This week on Snacky Tunes, Greg and Darin welcome Amanda Freitag, one of New York’s most celebrated chefs, and the band Kal Marks, who came all the way from Boston to play some rock.

Amanda is a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, and a well known TV personality and chef for battling Bobby Flay on Iron Chef America on the Food Network. Getting her start under the guidance of Jean-Georges Vongerichten at Vong New York, she eventually teamed up with legendary restaurateur Godfrey Polistina (Carmine’s, Ouest, Virgil’s BBQ) to start the popular upper west side restaurant Cesca Enoteca & Trattoria. Most recently, Amanda was the executive chef at Gusto in the West Village, where she received both critical and popular acclaim. Lastly, Freitag found a new opportunity at The Harrsion in Tribeca. Since Freitag’s arrival, The Harrison has received numerous accolades from local and national media, including a two-star review from The New York Times, as well as features in Time Out New York, New York Magazine and Forbes Life.

Boston’s Kal Marks (originally the solo project of Carl Shane and now a trio) are set to release their first full length album as this lineup, and first recorded in a real studio, Life Is Murder, on September 17 via Exploding In Sound/Sophomore Lounge/Midnight Werewolf. They come from a scene of other young raging rock bands (like Pile and Speedy Ortiz), and like those bands, Kal Marks get loud. But they’re also part of a long lineage of indie rock bands with weird-voiced singers that spans from bands like Modest Mouse or Wolf Parade to more recent things like Alt-J. Ever wondered what Titus Andronicus might have sounded like if Patrick Stickles was more into Isaac Brock and less into Conor Oberst? Kal Marks could be your answer.


“When I got to The Harrison, I got a call asking if I wanted to be on Iron Chef. I had a great experience that led to Chopped.” [24:30] — Amanda Freitag on Snacky Tunes