Molly Baz Jubilee L.A. 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. This is our very last episode of 2025, and I can't believe it. We've aired 70 episodes of Radio Cherry Bombe this year and feature the most amazing guests, including Julia Roberts, Ayo Edebiri, Alice Waters, Olivia Coleman, Padma Lakshmi, Kristen Kish, Sophia Roe, Giada De Laurentiis, and Bobbi Brown. It was quite the year. Thank you to everyone who listened, to everyone who was a longtime listener, and to the teams at Cherry Bombe, Newsstand Studios, CityVox, and Good Studio that helped produce the show every week. And special thanks to the team at Rockefeller Center. If you're curious about our top 10 episodes, we just dropped them on our Substack, cherrybombe.substack.com. Check it out and be sure to give a listen to any of the shows you might have missed. We're also dropping the top 10 for our baking podcast, She's My Cherry Pie.
Our number one episode of 2025 was my interview with Molly Baz. Molly was number one this year, she was number one last year, and there's a chance she could be number one again next year. We all love Molly, and she's one of my favorite folks to interview. She had a lot to talk about and reflect on this year, from motherhood to her unique career path, to an unthinkable tragedy, losing her beloved home in the Los Angeles fires this past January. For this episode, we're sharing my conversation with Molly at our Jubilee conference in Los Angeles. I'm grateful that Molly was able to join us and that this tough year hasn't destroyed her spirit. Molly and I were introduced by chef and restaurateur Sarah Kramer of Kismet, who shared her own story with Molly, dating back to their days working together in Brooklyn, and she reflected on watching Molly grow from a young line cook into one of today's most influential culinary creators. Stay tuned for the special conversation with Molly Baz, recorded live at Jubilee L.A.
Speaking of Jubilee, our 2026 conference is taking place on Saturday, April 25th, in New York City. It's an amazing day of connection and community and great food and drink. Tickets are on sale. And now through December 31st, you'll save 20% when you buy two or more tickets. Another way to save is if you are a Bombesquad member or a paid Substack subscriber. If that's you, check your inbox for a discount code for special early bird pricing good through December 31st. Check out the links in our show notes for more.
Now, let's check in with today's guest.
Sarah Kramer:
Hi. I'm Sarah Kramer. I know a few of you here have been to my restaurant, Kismet. Thank you, thank you. And if you haven't, no time like the present. Sarah Hymanson, my chef-partner, would've loved to have been here as well, but she's taking a well-deserved vacation, and I have no doubt, eating every noodle in China. So the two of us opened Kismet in Los Feliz in 2017, and it has been quite the ride to say the least. Proud to say the restaurant is almost nine years. And we've also expanded our casual concept Kismet Rotisserie to four locations in and around L.A. Now, if you can believe it, I can't.
Sarah and I wrote our first cookbook, which is called what else, but “Kismet,” which came out last year, and it's very much a love letter to this amazing place and the truly phenomenal produce that makes all of us chefs so fortunate to live, work, and cook here in California. But before Kismet and before building a life in L.A., I was the chef of a restaurant in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, called Glasserie. I even spoke at the very first Jubilee conference in New York City in 2014, where I maybe felt just a little out of my depth as a 27-year-old paired with Anita Lo and April Bloomfield in a panel discussion. What a time!
But at Glasserie, I was fortunate enough to hire a young, hardworking cook named Molly Baz. And she clearly loved food, one of the best qualities you could ask for. And to no one's surprise, she eventually made her way to Bon Appétit Magazine where she really, really began to come into her own. Today, as you all know, Molly is one of the most popular culinary creators out there. She's a recipe developer, a cookbook author, vegan fast food and bottled sando sauce entrepreneur, dog mom, baby mom, advocate for pregnant and nursing women everywhere. So many impressive things not to mention she has her very own lexicon. Please welcome Molly Baz to the stage.
Kerry Diamond:
Molly, thank you for being here.
Molly Baz:
Thank you for having me again.
Kerry Diamond:
Molly is a Jubilee regular. We're always happy to see her.
Molly Baz:
Yep.
