Al Roker & Courtney Roker Laga Transcript
Kerry Diamond:
Hi, everyone. You are listening to Radio Cherry Bombe, and I'm your host, Kerry Diamond, coming to you from Newsstand Studios at Rockefeller Center in the heart of New York City. I'm the founder and editor of Cherry Bombe Magazine.
We have a fun show for you today. Joining me in the studio is father-daughter duo, Al Roker and Courtney Roker Laga. They've written a charming cookbook titled “Recipes to Live By, Easy Memory-Making Family Dishes for Every Occasion.” It's packed with lots of crowd pleasers, and they're going to join us in just a minute to talk about their favorite foods, their relationship, and why the title of the book has multiple meanings. Al, as most of you know, is America's weatherman. He is a TV personality and star of “The Today Show,” which films just around the corner from our studio, so it was a treat having Al walk over. Courtney is a recipe developer and a personal chef who has worked on the line at Michelin-starred restaurants, including Daniel right here in the city. Stay tuned for my chat with Al and Courtney.
Today's episode is presented by Kerrygold. Have you noticed that butter is having a moment? I've seen handbags sculpted out of butter, little couches made from butter pats, tiny butter cherubs, even butter-colored nail polish and fashion. The world is butter obsessed, but you know who loves butter more than most? The folks at Kerrygold. They've been perfecting their craft for decades, using milk from Irish grass-fed cows to create their famously rich, creamy, golden butter. There's a reason Kerrygold is beloved by everyone from home cooks to the world's top culinary creatives. It's just better butter. Kerrygold salted pure Irish butter has a butterfat content of 80% while the unsalted version has a butterfat content of 82% and that beautiful yellow color, it's thanks to beta-carotene found naturally in milk from grass-fed cows. Want to get in on the fun? Get yourself some Kerrygold and whip up some flavored compound butter, fill some fancy butter molds, or sculpt one of those gorgeous butter mounds for your next dinner party or get together. Visit kerrygoldusa.com to learn more, get recipes, and find a stockist near you.
If you'd like to hang with team Cherry Bombe and the Bombesquad, we've got lots of events coming up. There's Jubilee Wine Country taking place at the beautiful Solage Resort in Calistoga, California on the weekend of October 26th and 27th. Come learn from incredible folks like Dominique Crenn, Tonya Holland, Jeni Britton, west~bourne’s Camilla Marcus, and Vintner's Daughter's April Gargiulo. We'll also be in Boston on October 23rd with She's My Cherry Pie host, Jessie Sheehan to celebrate Jessie's new baking book. Tickets are on sale right now at cherrybombe.com, and we'd love to see you.
Now, let's hear from today's guests. Courtney and Al, welcome to Radio Cherry Bombe.
Courtney Roker Laga:
Thank you.
Al Roker:
Well, thank you.
Kerry Diamond:
What a thrilling day.
Al Roker:
Well, I hope you feel that way when this is over.
Courtney Roker Laga:
Yeah.
Kerry Diamond:
And I'm sorry for the distances you had to travel together.
Al Roker:
Yeah, it was a long walk. I mean, it's funny because Courtney said to me, "Where is this?" I Googled it, I Google mapped it and I said, "Oh, wait a minute. This is literally right across from our “Today Show” studio." I've never walked through this lobby here, so this is awfully nice.
Kerry Diamond:
Not all of our listeners know this, but we record the show in a historic newsstand. That's why it's called Newsstand Studios. When they renovated the lobby, I guess they took away what had been covering this and uncovered a newsstand that's been here for decades.
Courtney Roker Laga:
So cool.
Al Roker:
Wow.
Kerry Diamond:
Anyway, folks, if you're in the lobby of one Rockefeller Plaza-
Al Roker:
Come on by.
Kerry Diamond:
Come on by and take a look. So you two are here because you have this fantastic new cookbook that you have worked on together.
Al Roker:
Yes.
Kerry Diamond:
I have so many questions about father daughter working on a cookbook.
Al Roker:
I'm sure Courtney does-
Courtney Roker Laga:
I'm ready.
Al Roker:
So how did the idea for this come about? Why did you decide to partner on a cookbook?
Courtney Roker Laga:
Well, during the pandemic, him and my little brother, Nick were doing... What were you calling it? It was a cooking show.
Al Roker:
What We're Cooking.
Courtney Roker Laga:
What we're cooking and a lot of people tuned in. Thousands of likes, and everyone's asking, "When are you doing a cookbook?" Or, "We need a show or something," and in my head I'm just like, "If we're going to do it, we should do it now, because you have so many people watching." He's written a couple of cookbooks 20 years ago, and we needed something updated, something bright, something new. I cooked for about 14 years.
Kerry Diamond:
Wait, I have to ask. Were you jealous that your brother was doing this because you are the legit chef in the family?
Courtney Roker Laga:
No. I loved watching because him and my dad in the kitchen, it's fun, and Nick really enjoyed it. So yeah, with recipe development that I've done, I just thought this would be a great project for us to do, and I brought the idea and he was very hesitant, I think.
Al Roker:
Yeah. I was like... See, because I just don't want to do a lot of things. I'm relatively lazy, and I thought, "Okay, this'll be one more thing," and I don't like deadlines. What I love about live television is that our show starts at seven, I end at 10, I'm done. That's it. Good night, everybody. Whereas a cookbook, from my previous experience, that's a lot of work because it's not just, "Oh, here's a recipe." First of all, somebody's got to come up with a recipe. Then it's got to be tested-
Kerry Diamond:
And tested again.
