French chef Alexis Gauthier has reinvented himself more than once. Working with Alain Ducasse in Monaco taught him to understand ingredients before applying recipes. Years later, encounters with animal rights activists and a provocative book led him to abandon animal products and transform his London restaurant, Gauthier Soho, into a destination for plant-based fine dining.

Then came ChatGPT. Its first attempt at creating a menu was, in Alexis' words, “rubbish.” But after a few conversations, something remarkable happened: the AI began suggesting dishes that sounded increasingly like his own creations. Today, Alexis treats AI almost like another sous-chef — a creative collaborator, but never the final judge.

In this episode, Holger and Alexis explore culinary identity, creativity, the future of French gastronomy and the limits of artificial intelligence. And when Nyx, Holger's AI cooking partner, joins the conversation with a six-course vegan tasting menu, Alexis offers a memorable lesson in seasonality, texture and the art of knowing what actually works.

Can AI learn to think like a chef without ever tasting the food?

Explore the episode, related stories and questions: https://nevertastedatomato.com/

Lerato Thelejane grew up in Zimbabwe in a household where nineteen plates could be set for dinner — and there was always room for one more. Her grandmother's beef stew with dumplings, family gatherings and the joy of sharing food still shape the way she thinks about hospitality and human connection.

Today, Lerato works with people and organisational change in Johannesburg. She also loves exploring restaurants, discovering new flavours and bringing people together around a table.

In this conversation, we explore the idea of Sankofa — looking back to understand what we want to carry forward. We discover why a family kept cutting a fish in half, imagine a restaurant that remembers its guests, and discuss what happens when AI begins to know our preferences.

Then Nyx, Holger's AI cooking collaborator, joins the conversation. Lerato shares a deeply personal story about reconnecting with a friend over dinner — and asks Nyx a question that goes to the heart of our podcast.

Can an AI understand the meaning of a shared meal without ever having experienced one?

Guest: Lerato Thelejane, change and transformation practitioner, Johannesburg

Host: Holger Nauheimer

About the AI voice: This episode features Nyx, Holger's AI collaborator, speaking with a synthetic voice. The human voices in this episode have not been synthetically generated or replaced.

Links & references

Lerato Thelejane on LinkedIn: https://za.linkedin.com/in/lerato-thelejane-61224014

Lerato at SIVIO Institute: https://www.sivioinstitute.org/trustees/ms-lerato-thelejane

I Have Never Tasted a Tomato explores how AI is changing the way we cook — and what cooking reveals about human creativity, memory and taste.

Explore the episodes, recipes and questions at https://nevertastedatomato.com.

Professor Ganesh Bagler of IIIT-Delhi studies food through data, algorithms and an emerging field called computational gastronomy. His research explores the patterns hidden in recipes, the ways ingredients are combined and what computers might discover about centuries of culinary knowledge.

But behind the databases is a personal story: a childhood shaped by food scarcity, his mother's cooking, and a scientist who found his way into the kitchen through curiosity rather than culinary ambition.

In this conversation, we explore how AI learns from recipes, why culinary traditions have recognisable patterns, and what gets lost when food is reduced to data. Ganesh introduces projects including RecipeDB, FlavorDB and Ratatouille, an AI-based recipe-generation tool.

We also discuss the limits of AI-generated recipes, the knowledge contained in a sushi chef's hands and the difference between reading a recipe and actually cooking it.

Then Nyx, Holger's AI cooking collaborator, joins the conversation to test an idea about culinary traditions and creative freedom.

Can a machine learn the rules of cooking without ever experiencing the taste of food?

Guest: Professor Ganesh Bagler, IIIT-Delhi

Host: Holger Nauheimer

About the AI voice: This episode features Nyx, Holger's AI collaborator, speaking with a synthetic voice. The human voices in this episode have not been synthetically generated or replaced.

Links & references

Ganesh Bagler: https://iiitd.ac.in/bagler

Complex Systems Laboratory: https://cosylab.iiitd.edu.in/

RecipeDB: https://cosylab.iiitd.edu.in/recipedb2/

FlavorDB: https://cosylab.iiitd.edu.in/flavordb2/

Ratatouille: https://cosylab.iiitd.edu.in/ratatouille2/

I Have Never Tasted a Tomato explores how AI is changing the way we cook — and what cooking reveals about human creativity, memory and taste.

Matan Zaken, chef and owner of NHOMe in Paris, grew up between two very different grandmothers’ kitchens: one guided by familiar weekly rituals, the other moving between Algerian traditions and French classics. Today, those memories still shape his cooking — alongside a rather unexpected creative collaborator: AI.

In this conversation, we explore how Matan uses AI to develop new dishes, why roasted date seeds changed the way he thinks about familiar ingredients, and why hospitality matters just as much as what arrives on the plate.

We also talk about creativity, authorship, chefs’ egos and whether AI-assisted cooking might one day earn Michelin recognition.

Then Nyx, Holger’s AI cooking collaborator, joins the conversation with a culinary proposal. Matan responds with the curiosity, questions and critical judgement of a working chef.

Can AI contribute to the creation of a remarkable dish without ever having tasted one?

Guest: Matan Zaken, chef and owner of NHOMe, Paris

Host: Holger Nauheimer

About the AI voice: This episode features Nyx, Holger's AI collaborator, speaking with a synthetic voice. The human voices in this episode have not been synthetically generated or replaced.

Links & references

NHOMe, Paris: https://nhomeparis.com/en

About Matan Zaken: https://nhomeparis.com/en/team/about-the-chef

I Have Never Tasted a Tomato explores how AI is changing the way we cook — and what cooking reveals about human creativity, memory and taste.

I Have Never Tasted a Tomato is a new podcast about AI, cooking, taste and human creativity.

Host Holger Nauheimer talks with chefs, researchers and curious people about the possibilities, surprises and absurdities of bringing artificial intelligence into the kitchen.

From culinary experiments and unexpected failures to childhood food memories and the question of what makes us human, the conversations explore a fascinating paradox: AI knows an extraordinary amount about food, but it has never tasted anything.

Sometimes AI inspires. Sometimes it gets things spectacularly wrong. And sometimes it asks us to reconsider what creativity really means.

Launching November 5, 2026.

Explore the podcast at https://nevertastedatomato.com

About the AI voice: This episode features Nyx, Holger's AI collaborator, speaking with a synthetic voice. The human voices in this episode have not been synthetically generated or replaced.