Kerry Diamond:
I don't feel like we've talked quite enough about Los Angeles today. So I thought I would start by talking to you about Los Angeles.
Molly Baz:
I can speak to that.
Kerry Diamond:
You're not an L.A. native. You're not from here. You moved here during the pandemic. Want to ask, of all the places you could have moved to, why did you pick Los Angeles?
Molly Baz:
The palm trees. That's the honest answer. I am obsessed with palm trees because they just equal vacation in my mind. And I'm always, always like, "Why wouldn't you live somewhere that feels like vacation?" And I grew up on the East Coast and was just always jealous of my best friend who lived over here and grew up in San Clemente, like an hour and a half South. And I was just like, "You live at the beach, you live on vacation. How do I get that?" And so I eventually figured out how to get here, I guess, five years ago.
Kerry Diamond:
Palm trees got you out here-
Molly Baz:
Yep.
Kerry Diamond:
... but what kept you here?
Molly Baz:
The people. I was in New York for a really long time, and there is just a wackiness and creativity out here that really speaks to me. And I think I came into my own creatively out here and felt a little more able to be me and a little less like I had to conform to what was cool back in the New York days. And just like there was a synergy between whatever's happening here creatively and where my heart is at.
Kerry Diamond:
I mean, we have so many culinary creators in the room. When you say you came into your own creatively-
Molly Baz:
Yeah.
Kerry Diamond:
... what does that even mean?
Molly Baz:
I think just being able to truly be myself as a cook, as a public person, as a mom, as a friend, as in everything that I am, I feel like when I got to L.A. is when I started to really understand myself as a whole human. And it feels to me as if there was more definition to it and more depth to it. And I think that L.A. brought that out in me. It also was coupled with the timing of leaving a corporate job and going out on my own and becoming an entrepreneur. So I'm not going to give L.A. all the credit. I did some of it, but that is what shepherded in this phase of my life where I am now out on my own. And I feel really whole and me out here.
Kerry Diamond:
You are in quite the entrepreneur era. Everyone who's followed Molly's career knows that. When I asked Sarah to introduce you, I didn't even know that you had cooked at Glasserie.
Molly Baz:
Oh, my God, really? That was a coincidence?
Kerry Diamond:
That was a coincidence.
Molly Baz:
Oh, yeah.
Kerry Diamond:
Totally forgot about that chapter and even ate at Glasserie-
Molly Baz:
Really?
Kerry Diamond:
... several times. The Molly who was the line cook at Glasserie-
Molly Baz:
Yeah.
Kerry Diamond:
... did you have any sense of the entrepreneur that was inside you?
Molly Baz:
I'm trying to channel her and-
Kerry Diamond:
Yeah, tell us about her.
Molly Baz:
No, she was not an entrepreneur at that time. She was a girl who was so lit up by the kitchen that everything she did was like in pursuit of that fire. And I think that is what turned me into an entrepreneur was figuring out that I could carve out a space for myself in the food world. I'm just obsessed with food and cooking. First thing I do when I wake up in the morning is like, "What is the first thing I'm going to put in my mouth today?" And it's the last thing I think about before bed. That is the girl who was in there, but she was learning how to cook.
And I don't think I would be able to be the entrepreneur that I am and flex in and out of these different zones that I do had I not had a really, really, really good foundation of cooking. And this is some of the advice that I give to almost anyone who is like, "How do I become a cookbook author or a food stylist or work in a magazine?" And I always just say like, "Learn how to cook. Be the best cook that you can because whether you're a food writer or a food stylist or whatever part of the food media industry you choose to work in, the deeper your understanding of cooking, the longer your runway will be, and just like the richer the journey, it comes a lot easier when you really have the chops." And so spending time in restaurants for me was like a really important part of that journey.
Kerry Diamond:
Did you go to culinary school?
