Podcast Summary: "Mashama Bailey of The Grey Restaurant: A Casual Culinary Chat About Paris"

The Joy of Cooking Podcast
Date: February 18, 2026
Host: The Joy of Creation Production House
Guests: Mashama Bailey (The Grey, Savannah & La Rette, Paris)
Hosts/Co-Hosts: John Becker, Megan Scott, Sarah Marshall

Episode Overview

In this warm and wide-ranging episode, the Joy of Cooking Podcast crew welcome chef Mashama Bailey to the table for a heartfelt, funny, and deeply insightful conversation. Bailey, known for her acclaimed restaurant The Grey in Savannah, Georgia, and new Paris restaurant La Rette, shares her culinary journey from Southern food roots to navigating the complexities of cooking—and translating—Southern cuisine in France. The episode blends personal stories, practical advice, and rich reflections on heritage, identity, and the universal language of food.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Kitchen Updates & "Hope Cooking" (00:37–06:38)

• Hosts discuss "hope cooking"—intentionally cooking complex or time-consuming dishes to focus on creation rather than doomscrolling or stress.
  • Quote: "We decided, because we were doom scrolling so much, we decided that was not really helping anything or anyone. And so I was like, we need to find a project... so we picked lasagna the first night..." – Megan Scott (02:08)
• Recent kitchen projects:
  • Lasagna assembly as a collaborative, joyful task (01:12–01:59)
  • Persian feast featuring Fessenjan and a celery root/fennel yogurt salad (02:20–03:02)
  • Sarah’s adventures with a new pizza oven and the discovery of cabbage pizza (04:07–05:02)
  • Joy Scouts recipe of the week: Yogurt and Honey Panna Cotta (05:05–05:43)

2. Welcoming Chef Mashama Bailey: Resetting with Bone Broth (06:40–13:31)

• Mashama shares a food reset ritual: making ginger-garlic bone broth after returning from Mexico City and indulging over the holidays (07:14–09:32)
  • Steamed bok choy and chili crunch, repurposed broth with rice and short rib, experimenting with dandelion leaves.
  • Quote: "I guess the whole world knew, except for me, that bone broth was gonna be so relaxing and nurturing." – Mashama Bailey (09:11)
• Technical tips for clear stock:
  • At-home method: simmer, settle, and skim impurities for clarity.
  • Restaurant method: raft with ground meat, veg, egg whites (11:24–13:00)
  • Quote: “I’m obsessed with the amount of gelatin I can extract from a broth. I’m obsessed with the clarity I can get…” – Mashama (10:38)

3. Joy of Cooking Memories & Culinary Heritage (13:31–17:12)

• Mashama’s first cookbook memory is Joy of Cooking (her grandmother’s copy):
  • "She has different notes that she wrote on certain recipes... that’s where the good, good is, right?" – Mashama (15:45)
• Grandmother’s parties, handwritten margin notes, foods spanning Hawaiian Chicken to black beans.

4. Southern Cooking & Explaining It to the French (17:12–26:42)

• Expanding to Paris:
  • The Grey in Savannah (“not necessarily cliched Southern”) and La Rette in Paris, where Southern cuisine must be “translated” for a different audience.
  • Biscuits, cornbread, fried chicken: French interpretations and challenges.
• Quote: “To go to a place that’s really clear about the type of food that they serve... you have to know how to explain things to people.” – Mashama (35:15)
• Paris Menu Adjustments:
  • Transitioning from schnitzel-like fried chicken to more classic "fried chicken on the bone" (23:32–25:26)
  • Importing American cornmeal for authentic cornbread (25:29)
  • Hero dishes: Hoppin’ John, rice midlands, embracing mac & cheese with local touches.

5. Running Restaurants Across Continents (26:42–29:27)

• Logistics of splitting time between Savannah and Paris: 50/50 monthly swaps with her business partner and growing a staff with cross-cultural experience.
• Seasonality insights from France:
  • French micro-seasonality and tradition inspired Mashama to think afresh about Southern food on her initial visit to France.

6. The Heart of The Grey: Dish Highlights & Approaches (30:21–33:06)

• Signature Dishes:
  • Foie & garlic grits—an elevated take on liver and onions from childhood.
  • Country Captain Chicken—coastal port city dish, deeply flavorful, and seasonal.
  • Quote: “One dish that I’m proud of is the foie and garlic grits...inspired by the breakfast dish of liver and onions and grits.” – Mashama (30:33)

7. Hospitality, Family, and Community (35:15–42:43)

• Meals as Relationship-Building:
  • Learning Savannah’s food through people and connections—not just recipes or markets.
  • Testing new dishes on family; feedback wrapped in gentle euphemisms (“colorful,” “interesting”).
• Quote: “The relationships are centered around meals.” – Mashama (recalled by Jon Becker, 35:24)
• The importance of family pride and the journey from uncertainty to finding confidence in food (40:16–42:38).