Al Roker:
And tested again, and then you've got to write the head notes and you've got to take the pictures. Because when I wrote a cookbook, you had a hundred, 110 recipes, and then you had maybe three pages of pictures in the middle. Now you've got to have a picture for every recipe you make. All of that was swirling in my head, and then I said, "Okay, fine."
Kerry Diamond:
And you two did not phone this book in?
Al Roker:
No, no. Well, the reason it's not phoned in is because of Courtney.
Courtney Roker Laga:
What is phoned in?
Al Roker:
In other words, it's like somebody else really wrote it and the celebrity just puts their name on it.
Courtney Roker Laga:
Yeah, no.
Kerry Diamond:
But you have real stories in there. It's a delight to read.
Al Roker:
Well, thank you.
Courtney Roker Laga:
We have some family photos, I think, in there. We have family photos.
Al Roker:
Yeah. I mean, listen, it's like-
Kerry Diamond:
Even the dog.
Al Roker:
Yeah, our dog, Pepper... Our dog, Pepper-
Courtney Roker Laga:
She passed away.
Al Roker:
Here's the kind of almost magical moment. We got the first copies in July, I think it was. She had passed away a week earlier, and the book came and it fell open face down and I picked it up. It was open to the page, Pepper's full picture.
Courtney Roker Laga:
And she has a recipe in there.
Al Roker:
And she's a little recipe. She looked very cute. She had been groomed and she was like smiling, and I was like, "Aw." But yeah, it really is our family. But the problem is my mother never wrote anything down. Courtney's mom never wrote anything down. My grandmother, no. So Courtney had to interview us and talk about what it was and then what we remembered about it and the taste, and so she was like this recipe detective.
Courtney Roker Laga:
Yeah. I had to make a lot of phone calls. I had to test recipes over and over again, and I was pregnant at the time too, so feeding my child, feeding my husband, calling him and annoying him. It's a process.
Kerry Diamond:
Let's talk about your career as a chef. When did you decide you wanted to go to culinary school?
Courtney Roker Laga:
I didn't really know what I wanted to do with my life. I went to, I think, it was called a French Culinary Institute, but then it changed to ICE. I was going to school in North Carolina for a little bit, and I was just confused on what I wanted to do. I saw something online and I realized, "I want to cook," and I reached out to my dad and just made it happen. I mean, I've loved theater and singing forever.
Al Roker:
She has a terrific voice.
Kerry Diamond:
Oh, we've done a Cherry Bombe talent show before.
Courtney Roker Laga:
Oh, no, no, no. No, no, no.
Kerry Diamond:
Tom Colicchio performed at our talent show.
Courtney Roker Laga:
Oh, he did?
Kerry Diamond:
There's a lot of talent in the Bombesquad.
Courtney Roker Laga:
Wow. But yeah, decided to go down the cooking route.
Al Roker:
The thing was, even when she was smaller, we lived in Westchester and there were these edible flowers in the garden. She'd go and pick the flowers and then decorate the plate, and so I was thrilled. The dad who's living vicariously through his kid playing basketball or baseball, I was the cook dad who was going to live vicariously through his daughter becoming a chef, a professional chef.
Kerry Diamond:
Did you ever work in restaurants, Al?
Al Roker:
No. One day we did a series on “The Today Show,” Job Swap. One day I was a line cook for pre-theater dinner on a Friday night at Daniel, and Daniel was going to do weather. I'd never really been in a kitchen at that point I mean, as far as... On a Friday night, and I forget the name of the ship, big guy. He was a big, big guy. The amount of swearing... Physical intimidation was palpable. I was never so traumatized.
Kerry Diamond:
Wow. Even you. Yeah, a special guest, a VIP guest.
Al Roker:
They could care less. It reminded me of that line in the movie, “Christmas Story,” where the narrator says, "My father dabbled in obscenity the way Picasso worked in oils." I mean, it was crazy.
Kerry Diamond:
Oh my gosh. Well, I'm guessing your restaurant experience was a little different, but still you didn't work in easy kitchens.
Courtney Roker Laga:
No.
Kerry Diamond:
You worked for the Patina Group. You were at Lincoln.
Courtney Roker Laga:
Yes, which were all great jobs, great restaurants. I worked for Jonathan Benno at Lincoln, loved him. Worked at a couple of Daniel Boulud's restaurants. Great atmosphere. I have friendships from there, but it is intense. I love it. Adrenaline rush, loved it. Like I said, made great friendships, but I wanted to do something different, which is why I went through the recipe development career and also I missed holidays with my family and I just wanted something different.
Kerry Diamond:
You were a banquet chef at one point, which-?
Courtney Roker Laga:
Oh, yeah. I was at Westchester Country Club a long time ago.
Al Roker:
I've forgotten about that.
Courtney Roker Laga:
Yeah, that was great.
Kerry Diamond:
You seem like you've done almost everything there is to do in the food and chef world. What emerged as the thing that you truly love to do?
Courtney Roker Laga:
I guess, like I said, recipe development. I'm very into editorial work, social media... Right now, I'm a personal chef, so I cook for about eight clients. I work for a company called Tiny Spoon Chef, so I love my job. I love cooking for people, making my own recipes, not having a chef telling me, "You need to do this and you need to do that." But I also, like I said, I like doing recipe development on the side and content creation.
Kerry Diamond:
Did you enjoy the cookbook process?
