Charleen Badman
⭑ Listen here: Apple Podcasts | Spotify ⭑
Today, I talk to Charleen Badman, chef and owner of the celebrated Scottsdale restaurant, FnB, and winner of the 2019 James Beard Award for Best Chef Southwest. Since COVID, the James Beard Foundation has suspended its awards, making Charleen the most recent recipient of the honor. When we spoke, it just so happened to be the 12th anniversary of the opening of FnB, an occasion she’d marked thus far by spending the morning in her prep kitchen on her day off making food for the next night’s service. This is to say, Charleen is always working. She’s never left her kitchen, and certainly hasn’t let the accolades for her food go to her head. Her soul is on the line, at the expo pass, and these days, on the dining room floor. She’s happiest at work, it seems, and it shows in the ever-changing menu at FnB.
The night before our conversation, I invited my new friend Silvana, the subject of my last episode, to join me for dinner at FnB. I think we ate almost everything on the menu that night. Charleen’s passion is for vegetables. She has a way of making them sing, bringing out what is naturally great about what’s fresh and local to the region. The most skilled cooks, in my opinion, know how to stay out of the way of their ingredients, especially if they’re as good as what Charleen is able to source.
On top of being one the country’s best chefs, Charleen is a dedicated gardener. Around the same time she opened FnB, she began working with local schools to build community gardens and promote nutrition with the students. Out of that effort was born the Blue Watermelon Project, a grassroots group of chefs, farmers, educators, and activists who fight for healthy, nutritious food in schools.
The Blue Watermelon Project’s 4th annual Feed the Future fundraiser will be held February 26th in Phoenix. Students from across Arizona will be there to taste their guests on their school lunch solutions that are delicious, healthy, and cost- and regulation-compliant. All ages are welcome, and there are fun activities for kids, too. Buy tickets or donate at the link on their Instagram profile, @bluewatermelonproject. Seriously, give them some cash if you can. They’re trying to save America one kid at a time.