Hot Gossip: A conversation with Sara Deseran
From food writer to restaurateur and back again, Sara Deseran unpacks the beautiful, brutal truth about media, restaurants, and staying in the game.
Show Notes:
In this episode of Hot Gossip, we’re joined by Sara Deseran, longtime food writer, Editor at The San Francisco Standard, and former restaurateur behind the beloved Tacolicious group, for a conversation that sits at the tender intersection of food, storytelling, and staying power.
We explore what it means to devote yourself to an industry that is as beautiful as it is brutal, and the tension between the romanticism of restaurants and the stark realities behind the scenes. Sara shares what she’s learned from decades inside both the media and hospitality worlds, and why, despite everything, she’s still here.
From the power of a well-set dining room to the weight of being a cultural gatekeeper, this episode is about truth-telling in an industry that often resists it. We talk about the stories that don’t get told, the damage of “best of” lists, and the quieter, more lasting kind of influence that happens when a space, or a voice, makes you feel at home.