Courtney Roker Laga:
It's a labor of love, and I would do it again in a heartbeat. I loved it. He did the head notes, stories, stuff like that. I was the one that did the recipes, found the photographer. I food styled the whole book. It was a lot, and then being pregnant, but I would do it again in a heartbeat. I loved it.
Kerry Diamond:
We'll be right back with today's guests.
The fall issue of Cherry Bombe's print magazine is finally here, and guess who our cover star is? It's Jeni Britton of Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams, the artisanal ice cream company that changed the game. This might just be our coolest cover yet, and I can't wait for you to read all about Jeni and her entrepreneurial journey. Also, we have a bonus cover. It's the delightful Abi Balingit of the Dusky Kitchen and the award-winning cookbook, “Mayumu.” This issue is dedicated to the creative class and highlights innovative and imaginative folks in and around the world of food, including fashion designers, artists, photographers, and of course, lots of pastry chefs. If you're a subscriber, your copy will be in your mailbox very soon. If you aren't a subscriber, head to cherrybombe.com to snag a copy or check out our list of retailers to find Cherry Bombe's print magazine at a store near you.
Jessie Sheehan:
Hi, peeps. It's Jessie Sheehan, the host of She's My Cherry Pie, the baking podcast from The Cherry Bombe Podcast Network. I have big news for you. My new cookbook, “Salty, Cheesy, Herby, Crispy, Snackable Bakes” is now available. This is my first savory baking book, and I'm so excited to share it with all of you. It features a hundred easy-peasy baking recipes for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and of course, snacking from sage butter scones to smash burger hand pies and tomato za'atar galette. You'll also find six of my essential savory baking hacks, including how to make my magic melted butter pie dough and the quickest and easiest caramelized onions. My cookbook tour is underway and tickets are on sale right now at cherrybombe.com. Thanks to everyone who joined me in New York, San Francisco, and Chicago. I'll be in Boston on Wednesday, October 23rd, and I hope to see you there. Thank you to Kerrygold and King Arthur Baking Company for supporting my tour. You can click the link in the show notes of this episode to order the book or pick up a copy at your favorite local bookstore. I hope you love “Salty, Cheesy, Herby, Crispy, Snackable Bakes” as much as I loved writing it.
Kerry Diamond:
Speaking of the baby, when I was reading the book, there was a line that totally jumped out at me. You were talking to Courtney in the acknowledgements. "You helped give birth to this book and you gave birth to the human being who gave me the will to live when I also was in heaven's waiting room, my little Sky Clara." I didn't realize you had had a near-death experience.
Al Roker:
Well, I didn't either, to be honest. I had this perfect storm of internal health issues. Courtney, Leila, and my wife Deborah, my brother Chris, sister Lisa, all kind of came in from different places and just were my guardian angels and advocates. The greatest gift they gave me in a sense was that I didn't really know how bad off I was. So as far as I was concerned, I was going to get better.
Kerry Diamond:
But you did know Courtney was pregnant with your first grandchild?
Al Roker:
Well, I didn't know until after the surgery. She told me after, and it was like this joyous thing to think that I was going to be a grandfather, and so that was very, very exciting. It was a moment of excitement and literally something to live for.
Kerry Diamond:
But that makes the title of the book seem a little bit more profound, “Recipes to Live By.”
Al Roker:
I had not thought about that.
Courtney Roker Laga:
I didn't think about that either.
Al Roker:
I did not think about that. Thank you very much.
Courtney Roker Laga:
Wow.
Al Roker:
I appreciate that. I think food is one of those great equalizers. Everybody has memories of their family that usually revolve around food or a meal, something like that, an event that had a meal, and again, the concept really kind of came from Courtney. We tried to do Sunday dinners a lot, enjoyed people. A lot of family and friends would come over for meals. I always remember my dad always had this belief that he would want our house growing up to be the place where everybody came, because then I know my kids will be here.
Kerry Diamond:
I was curious about meal time growing up because you had to get up so early. I think you wrote in the book 3:45 AM every day for how many decades now?
Al Roker:
Well, since 19... Full-time, since 1995.
Kerry Diamond:
Wow. How did that impact family meal time? Because you also obviously went to bed early.
Courtney Roker Laga:
And with me, it was different.
Al Roker:
Yeah, it was different because at the time, I was working at WNBC, Channel 4 here in New York, so I did the five, six, and 11. So when Courtney was younger, was still into really early elementary school, I'd get up with her, make breakfast when she was old enough to go to preschool, take her to preschool, pick her up, make sure she had lunch, and then off to work. The mornings were our time. It wasn't until her brothers and sisters really that I was gone in the morning. When her brother and sister came along, I think I poured my energy into dinnertime because I wouldn't be there for the mornings, obviously.
Courtney Roker Laga:
But you'd make breakfast for Nick.
Al Roker:
Yeah, I would make breakfast for Nick. Leila didn't care that much about breakfast, but Nick likes breakfast. Nick, he would eat three breakfasts. In fact, sometimes he would. I would make breakfast and then he'd wait around and then Deborah would get up.
Courtney Roker Laga:
Another breakfast.
Al Roker:
She'd make breakfast-
Kerry Diamond:
Oh, that's so funny because you tell a really poignant story about your dad. When you were a kid growing up in Queens, your dad was a bus driver.
Al Roker:
He was a bus driver, and I would get up with him and have breakfast, and then when my siblings would get up before school, I'd have breakfast again. Breakfast to me is the best meal of the day.
