This weekend, we talk about food and home. Lilah has lunch with restaurateur Danny Meyer, chief executive of Union Square Hospitality Group, known for the likes of Gramercy Tavern and the $3bn Shake Shack empire. They eat at his favourite classic New York restaurant, Sparks Steakhouse, where Meyer found an unlikely mentor in his early years. What makes a restaurant an institution? We also visit the historic province of Shanxi, China, to learn about its legendary noodle arts. Listener Zhiwei Guo and award-winning FT food writer Fuchsia Dunlop take us there.

Links from the episode:

—Fuchsia Dunlop on the noodles of Shanxi: https://www.ft.com/content/86e7d353-27dc-4ce3-a60d-6304fc339571

—Fuchsia’s culinary tour of North Korea: https://www.ft.com/content/1f9bbfc0-9d93-11e7-9a86-4d5a475ba4c5

—Danny Meyer’s essay on Sparks: https://blog.resy.com/2021/09/the-most-amazing-things-can-happen-after-a-meal-at-sparks/

—More about Resy’s classics collaborations: https://blog.resy.com/2021/09/the-classics-remix-presented-by-american-express/

Want to say hi? Email us at ftweekendpodcast@ft.com. We’re on Twitter @ftweekendpod, and Lilah is on Instagram and Twitter @lilahrap.

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Mixing and sound design is by Breen Turner, with original music by Metaphor music.

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Comfort food, with Danny Meyer

Life and Art from FT Weekend