Molly Baz:
No. I feel strongly about that choice. I actually once got into a fight in a bar. I was drunk with a man who was about to send his daughter to culinary school, and I was like, "No. Absolutely not. This is a terrible financial choice on your part. She could get the exact same education by going and working in a restaurant. And she'll make a little bit of money," and then like, "You won't be in debt." And he was like, "You're overstepping, ma'am." And it didn't really end well, but I still feel that way. I don't know because I didn't go to culinary school, but I do really believe in the choice to throw yourself straight into restaurants, crash and burn a little bit. You learn so much faster. The stakes are a lot higher, and you don't lose as much money. So it's just my take on the matter.
Kerry Diamond:
We'll be right back with today's guest. The holiday issue of Cherry Bombe Magazine is finally here, and the team and I love this issue so much. It's all about cake and features three incredible self-taught cake artists on the covers: Lucie Franc de Ferriere of From Lucie, Aimee France aka yungkombucha420, and Amy Yip of Yip.Studio. The issue is packed with recipes and lots of great stories. Head to cherrybombe.com to subscribe or order your issue. You can pick whichever cover you want or check out our list of stockists around the country. We love our stockists, and you can find Cherry Bombe Magazine in great places like McNally Jackson Books here in New York City, Smoke Signals in San Francisco, and Bold Magazine Shop in Portland, Maine.
Talk about how this entrepreneur era unlocked. I think you'd already had your cookbook deal when you came out here, but what was it? Was it the people you were meeting? Was it the kind of freedom that you were experiencing out here?
Molly Baz:
There's so many things that were at play. So when I worked at Bon Appétit, I was only able to work at Bon Appétit. I was in a contract and it was, "You work at the magazine," non-compete with all the other things that I now do. So I wasn't even really able to dream any of those things up because I thought, "As long as I'm here, this is what I'm doing." And then once I was out on my own, I think I had this sort of revelation that was, "I'd never been my own boss before." And I was like, "Oh, so I just can do whatever I want to do. So if that means I want to do four different things, I can do four. And if I want to just focus on one thing, I can do that." And the freedom to just choose exactly how I want it to look, I think, was very exciting and inspiring to me.
And then one of the first things I did was find the right people to help me do that. And I feel really strongly about leaning on people who are better at their jobs than you are to do their job. And I've used that a lot in building my businesses and my career. My book agent, Nicole, is actually here and she was a big part of the beginning of my career as well because not only was she my literary agent, but she stepped in to manage me as I started getting brand deals and just give me advice on how to build this thing that I'm building. And from there, once we outgrew that relationship, I found a proper manager and we were able to put our heads together and dream everything up. And so I couldn't have done it alone. I think it was like trusting people around me, finding the people whose vision I believed was synergistic with mine and who I thought really understood where I wanted to go and whose advice I trusted and then paving away together.
Kerry Diamond:
Sarah talked about the mayo, all these different projects. Are they things that you've dreamed up and you go out and you find people to do them or people coming to you and asking you to do things?
Molly Baz:
It's a mix, but it's mostly me chaotically calling my manager one random night and being like, "Oh, my God, I think we have to start a mayonnaise business." And then that turns into a thing. I get really excited when good ideas happen, and I see a future and a path forward for them. And so I was making a sandwich one day and I stirred giardiniera into mayonnaise and was like, "This shit rocks." And I was like, "Why doesn't this exist? Why has no one put giardiniera in mayo?" And I called my manager and was like, "We have to do this and it's going to be called Giardinayo and it's going to go bonkers." It's been a mix of things like that where I just have a light bulb and then also opportunities coming my way, like brand partnerships and things like that. But I think the things that I'm proudest of are the things that started as a little idea and a phone call on my end and then a real fuck ton of hard work and a lot of brainstorming to get it to fruition.
Kerry Diamond:
Okay. So a fuck ton of hard work. Define that-
Molly Baz:
Yeah.
Kerry Diamond:
... for us in terms of building-
Molly Baz:
Interesting.
Kerry Diamond:
Ayoh.
Molly Baz:
Yeah.
Kerry Diamond:
I mean, where did you even start? And how much work did that take? How many years?