Courtney Roker Laga:
Oh my gosh. Breakfast for dinner is amazing.
Al Roker:
Yeah.
Kerry Diamond:
Do you do that as a family sometimes?
Courtney Roker Laga:
My husband and I, sometimes I'll just make pancakes and eggs and bacon for breakfast. It's so good.
Kerry Diamond:
Well, let's talk about some of these recipes because it really is one hit after another.
Al Roker:
Well, thank you.
Kerry Diamond:
I mean, there are so many crowd pleasers in this book. It was a lot of fun to flip through it. How did you decide what was going to go in the book?
Courtney Roker Laga:
I pulled him aside because he's a busy guy, and I was like, "Listen, we need to sit down... Take some time, sit down. We're going to go through and pick out what we want to put in this book."
Al Roker:
She compiled this list of recipes, talking with me, talking with Deborah, talking with her mom or some family, some friends. "What do you remember growing up?" And so there were... What? 150...?
Courtney Roker Laga:
It was like 150 ideas, and then we narrowed it down to a hundred.
Al Roker:
And so we'd go through and back and forth and back and forth. Part of the problem, I'm hard to pin down. I'm very much, "Oh, I'll do it later. I'll get to you later." And finally it was like Courtney had to hit me with a tranquilizer dart, tie me down.
Courtney Roker Laga:
Deadlines.
Al Roker:
And was like, "We've got to do this." And that was pretty much the rhythm. She'd be either texting me or calling me, "Hey..." And I'd be ignoring. Then she'd finally just show up. It's like, "You can't ignore me now."
Kerry Diamond:
You've got a great section for the holidays on Thanksgiving and sides. You are a big sides person.
Al Roker:
Oh, absolutely. I think people care more about the sides on Thanksgiving than the turkey.
Courtney Roker Laga:
I'm okay with just a plate of sides, to be honest. I love turkey, but I can just do sides.
Al Roker:
But do you really love turkey?
Courtney Roker Laga:
I love it on Thanksgiving and like a turkey sandwich.
Al Roker:
Yeah. They only care about the leftover, like the turkey sandwich deal-
Kerry Diamond:
With the stuffing and the cranberry sauce.
Al Roker:
With the stuffing and the cranberry sauce.
Kerry Diamond:
Love it. Do you have to make the turkey, Courtney, for the fam?
Courtney Roker Laga:
No, that's his thing.
Al Roker:
What we had been doing, and we'd have family over and friends, I'd prep as much as I could the night before and then I left a schedule of insertion times to the oven for Deborah who would then put the turkey in and then by the time I get there, I'd take over, but I was exhausted. And then one day we were at Bar Boulud and Daniel came by and he says, "Why don't you come to the restaurant for Thanksgiving?" And I've always been, "I don't want to eat at a restaurant for Thanksgiving. Come on." I went and I thought, "Where has this been all my life?"
Courtney Roker Laga:
It's so good.
Al Roker:
"What have I been doing?"
Courtney Roker Laga:
Probably the best stuffing ever.
Al Roker:
Yeah.
Courtney Roker Laga:
So good.
Al Roker:
No cleanup, no nothing. They even put some leftovers in the box for us.
Courtney Roker Laga:
Yeah.
Kerry Diamond:
So what are you doing this year?
Courtney Roker Laga:
We're doing a Friendsgiving, so we're not seeing really anybody, which I feel bad about. We'd like to see the parade. I don't know.
Al Roker:
Yeah, I get to see the baby. I don't really care about that. I don't care about them anymore. I just want the baby.
Kerry Diamond:
How is little Sky?
Courtney Roker Laga:
She's great.
Kerry Diamond:
Does she eat much yet?
Courtney Roker Laga:
Oh my God, she eats everything. She had eel sushi the other day.
Al Roker:
Courtney had sushi... We started taking her to a sushi restaurant when she was three.
Kerry Diamond:
Oh, that's even in your Instagram bio.
Courtney Roker Laga:
Yeah.
Kerry Diamond:
We love sushi.
Al Roker:
And in fact, it was a great little mom-and-pop sushi restaurant in Westchester and all their regular clients, you had your own personal chopsticks and she had these little Hello Kitty chopsticks that they've had for her.
Courtney Roker Laga:
My best friend just got me a pair to gift to Sky.
Kerry Diamond:
Oh, I love those, the little ones that teach you how to use chopsticks.
Courtney Roker Laga:
Yeah.
Al Roker:
But Sky has, I think, the same kind of palette that mommy has because she really leans more toward-
Courtney Roker Laga:
Savory.
Al Roker:
Savory.
Courtney Roker Laga:
She had ice cream and she's like, "All right, whatever." But she loves lemons and chicken and sushi and yeah.
Kerry Diamond:
And how old is she now?
Courtney Roker Laga:
15 months.
Kerry Diamond:
15 months. Wow. And how are you doing, how are you holding up? Working mom, not easy.
Courtney Roker Laga:
It's a little difficult, but I have a great partner and we help each other out and great-grandparents.
Kerry Diamond:
That's great. All right, let's talk about some specific recipes.
Al Roker:
Okay.
Kerry Diamond:
Which is the most personal?
Courtney Roker Laga:
I guess one of my grandmother's recipes, probably like the sweet potato poon or peas and rice, just because I grew up eating that.
Kerry Diamond:
And explain sweet potato poon. I heard you explain that, I think, to Ina Garten.
