
Episode 90: Whitney Otawka
10/23/19 • 58 min
While taking French classes at the University of California-Berkeley, Whitney Otawka responded to an ad for a waitress position at a local French creperie. Although she didn’t get the waitress job, she was hired into the two-person kitchen and her culinary career began. Raised in the mojave desert in Hespiria California her family struggled financially and she dreamed of becoming an egyptologist. Over time in Oakland and San Diego she began to actively pursue and culinary career. She’s worked both coasts from California to Georgia. Along the way she’s worked for chefs such as Hugh Acheson and Linton Hopkins and staged at Per Se and Le Bernardin. She appeared on Season 9 of Top Chef and just released her first cookbook The Saltwater Table: Recipes from the Coastal South.
Join Heritage Radio Network on Monday, November 11th, for a raucous feast to toast a decade of food radio. Our tenth anniversary bacchanal is a rare gathering of your favorite chefs, mixologists, storytellers, thought leaders, and culinary masterminds. We’ll salute the inductees of the newly minted HRN Hall of Fame, who embody our mission to further equity, sustainability, and deliciousness. Explore the beautiful Palm House and Yellow Magnolia Café, taste and imbibe to your heart’s content, and bid on once-in-a-lifetime experiences and tasty gifts for any budget at our silent auction. Tickets available now at heritageradionetwork.org/gala.
Photo Courtesy of Whitney Otawka
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While taking French classes at the University of California-Berkeley, Whitney Otawka responded to an ad for a waitress position at a local French creperie. Although she didn’t get the waitress job, she was hired into the two-person kitchen and her culinary career began. Raised in the mojave desert in Hespiria California her family struggled financially and she dreamed of becoming an egyptologist. Over time in Oakland and San Diego she began to actively pursue and culinary career. She’s worked both coasts from California to Georgia. Along the way she’s worked for chefs such as Hugh Acheson and Linton Hopkins and staged at Per Se and Le Bernardin. She appeared on Season 9 of Top Chef and just released her first cookbook The Saltwater Table: Recipes from the Coastal South.
Join Heritage Radio Network on Monday, November 11th, for a raucous feast to toast a decade of food radio. Our tenth anniversary bacchanal is a rare gathering of your favorite chefs, mixologists, storytellers, thought leaders, and culinary masterminds. We’ll salute the inductees of the newly minted HRN Hall of Fame, who embody our mission to further equity, sustainability, and deliciousness. Explore the beautiful Palm House and Yellow Magnolia Café, taste and imbibe to your heart’s content, and bid on once-in-a-lifetime experiences and tasty gifts for any budget at our silent auction. Tickets available now at heritageradionetwork.org/gala.
Photo Courtesy of Whitney Otawka
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Previous Episode

Episode 89: Seadon Shouse
Today's Guest Seadon Shouse grew up in a small fishing village in rural Nova Scotia. As a young boy he loved seafood and would go out harvesting wild mussels and go fishing for mackerel in front of his house. Chef Shouse has worked in multiple states opening up concepts and has spent a lot of his career working in large restaurant and hotel groups including the Myriad Restaurant Group, the W hotel, Carlton Hotel and at Glenmere Mansion in Chester NY. In 2015 he rejoined the W Hoboken to open and lead the kitchen of Halifax, a concept inspired by his experiences growing up in Nova Scotia and his passion for North Eastern farm and coastal cuisine. In 2017, Halifax which has become a Hoboken favorite earned a three star review of “Excellent” from New Jersey Monthly Magazine. As a bi-coastal executive chef and owner, he also leads the kitchen at Timbercove resort in Northern California.
Photo provided by Seadon Shouse Bread and Butter PR
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Next Episode

Episode 91: Nick Bognar
My guest today is Nick Bognar, who is the chef and owner of Indo, the modern Asian restaurant in St. Louis. Indo combines styles of mainland Southeast Asia, joining Nick’s Thai background and formal Japanese training. At just 27, Nick was nominated for the James Beard Foundation Rising Star Chef of the Year for his transformation of his family’s restaurant, Nippon Tei. He opened Indo in June 2019.
Join Heritage Radio Network on Monday, November 11th, for a raucous feast to toast a decade of food radio. Our tenth anniversary bacchanal is a rare gathering of your favorite chefs, mixologists, storytellers, thought leaders, and culinary masterminds. We’ll salute the inductees of the newly minted HRN Hall of Fame, who embody our mission to further equity, sustainability, and deliciousness. Explore the beautiful Palm House and Yellow Magnolia Café, taste and imbibe to your heart’s content, and bid on once-in-a-lifetime experiences and tasty gifts for any budget at our silent auction. Tickets available now at heritageradionetwork.org/gala.
Photo Courtesy of Spencer Pernikoff
The Line is powered by Simplecast.
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