8. Paris Recommendations & French Food Talk (42:43–54:03)

• Listener Q&A: Tips for traveling in Brittany, Normandy, and Paris.
  • Brasserie Lipp in Paris for classic local experience (43:06)
  • Markets—especially Bastille Sunday market for “oysters, cheese, bread, smoked salmon, ham”
  • Patisserie chain “The French Bastards” for torte, cookies, carbon buns (46:20)
  • David Lebovitz’s website for curated Paris food recs (49:08)
• Quote: “I will eat any croissant on any corner in Paris.” – Mashama (46:20/44:58)
• Farmer’s markets in Paris, snack advice (olives!), and cheese/biscuit obsessions.

9. French-Inspired Joy of Cooking Recipes (51:52–54:16)

• Joy Scouts Recipe of the Week: “Carottes râpées” (French grated carrot salad, p.125)
  • Also celery root salad, loving raw applications of celery root and celery.
  • Quote: “I loved earlier when you all were talking about the dish that you made and you did a celery root salad. One of my favorite things...” – Mashama (52:41)

10. What’s Cooking Next? (54:24–61:53)

• Hosts and Mashama share current and future kitchen projects
  • Sarah: More Korean food, veggies focus.
  • Mashama: Has a spaghetti squash to cook—debating between Asian flavors (ginger, peanut, fish sauce) or Italian with sausage and cheese.
  • Jon/Megan: Reminiscing on the universal “spaghetti squash is not spaghetti” letdown—with tips for improving it (roast over high heat, finish with parmesan).
  • Quote: “Maybe that might be...I might go there, and I still have a little bone broth too, so I might do bone broth with the spaghetti squash salad-y thingy. I don't know.” – Mashama (59:27)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On connecting via food:
  “The relationships are centered around meals, and I thought that that was really beautiful.” – Jon Becker, recalling Mashama (35:24)

• On culinary confidence and family pride:
  “If I like it, I know other people are going to like it...I’m just happy that they kind of stuck with me because I think they were really nervous for a while but they didn’t show it.” – Mashama (41:22–42:38)

• On heritage and favorite Joy of Cooking recipes:
  “She has different notes that she wrote on certain recipes and within her copy of the Joy of Cooking. So...that’s where the good, good is, right?” – Mashama (15:45)

• On translating Southern food for French diners:
  “There's a lot of sort of explaining and connecting through enslavement or just Southern ingredients or rice or peas or that kind of thing...I almost need to cook the more cliched Southern dishes in Paris in order for them to say, oh, this is a Southern restaurant.” – Mashama (18:26–19:45)

Noteworthy Timestamps

• 00:37 – Hosts introduce their cooking projects and "hope cooking"
• 06:40 – Introduction of Mashama Bailey as this week’s guest
• 07:14–11:12 – Mashama’s bone broth adventures and techniques for clear stock
• 13:31–15:58 – Mashama’s family’s Joy of Cooking legacy
• 17:12–29:27 – Deep dive into Southern food in Paris, menu adaptation, seasonality, and logistics
• 30:21–33:06 – Signature dishes at The Grey: foie & garlic grits; Country Captain chicken
• 35:24 – Relationships & community-building through meals
• 43:06–48:18 – Paris food recs: brasseries, bakeries, and markets
• 51:52–54:16 – Joy Scouts recipe of the week: French carrot salad (carottes râpées)
• 56:34–61:53 – What’s cooking: spaghetti squash dilemma, live coaching, and recipe ideas

Closing & Where to Follow

• Find Mashama:

  • Instagram: @MashamaBailey
  • Also follow @thegray and @laray on Instagram

• Next Week Teaser: The hosts will focus on simple entertaining ideas.

Episode Tone & Style

The conversation is friendly, relatable, and rooted in curiosity. There’s laughter about kitchen fails and nostalgia for comfort food, insightful storytelling around the challenges of culinary translation, and genuine warmth among the hosts and guest. It’s as much about memory and identity as it is about what’s on the plate.

For New Listeners

This episode is a tapestry of Southern cooking’s global journey, culinary heritage, and the community around the Joy of Cooking legacy. Even if you’ve never set foot in The Grey or Paris, you’ll find approachable advice, food stories that evoke home, and inspiration to try a new recipe—perhaps with your phone tucked away.

Recipe References

• Yogurt and Honey Panna Cotta (Joy of Cooking, p.821)
• Carottes râpées – French grated carrot salad (Joy of Cooking, p.125)
• Country Captain Chicken (Joy of Cooking, p.423)
• Bone broth & celery root salad (discussed in episode, techniques provided)

Contact the show:
Call or text your kitchen stories and questions to 503-395-8858.
Follow for updates at joyofcooking.substack.com and @thejoyofcooking on Instagram.