Meet the team.
Emily Fedner
Host
Emily Fedner is a former line cook, on-camera host, recipe developer and content creator based in New York City. She’s also the gal behind @foodloversdiary, an Instagram account dedicated to culture-driven recipes and sharing hidden gems in NYC and abroad.
Emily has worked in the restaurant industry since she was 15 years old, cultivating a meticulous knowledge of food and a deep appreciation for wine and spirits. After a successful career as a publicist where she worked with high profile clients such as Michael Symon, April Bloomfield and Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams, Emily decided to hop the fence and get her hands dirty as a line cook at a busy Italian restaurant in Manhattan. Today she is the co-founder of Petite Pasta Joint, a 26-seat pasta pop-up + private events company operating out of the historic Raffetto’s Fresh Pasta space, and author of two digital cookbooks dedicated to her favorite foods:
Pasta Lover’s Diary and Dumpling Lover’s Diary.
But perhaps more important than what she’s done is who she is: Emily is the first-generation American daughter of Soviet refugees. Her experience as the child of immigrants and has colored every part of who she is and has informed the overarching mission of her career: to highlight diverse and marginalized voices through the lens of food.
Fabrizio Villalpando
Host
Based in New York, NY, Fabrizio Villalpando is a Mexican American self-taught home cook, who prides himself on being an advocate for "comfy cooking," living leisurely and mental health. Known for his soothing ASMR-style videos, Fabrizio's main goal is to slice away at the intimidating reputation of the kitchen, and show fellow home cooks worldwide, regardless of skill level, how simple it can be to enjoy both casual and fine dining at home. He not only wants to feed his 1M+ collective viewers' cravings, but also strives to feed their minds and leave their souls satisfied with the soothing sounds and visuals his kitchen produces.
Thee Moody Foody has garnered millions of impressions and views, with some of his videos receiving up to nearly 6 million views. In 2021,
Food & Wine featured him as a must-follow TikTok account.
Co-hosts Emily Fedner and Fabrizio Villalpando are represented by Digital Brand Architects.
Haley Draznin
Producer
Haley Draznin has spent over 10 years in various roles at international news outlets as a reporter, producer and editor. She founded and launched Haynow Media in 2021 with the mission to help brands produce high-quality content that is educational, informative, and builds community. An Emmy-nominated journalist, she spent nearly a decade at CNN where she covered major news stories including the 2020 and 2016 presidential election, Hurricanes Michael and Florence, UK Brexit vote, among others. Her work has been nominated for two 2019 Emmys for outstanding coverage of a breaking news story in a newscast for CNN Newsroom New York bomb evacuation and outstanding breaking news coverage for CNN International Yemen school bus bombing.
She launched the CNN Business series “Boss Files with Poppy Harlow” and has produced interviews with some of the most successful CEOs and leaders around the world including Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki, Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Hillary Clinton, Ivanka Trump, Starbucks Chairman Howard Schultz, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, Richard Branson, Melinda Gates, among others. Draznin holds a bachelor’s degree in international studies and journalism from Emory University.
Brandon Brown
Creator, Producer
Brandon Brown graduated from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY with a BFA in film. He directs long- and short-form documentary films. His works have screened at The Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) in Brooklyn, NY, The Art of Brooklyn Film Festival in Brooklyn, NY and at NorthwestFest (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada).
Along with his work on the Friends of Anthony Bourdain podcast, he is currently finishing production on a feature-length documentary film about Academy Award-winning film composer Bernard Herrmann.
Eduardo Daniel Victoria
Theme Composer
Eduardo Daniel Victoria is a media composer based in the Los Angeles area with past credits including work for Oscar Winners Justin Hurwitz, Janusz Kaminski, and Director Doug Liman. Born and raised in Ventura County, Eduardo fell in love with music at a young age and played woodwinds in many local groups and school bands before a chance encounter with Christopher Young convinced him to pursue composing professionally. Just before the pandemic of 2020, Eduardo conducted an orchestra for the FDA's Ad Campaign "The Real Cost", which currently has over 24 million views on Youtube. During Lockdown 2020, producer Brandon Brown convinced him to dive into the Parts Unknown and the No Reservations series, plugging directly into his love of all things travel, food, and culture.
Kris Simeon
Theme Guitarist
Kris Simeon is a multi-instrumentalist from Oxnard, CA. He grew up playing in the band Spartacus. Now, he primarily performs the singer-songwriter circuit up and down the coast. Anthony Bourdain has had a profound effect on his life inspiring him with his stories of traveling, experiencing, and living different cultures around the world.
Follow Me: Instagram / Spotify / SoundCloud / Website
Midnight Marauder
Podcast Artwork
Our podcast artwork was designed by the brilliant Midnight Marauder.
Check out their work at midnight-marauder.com