Big Dip Energy | Alyse Whitney on Food, TV & Being Yourself
Episode Details

What is Big Dip Energy? You’re about to find out!


Alyse Whitney is a food journalist, cookbook author, Netflix judge, and certified Dip Queen who has spent nearly 15 years building one of the most distinctive voices in food media. Over 1,000 bylines. Bon Appétit, Food & Wine, Rachael Ray Every Day. Managing editor of Chrissy Teigan's Cravings. Ina Garten's cell phone number on hand. And a cookbook, Big Dip Energy, that she wrote, art directed, propped, and styled in nine months while convincing her publisher to let her include a "compundium" of puns at the back.


Oh, and she's launching a new podcast and YouTube show called Dippin' In! And she announced it here first!


In this episode, host Sarah Perkins sits down with Alyse for a conversation that is unlike any other on The Perfect Bite. It covers the Korean American adoptee who started cooking for her family at 12 because she thought their Shake 'n Bake pork chops were boring, the entertainment journalist who burned out writing 15 articles a day recapping Scandal, the food writer who got Ina Garten's cell phone number after a day of cooking together, and the Netflix judge who filmed her first ever TV appearance in Spanx while on her period in Albuquerque.


Alyse is maximalist in every sense, from her food, to her style, her personality, and her puns, and this conversation is a masterclass in what happens when you finally stop trying to make yourself smaller and just show up as the fullest possible version of yourself.


In this episode, we cover:

  • Growing up as a Korean adoptee with non-cooking parents and becoming the family chef at 12
  • The gateway food memory: making kimbap with her Korean Big Sib mentor program
  • Why she got into dips (Hint: she almost choked as a baby because she hated chewing)
  • Subscribing to Bon Appétit alongside J14 at age 12
  • Burning out as an entertainment journalist writing 15 articles a day
  • Getting a job at Cooking Channel because she was nice to someone at her Bon Appétit internship
  • Getting Ina Garten to be Bon Appétit's first ever guest editor and cooking together in the Hamptons
  • Being laid off from Rachael Ray Every Day and landing the Chrissy Teigan Cravings job
  • Her first TV appearance on Easy Bake Battle with Antoni Porowski: in Spanx, on her period, in Albuquerque
  • Getting called at 9:30am to replace a COVID-positive judge on Nailed It! by 11am
  • Becoming a recurring judge on Chopped
  • Big Dip Energy: Writing the manuscript in three weeks and art directing every page
  • Her ADHD diagnosis and why she chose a 9-month book deadline over 18 months
  • Being unapologetically maximalist after years of trying to hide herself
  • Her Cherry Bombe Jubilee talk "Good Fat" on loving people the way we love butter
  • Why she's finally treating herself like a brand
  • EXCLUSIVE: Her new podcast and YouTube show Dippin' In!, announced here first!
  • Advice for founders: Be authentic, show up, and stop making yourself smaller


Find Alyse:

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Episode cover art for Big Dip Energy | Alyse Whitney on Food, TV & Being Yourself
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