In One Ear: Cook and tell 

Published 6:00 am Thursday, July 24, 2025

Chef Chris Holen has come up with a new cooking show, “What Do You Wanna Cook?” about “connecting with the heart of the community, no matter where you are.”

“We’ll cook dishes and tell a story,” the chef explained. “We’ll explore how these guests are making a difference.” And, his first guest was Astoria’s most enthusiastic booster, Jeff Daly, who wanted to learn how to cook a fish. 

“We had salmon and tuna and sturgeon all the time,” Jeff recalled. “My mother, God bless her, she could not cook a piece of fish … I got to a point where I hated to eat fish anymore … Would you please show me how to do it?” 

While Chef Holen was preparing and cooking the rockfish, making a vinaigrette salad, and showing Jeff how to do both, they had an ongoing conversation about Jeff’s life. 

Jeff talked about his latest venture, the Astoria Underground, growing up in Astoria, the Astoria Clowns (Jeff’s father was an original), his various vehicles (such as the Joy Train and restoring the original clown car), how the Astoria Clowns got the Astoria Bridge built, the “Musical Stairs” concert at the Astoria Column, and much more. You can catch up with Jeff’s myriad projects at oldastoria.com.

You can watch this entertaining episode, and learn how to cook a perfect rockfish, at tinyurl.com/WannaCook. (Screenshot courtesy of Chef Chris Holen (pictured, at left))