Al Roker:
Yeah. It's a crustless sweet potato pie that I think can either be a dessert or a side. It's relatively simple. It is to me the epitome of a holiday. We had it every Christmas and Thanksgiving, but for me, for the recipe, the two that most remind me of my mom is the oxtail stew and dumplings. For the dessert, it would have to be the pineapple upside-down cake, which is very old-school, but I think is making a comeback and it's really pretty simple. For people of a certain age, your mother's cooking and your grandmother's cooking was relatively economical, the lesser cuts of meat, canned food, and/or vegetables, just the stuff that was basic. The beauty of what Courtney did was take those recipes... Well, I don't even want to say elevate them, but modernize them. Really did a good job of it.
Kerry Diamond:
Courtney, which recipe do you think will be the most popular? There's always something that bubbles up.
Courtney Roker Laga:
Two. I think the blood orange Aperol spritz. Super simple.
Kerry Diamond:
I flagged that one. I love an Aperol spritz, but I also love blood orange.
Courtney Roker Laga:
Aperol spritzs are good. And then what was the other one? Apple cider donut bread pudding.
Al Roker:
Yeah, that's good. And in fact, this is really Courtney's recipe. We go to this apple orchard near us in upstate New York called Hilltop Orchard, and so we go apple picking. Really, we don't care about the apples. It's the apple cider donuts that they're making hot right there. They come off this line and fall into this amazing jacuzzi of brown sugar cinnamon stuff, and then you get this wax paper bag that's greasy. We always are over-ordered because you see them and you have one and you say, "Well, if I've had one, I need to really have eight," and so we've got leftovers. It was two days later and I said, "We've got all these leftovers. Is there anything you could do with this?" And?
Courtney Roker Laga:
Bread pudding.
Al Roker:
There you go.
Kerry Diamond:
Yeah.
Al Roker:
I think the mac and cheese recipe.
Courtney Roker Laga:
Oh yeah. I make a good mac and cheese.
Al Roker:
Yeah.
Kerry Diamond:
What's your secret?
Courtney Roker Laga:
In the book, I put Panko on top because he likes that. Right? You like-
Al Roker:
I like breadcrumbs.
Courtney Roker Laga:
You like breadcrumbs.
Al Roker:
My mom did breadcrumbs on top.
Courtney Roker Laga:
I'm okay with not... I don't have to have Panko. I like a baked mac and cheese.
Al Roker:
What I find interesting... Like Courtney is a classically trained chef, so she knows about a bechamel sauce. What my mom made to go in there was basically a bechamel, but we didn't know it was a bechamel sauce. It's like, "Oh, bechamel, look at that. Look at you being fancy, Isabelle Roker, without knowing it."
Kerry Diamond:
Like we said, you've worked with some of the best chefs around, Jonathan Benno, famous New York City chef, and Daniel Boulud, internationally famous. What did you learn from them? What are some of the things you took away that you still put into practice today?
Courtney Roker Laga:
I think patience and prepping everything out ahead of time. Taking your time, organizing, measuring everything out because I feel like if you don't have patience and you rush, something's going to go wrong. You're going to mess up.
Kerry Diamond:
So mise en place.
Courtney Roker Laga:
Mise en place, right? Prepping everything out ahead of time and having a little checklist and marking it off. I think that's the best thing that I've learned from them because I brought that on to other careers in my life.
Kerry Diamond:
Do you think you were like that when you got into those kitchens?
Courtney Roker Laga:
No, I had no idea what I was doing. I think I was a know-it-all, I thought I knew everything. "I have to prove myself," type of attitude and no, it was a growing lesson.
Kerry Diamond:
And Al, you've been able to work with some of the best chefs in the world on “The Today Show.”
Al Roker:
Yes.
Kerry Diamond:
What have you picked up from them?
Al Roker:
Chefs who come on have a certain amount of humility because... There are certain ones that are like these superstars and they're an industry as it were, but then there are those who are like that, but yet still sweat the small things and still worry about, "Did I do a good job?" My thing is... People will say to me, they say, "Do you still get nervous?" I say, "Every day." And those chefs who come in and prep... We've got a terrific team at “The Today Show” led by Katie Stilo, but they still are there and they get in early. The chefs that I've learned from are fairly humble.
Kerry Diamond:
I feel like there's a lot of humility and humbleness in your book. It's very approachable and all the stories that you tell in it.
Al Roker:
Yeah, I think it's more authentic, I think. I wanted people to pick up the book. They'll know Courtney's cooking through it or skills and that they know when they read this that it's like they hear me talking.
Kerry Diamond:
Absolutely.
Al Roker:
So I hope that comes through.
Kerry Diamond:
Who's been the most fun to cook with on the show?
Al Roker:
Oh gosh.
Kerry Diamond:
Who brings it every time?
Al Roker:
Whether it's Daniel, Bobby Flay... Marcus Samuelsson is fantastic. Alexander Smalls, who's just such a character, literally a larger than life character. I'm just always amused by Martha Stewart. She just is delightful. Ina Garten is just wonderful.
Courtney Roker Laga:
I love her.
Al Roker:
She is just the best and she's a very generous person, both of spirit and of career.
Kerry Diamond:
Absolutely. You have a food podcast, which I didn't know.
Al Roker:
Oh yeah.
Courtney Roker Laga:
That's a perfect example.
Kerry Diamond:
And I listened to Ina. Well, Courtney said you're a busy guy, but you said you're lazy, and I'm like, "That is just not true."
