way back to the podcast. Steve is known for his amazing blog CTMQ, but he's also one of the organizers of CT Hops for Hope, an amazing beer festival which happens on September 2nd in New Britain and benefits SMS Research. Ken talks to Steve about SMS and his connection to it, how CT Hops for Hope came to be and his love of Connecticut beer. The theme song for the Welcome To Connecticut Podcast is "I Know Where You've Been" by Forget The Whale (www.facebook.com/forgetthewhale).