Molly Baz:
So the first thing I did was proof of concept in my own kitchen. As you know, I'm like a representative of home cooks. I'm a home cook. I am professionally trained, but I don't have a restaurant. I don't have a commercial kitchen that I work in. And so everything that I do starts in my home kitchen, including Ayoh. So from the inception of the idea, I was like, "Well, if Giardinayo is a thing, what are the other mayonnaise flavors that I can make that follow this rubric?" So I did all of my recipe development just alone in my home kitchen, making sure that the idea was sound. And from there, like I mentioned, I went out and found the right people to help me run the other side of the business. I'll be the first person to admit that I shouldn't be like the CEO or CFO of a company. I'm the creative, I'm the culinary, the vibes, the marketing, all of that, but it would be unwise for me to lead a fundraising round. And so-
Kerry Diamond:
Wait, tell us why.
Molly Baz:
I'm not a numbers girly and I understand it and I appreciate it and I have no interest in getting into the details of all of it. And so I found someone to help me run the business, to build all of the systems, to do the hiring, to figure out what our playbook would be, to raise money, and do all of that. And that obviously comes with giving up a big part of the ownership of the company. I'm not 100% owner of Ayoh, and that is by design. And years ago, I decided that I want to do everything that I do really well and I want to be able to do the part of it that I love. And if I try to spread myself too thin and maintain ownership of all of it, I'll do all of it like kind of good. So that's a conscious decision that will obviously impact the financial side of things, but in my mind, Ayoh has a brighter future for that reason.
Kerry Diamond:
That's so interesting. Martha Stewart's spoken at Jubilee and we've talked to her a few times. And she, a lot of times, will say like her number one piece of advice is don't give away equity in your company.
Molly Baz:
Well, I disagree with Martha, but I love her.
Kerry Diamond:
Did you know how much hard work it would take to build this brand?
Molly Baz:
No. It's definitely a bit more of a beast than I thought it would be, which is cool. And I think maybe it was important that I now understand how big it was because maybe I would have been a little terrified of trying to build Ayoh whilst also running the other parts of my business, writing cookbooks, raising a child, all of these things. So I think the ignorance was key in all of it. And now it's just like is what it is and it's intense, but it's one of many things I do and I have a lot of people who work on it and support it. And it's like a good hustle.
Kerry Diamond:
I think you've tapped into something that a lot of people can relate to that if you knew the amount of work that would go into something, you never would have done it-
Molly Baz:
Yeah.
Kerry Diamond:
... right?
Molly Baz:
You don't want to know.
Kerry Diamond:
The genius of naivete. But sometimes even knowing that, you're like, "I wouldn't have had it any other way."
Molly Baz:
No, I feel that way about a lot of the things that I have done. And not to totally pivot this conversation, but I was actually just having a conversation with a friend yesterday about the fires. As I'm sure a lot of you know, we lost our home in the fire. I was saying that, in a strange way, now that we are, I guess, nine months out, I feel like I, maybe if given the choice to like redo it all, wouldn't change the fact that that happened. And I definitely couldn't have said that five months ago when I was like deep in the doldrums of all of the distress of it. But now that I've come up for air a bit, I feel like going through something like that has taught me and what I've seen and learned about myself and what I actually need in this world, what I want in this world, all of these really big enormous learnings probably would have taken many, many more years to happen. And I got like a crash course in all of it, and I'm weirdly grateful for it.
Kerry Diamond:
That's amazing.
Molly Baz:
Thank you.
Kerry Diamond:
Yeah. But that's a hard way to learn that lesson.
Molly Baz:
Yes.
Kerry Diamond:
Yeah.
Molly Baz:
I do not wish it upon anyone, obviously, but it's not all bad.
Kerry Diamond:
Do you feel like you've come to that conclusion because you have sort of had no other option?
Molly Baz:
Yeah. I mean, it's like the only way forward is through it all. And it's also not over yet. There's so much still to deal with. I mean, I have an empty plot of land with no home on it and a mortgage to pay. So that's one of the big things I need to figure out. But I feel like it's the same thing with parenting, or at least in my one year of experience, which is very little. You just do it and then you look back and you're like, "Oh, I did that." I don't think I had any idea what being a mother was like. And I was a little terrified of myself as a mother actually before I got pregnant. And then you just own up to it and you rise up and you do it because you're in it. And the aftermath of the fires were much the same for me.
