‘The Food Enthusiast’ host Dara Bunjon celebrates 200th episode of mouth-watering culinary conversations

Home-cooked mashed potatoes and steak were laid out on the kitchen table around which Dara Bunjon, her parents and her sister sat. Bunjon, shorter than the average third-grader, told her school day tales.

“It’s the enjoyment of food that brings people together. That conversation around the table is the most enjoyable conversation you’re going to have,” said Bunjon, now 77, with plentiful silver-lined curls.

As the producer and host of the online live talk show “The Food Enthusiast,” Bunjon spends her days interviewing people in the culinary industry from around the country and the globe. Barbecue legend Steven Raichlen; TV personality and cookbook author Sara Moulton; chef and restaurateur Elizabeth Falkner; and former White House butler Alan DeValerio, whom Bunjon met on a dating site but who was not her match, are among her guests. In June, Giuliano Hazan, an Italian cookbook author, culinary educator and the only son of Marcella Hazan — the godmother of Italian cooking — appeared on Bunjon’s show for the landmark celebration of her 200th episode.

Bunjon films in a room in her Baltimore apartment: she sits at her desk, with her phone propped on books and a ring light near her, and faces a window; the natural light hits her face. Her interviews entail how guests have maneuvered the industry and the mundane aspects of their lives. She asks, “Other than doing this show today, what else is on your plate?” “What was your ultimate culinary fail?” “If you wake up tomorrow with a new talent, what would it be?”

Chris Amendola, owner of Foraged restaurant and a three-time guest on Bunjon’s show, said he was surprised about the vast knowledge she has about the culinary industry.

In the late ’80s, Bunjon did a live cooking segment on WBAL-TV at “some ungodly hour,” she said. In 2005, she founded her own business, “Dara Does It,” a company where she did food styling, cooking demonstrations, public relations and marketing for food businesses — Italian restaurant Sotto Sopra was her main gig for over 14 years. She’s also organized cooking classes in restaurant kitchens, reviewed local Baltimore restaurants and co-authored the cookbook “Yum!: Tasty Recipes from Culinary Greats.”

“This is probably my 10th job, maybe the 12th,” she said, referring to her show. “This is the best job I could have at this time of my life.”

Bunjon said she changed jobs because of the money or because she didn’t like the people she worked with. “You should always work where you are appreciated. If you’re not appreciated, leave and find somewhere that you are,” she said.

Many of her guests have been people with whom she’s built relationships through jobs she’s had over the years. She worked as a personal assistant and food stylist for Raichlen during the filming of his first Primal Grill series in Tubac, Arizona. Bunjon had never been a personal assistant, but her friend, the producer of his show at that time, rang her up because Raichlen’s initial assistant had gotten sick at the very last minute.

She accompanied Moulton on stage during her cooking demo at the Masonic Grand Lodge in Baltimore, now called The Grand. It was a full circle moment because Bunjon had always been a fan of Moulton. She watched Moulton’s live cooking episodes on the Food Network during dinners with her husband, Tom Bunjon, who passed away in 2016.

While Bunjon found much success, she never saw herself hosting her own show until 2019. Her friend, Randi Rom, a freelance writer for multiplatform media company Jmore – Baltimore Jewish Living, recommended her as the host of “The Food Enthusiast” for the organization.

Nowadays, opportunities are more difficult to come by, Bunjon said.

“As time progressed, they (prospective employers) looked at me and looked at somebody 25 years old and they went with the 25-year-old,” she said.

But Bunjon has adapted well to the ever-changing technological era. She understands the basics and is able to sail through most shows, held on Zoom. There are times when her show goes off-air because the interview freezes, but most issues end up resolved.

“She’s very committed to what she does,” said Alan Feiler, editor-in-chief of Jmore. “We’re very lucky to have her.”

Her show first began in Jmore’s Baltimore studio, but during the pandemic, it became solely online and has been that way ever since. She said it opened doors to not just local guests, but guests all over the world.

Reflecting on how her show has progressed, she’s glad she hasn’t made too many slip-ups. She said because the show is live, she has to be mindful of what she says, and there have been times when she said things she didn’t mean to say.

One was during an interview with Matteo Troncone, creator of the film “Arrangiarsi: pizza… and the art of living.”

“I said, ‘Troncone, where are you?’ He says ‘I’m in the desert,’ And I went, ‘I thought you said you were in California.’ And he said, ‘There is a desert in California,’” Bunjon said. “I sat there and I did the fake gun to my head,” she said.

At the end of each show, she feels a sense of relief and treats herself to a good meal, often something she cooked or something she shouldn’t indulge in, she said.

Bunjon said she got into the industry because of her love for food and cooking, and often took cooking classes and experimented with recipes. But she never submerged into the world of cooking as a chef for example, because she realized “it is hard, stressful work. TV makes it look glamorous. It isn’t,” she said. Though when she was a teenager, she flipped burgers and whipped up milkshakes for customers at her father’s patent drug store and luncheonette, known as the Hopkins Store.

Rom, Bunjon’s friend of over 19 years, regularly experiences her cooking and said Bunjon is quite a cook. Bunjon saved the brisket Rom had attempted to make for her brother’s birthday dinner.

“I called [Bunjon] and I said, ‘I’m going to have to go out to buy food because I killed the brisket and it’s horrible.’ And she comes over and puts it in stuff, and I don’t know what she did,” Rom said. “All I know is that the brisket came out good and it was the best brisket. She revived it. She brought it back to life.”

Although she is good at cooking, she prefers to work in other areas in the culinary world, specifically areas that don’t involve over-demanding customers, Bunjon said.

Bunjon finds that her journey through the culinary industry makes her relate with her show’s guests on a deeper level. “I appreciate and understand their accomplishments and sacrifices,” she said. And it’s why she asks her guests well in advance what key points they would like her to hit or promote. She also said guests are more comfortable talking to her.

In a recent show with chef Jan Buhrman, both exchanged greetings like friends who had not seen each other in ages.

“Hi Dara,” Buhrman said with a warm smile.

“Hi. Good to see you again. It’s been a while. I think maybe 8 years, possibly,” Bunjon said; a blue Jmore banner stood behind her.

“So many years. It’s great to see you,” Buhrman said.

Bunjon said shows with her beloved guests will continue as long as she has people to talk with about food.