Al Roker:
Well, we did it last year. Once I've done something, I just kind of move to the next. It's like I've got to just clear up space on the desk for more things on the hard drive. But yeah, it was fun to do. If some of your listeners are older, they will remember Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy who was a ventriloquist-
Kerry Diamond:
Candice Bergen's dad.
Al Roker:
And Candice Bergen's dad, and he had a ventriloquist dummy and he was one of the highest paid performers in the 1940s on radio. He was a ventriloquist on radio. How do you sell that? "Hey, I have a character here. I'm talking and I'm not moving my lips, but you can't see that I'm not moving my lips."
Courtney Roker Laga:
Is this true?
Al Roker:
Yes, it's very true.
Courtney Roker Laga:
Oh my god.
Al Roker:
And so I thought, "Is anybody going to listen to a podcast about cooking? How does that work?" They had mics on all the pots, so this ASMR thing, and I'm like, "Okay, I guess." But people listened to that. I really enjoyed doing it. That's the great thing about, I think, this medium that you tend to use your imagination as you're listening. I just find it fascinating.
Kerry Diamond:
We're at Rockefeller Center.
Al Roker:
Yes.
Kerry Diamond:
They've totally redone Rock Center through the lens of food.
Al Roker:
Yeah.
Kerry Diamond:
Have you been able to enjoy any of the good food that's here now?
Al Roker:
Let's see. I've been to JJ Johnson's Fieldtrip.
Kerry Diamond:
Fieldtrip downstairs. Yep.
Al Roker:
Downstairs. I've been to Five Acres. I really am a big fan of the Iced NOLA coffee at Blue Bottle.
Kerry Diamond:
They put chicory in that, right?
Al Roker:
Yes. Yeah.
Kerry Diamond:
Yeah, because for years your option here was like Sea Grill.
Al Roker:
Yes, it was Sea Grill and the American Festival Cafe. Courtney grew up-
Courtney Roker Laga:
I love Sea Grill.
Al Roker:
Those were two restaurants and then during the pandemic they literally gutted the concourse and now it's really a food destina... It's a high end food court. Jupiter, pretty good. I've been to La Rock, which is upstairs. There's a lot of food here now. Even on the concourse. Lobel's is going to have a restaurant.
Kerry Diamond:
I saw that.
Al Roker:
Ace's Pizza is pretty good. One of my favorite restaurants around here is Avra.
Kerry Diamond:
Great.
Al Roker:
Great Mediterranean seafood restaurant.
Kerry Diamond:
Okay, my next question for you. I have always been a night owl. What's the secret to being a morning person? I see you have an Aura ring on.
Al Roker:
I do.
Kerry Diamond:
I just got mine to try to continue my training to be a morning person.
Al Roker:
I don't think it's that hard. You've got to go to bed at a decent time. What time do you normally get up?
Kerry Diamond:
I don't have a normal time I wake up. See, that's my problem.
Al Roker:
That's your problem. You don't have a normal time?
Kerry Diamond:
Well, it's because I don't have a normal life.
Al Roker:
But if you-
Kerry Diamond:
I'm always traveling. Sometimes I have an event at night. Sometimes I have an early breakfast.
Al Roker:
I'm a big believer in making the appearance. My dear friend, Hoda Kotb, she has a move that I call the Hodini. You remember in the “Batman” movies when Commissioner Gordon's in his office and all of a sudden he looks up and there's Batman. Gordon turns to get a file and then comes back and Batman's gone. That's Hoda.
Courtney Roker Laga:
That's Hoda.
Al Roker:
Gordon goes, "I hate when he does that." Hoda's the same way. You're at a party with her and you're talking to her and somebody taps you on your shoulder and you say, "Hold on, just a second." And you turn back, Hoda's gone.
Courtney Roker Laga:
The Hodini.
Al Roker:
Do the Hodini. So what you need to do, you go to the party, you do the first half hour, maybe 30, 40 minutes, and then you-
Courtney Roker Laga:
Hodini.
Al Roker:
You're out.
Kerry Diamond:
Okay.
Al Roker:
But you've got to set a relatively stable time to get up and your body will then adjust to that.
Kerry Diamond:
Okay. I'm working on it. Like I said-
Al Roker:
What time do you want to get up?
Kerry Diamond:
Like seven at least.
Al Roker:
Seven.
Courtney Roker Laga:
Good.
Al Roker:
Please, I've been up for three hours by then. No, you start at seven, but you got to get up every morning at seven or get up at eight and say, "I can't sleep..." My mother said I drove her crazy as a child because I did not nap and I got up early. Courtney, you were a normal sleeper. I mean you-
Courtney Roker Laga:
I don't remember.
Al Roker:
Yeah, and as a teenager you were one of that typical teens where she could sleep till 11 or 12. I was like, "How can any human being sleep this long?" You're like part bear.
Courtney Roker Laga:
Sounds about right.
Kerry Diamond:
Was it tough having to be quiet when dad was asleep early at home?
Al Roker:
No, you didn't have to. I am blessed... And her brother, Nick, is the same. I mean, I can drop off almost standing up. It was not like, "Oh, shh, be quiet. Your dad's sleeping."
Courtney Roker Laga:
Like we're at dinner and he's like nodding off.
Al Roker:
I will nod off sometimes. All of a sudden I do a face plant into the serviette.
Kerry Diamond:
I think your next podcast needs to be Al Roker: Life Coach.
Al Roker:
Well, I don't like giving advice unless I'm really asked. Or is that true? Do I just spout off?