I'm also just the type of person that's like, "What we need to do, let's get it done. Let's not sit here and wallow in it." And so the last nine months has been an interesting mix for me of giving myself the space to wallow because it's important too, and it was too gargantuan not to, but also being like, "What do we need to do to move forward? Step one, get some socks. Where are we getting socks? Let's go get some socks today." And I think I'm very that person in the dynamic.
Kerry Diamond:
Who have you surrounded yourself to get you through this? Because I mean, obviously, this is a very traumatic thing that you and your partner went through.
Molly Baz:
Yeah.
Kerry Diamond:
How are you dealing with it and who's helping you?
Molly Baz:
It's just this amorphous, unwieldy community of people that have come to our aid, many of which were people that we would expect to, like our family members, et cetera, and also seemingly random people coming out of the woodworks and showing up for us. It's been a very eye-opening experience. I used to always say that, when people said the phrase like, "It takes a village," yeah, it does. I get it, but I feel like people overuse that. And I used to think, "I can just get it done myself."
And in this case, I think I really learned the meaning of it takes a village because absolutely, I could not have pulled myself up from what I went through without all the friends, the family, my husband, just everyone around me, the random people on Instagram, the outpouring of support, people showing up and signing up for my recipe club as a way to show me that they'll support me until I get back on my feet. That was and is the greatest thing that has happened since the fires. And there aren't eight specific people. It's this group of people that I now call the village that I got to know that got us through or are getting us through because we're still going through it.
Kerry Diamond:
Did you ever think about leaving Los Angeles?
Molly Baz:
No. I love the palm trees. There are still a lot of palm trees here. Had the palm trees all burned, it'd be a different conversation.
Kerry Diamond:
We talked a little bit about the next book that you have coming and how prescient the title of that book-
Molly Baz:
Yeah.
Kerry Diamond:
... turned out to be. Can you talk about that a little bit?
Molly Baz:
Sure. I don't think I've actually announced it at all. So we'll just do it here and now. It is due on Wednesday. So it's maybe about time I talk about it.
Kerry Diamond:
Thank you for being here.
Molly Baz:
Yeah. I'm going home after this to write. The next book is going to be called “Less Is More,” and it comes on the heels of my last cookbook called “More Is More.” And originally, the idea of writing a cookbook called “Less Is More” was a joke. I was like, "Ha ha, that'd be funny. I just wrote “More Is More.” What if I wrote ‘Less Is More?’" I was like, "Just kidding." And my publisher was like, "We love this idea." And I was like, "Ha ha." And they were like, "No, we think this is the book you should write." And so I signed on to write it, but this was way before the fires happened in my life. And I signed on to write it pretty unclear on what it was actually going to look like. I understand what the concept of less is more could be for a cookbook, but it didn't feel very meaningful.
And for the first time in my life, pushed my deadlines out and did not work on it in a meaningful way for nine months. And my agent will tell you that I am not someone who pushes out deadlines. I was always the girl in high school or in college who got an assignment, went home, got it done, and then was like, "Cool, I'm done. Let's party." I just didn't want anything hanging over my head and stopping me from having fun. And I reasoned with myself that just getting it out of the way meant more fun. That has always been the way I worked on my books as well until this one because it stumped me. I didn't really know how to make it different from my first book, which was “Cook This Book,” which was also very pared-down, building blocks, basics of cooking, and then my house burned down.
Then I rebuilt my life, or I am in the process of rebuilding my life, and it suddenly took on all of this new meaning. And it's actually been such an incredible process. It feels like the most personal book that I've written, because it's just all about my life story and the way that I am cooking after the fires and the things that I have found myself reaching for, like the first few ingredients that I've stocked my pantry with after losing all ... I don't know, I probably had 2,000 ingredients in my pantry. My pantry was stuffed to the brims. And then one day, it was all gone and I had to be like, "What are the first things I'm going to buy?" So I went through the exercise and I was like, "Well, I guess I really love sesame seeds because I just bought a kilo bag of them." That was one of my first purchases. Strange, but necessary and part of what made me feel like me as a cook.