Courtney Roker Laga:
I don't know.
Kerry Diamond:
All right, we're going to do a little speed round with you two. Courtney, we'll start with you. What beverage do you start the morning with?
Courtney Roker Laga:
I like an iced matcha with almond milk.
Al Roker:
Cold brew, a little simple syrup and a dash of half-and-half.
Kerry Diamond:
What's always in your fridge?
Courtney Roker Laga:
Kewpie mayo.
Al Roker:
A jug of cold brew and half-and-half.
Kerry Diamond:
What was your favorite food as a child?
Courtney Roker Laga:
Probably a grilled cheese and an apple juice type of thing.
Al Roker:
Yeah, grilled cheese with bacon. If it's winter, tomato soup.
Kerry Diamond:
What's your favorite snack food?
Courtney Roker Laga:
This is so bad. Doritos Cool Ranch. They're so bad for you.
Al Roker:
Yeah, but that's still... I would say the baked Cheetos, the highly orange puff Cheeto.
Kerry Diamond:
And I know you like a peppermint patty.
Al Roker:
I do like a-
Kerry Diamond:
Yeah, I have a mint thing too. I like that you have that no churn mint chocolate chip ice cream.
Courtney Roker Laga:
It's so good.
Kerry Diamond:
I'm going to make that.
Courtney Roker Laga:
Yes.
Kerry Diamond:
Yeah. Come from big mint chip family.
Al Roker:
Yeah. Oh yeah.
Kerry Diamond:
What are you streaming right now?
Courtney Roker Laga:
The “Monster” series on Netflix. You know what that is?
Al Roker:
No.
Courtney Roker Laga:
The Menendez brothers.
Al Roker:
Oh. Oh, so it's a light comedy?
Courtney Roker Laga:
Yeah, it's a light comedy.
Kerry Diamond:
You're not alone in that. It's a popular show.
Al Roker:
My wife, Deborah Roberts, who's the co-anchor of “2020,” every show is a murder. I tend to the lighter fair, so I just like-
Kerry Diamond:
“Emily in Paris?”
Al Roker:
No, no. Not that light. I mean, well done. But I just finished streaming “Bad Monkey” with Vince Vaughn, which is terrific. And “Slow Horses”. I'm looking forward to when “Shrinking” starts.
Courtney Roker Laga:
Oh, I like that show.
Al Roker:
I love that show. Who knew Harrison Ford was so funny, could do comedy?
Kerry Diamond:
What's your favorite food film?
Courtney Roker Laga:
“Chocolat.” That's a good movie.
Kerry Diamond:
That's a beautiful one.
Al Roker:
“Chef.”
Kerry Diamond:
What's your favorite food smell?
Courtney Roker Laga:
This is broad, but I guess Indian curry, simmering sauce type of thing.
Al Roker:
Cinnamon rolls.
Kerry Diamond:
Dream travel destination?
Courtney Roker Laga:
Japan.
Kerry Diamond:
Have you ever been?
Courtney Roker Laga:
No. I want to go so bad.
Kerry Diamond:
Me too. Have you been everywhere with the show?
Al Roker:
No, not everywhere. I haven't been to Fiji or Bali, which I'd love to do that. We've been... Courtney's sister lives there in Paris. I love Paris and you can find every cuisine there and to be able to eat... We ate at this one place. It was kind of Japanese influenced, so inventive. And that's the other beauty about it. It seems like no matter what you eat, you don't seem to gain weight there. I think maybe it's because of the smaller portions, also the quality of the food, the lack of preservatives, all that stuff.
Kerry Diamond:
And so much fun to walk there.
Al Roker:
And you're walking all the time or taking the metro. One of the good things that New York City shares with Paris is a metro, although I will say the Louvre Metro stop-
Courtney Roker Laga:
My favorite.
Al Roker:
Is just... I literally was in there for just 10 minutes. Just like Google it if you haven't seen it. It's just the most amazing...
Kerry Diamond:
I also love the announcer on that train line. I love how she says, "Louvre."
Al Roker:
Yes.
Kerry Diamond:
It's really nice.
Al Roker:
And they've got subways with rubber wheels
Kerry Diamond:
And I love the smell.
Al Roker:
Yeah, that's right. It smells like croissants.
Courtney Roker Laga:
What does our subway smell like?
Kerry Diamond:
Doesn't smell like-
Al Roker:
Our subway smells not like that. Our subway smells a little different, but yet different smells. Different smells.
Kerry Diamond:
I wonder if they have croissant rat, like a little ratatouille.
Al Roker:
I said that to somebody. It's like, "Wouldn't it be fun if you had a little chef's hat?"
Courtney Roker Laga:
I would love that.
Al Roker:
"Hey, little chef." That's the problem with growing up with these anthropomorphized characters. You want them to be that. There was a dairy when I was growing up just outside of Queens in Elmont, New York called Gow's Dairy. Gow's rhymes with cows and they had a petting zoo. So the parents would leave your kids outside, standing at a chain-link fence looking at these sad cows and farm animals. And they'd go in and there was a rabbit. And it was... Literally the first time, I was like seven. It was the first time I'd seen a real rabbit. It's like, "Wait." Okay, I know it wouldn't necessarily talk, but I was expecting it at least to be standing on its hind legs and have gloves on.
Courtney Roker Laga:
Oh my gosh.
Al Roker:
Eating a carrot. And by the way, a skunk does not look like a cat that had a stripe painted on the back like in the Pepé Le Pew cartoons. There's all these disappointments.