And so the book then took on a lot more meaning and took shape after that and has sort of poured out of me in a cool way and it is due on Wednesday and it will come out in a long time, unfortunately. It takes long time to write books.
Kerry Diamond:
Was there any point though, Molly, where you were like, "’Less Is More’ is cutting a little too close to the bone," and that you needed some distance from telling that story?
Molly Baz:
Yeah, it's very raw. I mean, just the whole concept of it. And less was not more on January 20th for me. Less became more once I had a stable life again and was able to start working again, which means start cooking again and finding joy in the kitchen. And that's part of what the story of this book is about, is like that you have to eat no matter what, even when your house burns down or whatever other dumpster fire is that you are dealing with. You still have to eat. And for me, getting back in the kitchen was the way that I was able to tap into joy again. So that's what I did.
Kerry Diamond:
We have a few minutes left. So I think continuing on the theme of joy-
Molly Baz:
Yes.
Kerry Diamond:
... because you love food so much and we are in California and I love your produce so much-
Molly Baz:
Yeah.
Kerry Diamond:
... I want to talk about what you're cooking right now. And what are you loving?
Molly Baz:
Okay. Well, actually, currently, in this exact moment, I have sweet potatoes in the oven that I am testing. I have three types of sweet potatoes in the oven and I am testing a recipe for Thanksgiving. And the concept of it is what can you make while you sleep? What is a recipe that I can make that doesn't take up more space in the oven or on the stove when it's competing with all of the other things because that's always the musical chairs of it all? And so I'm working on an overnight slow-roasted sweet potato recipe to try to solve that problem. So they've been going not overnight, but all day at 200, and we're going to see what happens. I have no idea what's happening in there, but I will see when I get home.
Kerry Diamond:
Wait, that is such a great way to not quite multitask, but task while you sleep, ladies. This is a whole new unlock for us. What else can we do while we sleep?
Molly Baz:
Yeah.
Kerry Diamond:
My gosh. What else are you loving?
Molly Baz:
So I've also been eating a lot of figs. They are in season here. A friend of mine-
Kerry Diamond:
Applaud for the figs. It's totally okay.
Molly Baz:
I don't know if you guys know Horace, the gardener in L.A. I think some of you probably do. Horace helped me set up my home garden in our rental house that we're in now. So he comes weekly to check on the garden with me and he is a fig freak. And every time he comes, he brings me seven different varieties of figs. And he doesn't just give me figs. He gives me figs that have been split open and are presented face up on a plate. And I was puzzled by it at first because I was like, "Why does he keep opening the figs? Why wouldn't he just give me the whole figs so then I can choose when I eat them? But now by slicing all of them, I have to eat them within the next day or so." And then I realized it's because he only wants to give me the best figs. And so they're all just picture-perfect, juicy, dripping figs when he delivers them. And so I've been eating those nonstop and they're in my fridge right now.
Kerry Diamond:
Gosh. Ladies, you all deserve the most perfect figs in your lives. So-
Molly Baz:
You can find them here.
Kerry Diamond:
Molly, thank you again for joining us.
Molly Baz:
Thank you for having me.
Kerry Diamond:
You've been such an amazing part of Cherry Bombe.
Molly Baz:
Thank you, Kerry. Thank you, guys.
Kerry Diamond:
That's it for today's show. Thank you so much to Molly Baz for joining me on stage at Jubilee L.A. this year. Thanks again to all of you for listening. I'd love to know what your favorite episode was this year and who you'd like me to interview next year. Feel free to DM me at kerrybombe on Instagram. Don't forget, tickets for Jubilee 2026 are on sale, and our Cake Issue is out now. Visit cherrybombe.com or our Substack for more. The links are in our show notes. Our theme song is by the band Tralala. Joseph Hazen is the studio engineer for Newsstand Studios. Happy New Year, Joe. Our producers are Catherine Baker and Jenna Sadhu. Our executive assistant is Brigid Pittman. And our head of partnerships is Rachel Close. Happy New Year, everybody. You're the Bombe.