Courtney Roker Laga:
Can I switch my answer from favorite chef film to “Ratatouille?”
Kerry Diamond:
Yeah. Yeah. Okay.
Al Roker:
Oh, that's a good one.
Courtney Roker Laga:
“Ratatouille” is good.
Kerry Diamond:
But “Chocolat” is a beautiful film.
Courtney Roker Laga:
Yes.
Al Roker:
But “Ratatouille” is more fun.
Courtney Roker Laga:
Yeah.
Al Roker:
Yeah. Come on, little chef.
Kerry Diamond:
I was in Paris with my mom and we were walking through a park and there were a bunch of rats and I went, "Oh, ‘Ratatouille.’" And my mother goes, "No, stop."
Courtney Roker Laga:
No.
Kerry Diamond:
"Stop." A rat to her is a rat.
Al Roker:
Deborah wanted to leave the theater.
Courtney Roker Laga:
She's like, "That's disgusting."
Al Roker:
She was just repulsed by that movie.
Courtney Roker Laga:
Oh yeah. And the walls, when they're all in the walls.
Al Roker:
Yeah, when they're on the walls.
Courtney Roker Laga:
Yeah. Deb was like, "Oh-"
Kerry Diamond:
Well, don't take her to Disneyland Paris, which I actually went to. There's a whole “Ratatouille” section.
Al Roker:
Oh wow.
Kerry Diamond:
And that's where the best food is.
Courtney Roker Laga:
Oh, that'd be fun.
Kerry Diamond:
At that one. And they have a “Ratatouille” ride.
Al Roker:
Oh my gosh.
Kerry Diamond:
You get in a little rat car.
Courtney Roker Laga:
I love it.
Kerry Diamond:
And it takes you through the movie, but as if you are Remy. Everything's big.
Courtney Roker Laga:
Everything's big.
Kerry Diamond:
You are ground level.
Al Roker:
Oh, that's fantastic.
Kerry Diamond:
It's fun.
Al Roker:
Wow. I'd have to do that.
Kerry Diamond:
Don't take your wife. If you had to be trapped on a desert island with one food celebrity, who would it be and why?
Courtney Roker Laga:
Two.
Kerry Diamond:
Okay. It's your first time on the show. We'll give it to you.
Courtney Roker Laga:
Okay. Ina Garten and Bobby Flay. Ina just for conversation. And I'm obsessed with her and Bobby because I feel like he would figure out something to cook out there and it would taste great.
Al Roker:
Okay. This is a little off the wall, but I did a story on her and I just find her fascinating. Shawnae Dixon. She was just in Pete Wells' top 50 New York City restaurants. And then her restaurant called Shawnae's House out in Staten Island is one of the top 50 restaurants in the country. It's this little restaurant, I think it's got eight tables or something like that. She's like fifth generation Staten Islander and used to cook for a lot of hip hop folks. But she's just very inspirational. She's just very positive. And I think she could rustle up whatever and she'd just be fun to talk to.
Kerry Diamond:
All right. Good answer. But you'd be saved pretty fast. America needs you, Al.
Al Roker:
I don't know that they would care. I don't know. I don't think so.
Kerry Diamond:
I'd be remiss if I didn't ask you how you are doing reporting the weather these days, because it's a tough job.
Al Roker:
Well, look, yeah, it's a tough job, but it's far tougher for these people who are affected by this weather that used to be one in a thousand-year event and now it's one in 20 years event or less. We're living in an era where hurricanes are as the norm now rapidly intensifying. This last one, Milton went through extreme rapid intensification. I've never used that term before.
Kerry Diamond:
Because you used to have one of the, no pun intended, sunniest jobs.
Al Roker:
And when we would talk about a hurricane, we'd talk about it making landfall, kind of fizzling out, and that was it. Now they stay intense inland. I mean, look at Helene. I mean, far, far more damage inland than where it made landfall. Far more deaths, far more destruction, far more infrastructure being wiped out. So this is our new normal unfortunately, and I just hope that we get past this point of the politicization of weather, of climate, of recovery. Listen to the people who are in your community and are tasked with making sure you're safe. They don't care whether you're red or blue, they just care that you're an American citizen under their care. And those are the people who are going to do right by you, by and large, because that's been the most... Besides the problems with climate change and the extreme weather that we're experiencing more often now and in different areas, the idea that people would get in the way of relief is despicable.
Kerry Diamond:
Well, thank you for all you've done for so many years. I mean, you brought so much joy to so many people in this country, and now the two of you are bringing a lot of joy to people in a different way with this great book.
Al Roker:
Oh, thank you.
Courtney Roker Laga:
Thank you.
Kerry Diamond:
Congratulations.
Al Roker:
Thank you.
Courtney Roker Laga:
Thank you so much.
Kerry Diamond:
All right. Have fun with the book tour and everything.
Al Roker:
Yippee.
Courtney Roker Laga:
Yay.
Kerry Diamond:
That's it for today's show. I would love for you to subscribe to Radio Cherry Bombe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and leave a rating and a review. Anyone you want to hear on an upcoming episode, let me know. Our theme song is by the band Tralala. Joseph Hazan is a studio engineer for Newsstand Studios. Our producers are Catherine Baker and Jenna Sadhu. Our content operations manager is Londyn Crenshaw, and our editorial coordinator is Sophie Kies. Thanks for listening, everybody. You are the Bombe.