Susan Feniger was one of the earliest stars of the Food Network, with her show “Too Hot Tamales.” “We’d start at 6 a.m. and finish at 6 p.m. Then we’d go out and party all night and come back,” Feniger said at her Zócalo panel on celebrity chefdom. The television show brought her business and stop-in-the-street fame. “Someone I had no idea who they were would come up and give me a huge hug,” she said. But she didn’t mind. “In our business, it’s about hospitality and giving back and feeling like you’re having people in your home, even if you don’t know them.” Below, Feniger reveals a bit more about herself.

Q. What is the last habit you tried to kick?

A. Having my Vietnamese coffee or tea with condensed milk – it’s so much sugar.

Q. Who was your childhood hero?

A. Jim Thorpe.

Q. What do you consider to be the greatest simple pleasure?

A. It’s a tie between eating, reading and music.

Q. Where would we find you at 10 a.m. on a typical Saturday?

A. With my partner Liz, taking a walk with the dogs before going to work, or sitting in a hot tub with a Vietnamese coffee and condensed milk.

Q. What do you wish you had the nerve to do?

A. I wish I had the nerve, or maybe more like the oomph, to train to do the AIDS ride from San Francisco to L.A. Actually I wish I had the nerve to do it without doing the training.

Q. What music have you listened to today?

A. Laura Nyro and Corinne Bailey Rae.

Q. What is your favorite cocktail?

A. I have many, but I love a vodka soda with lemons from our lemon tree, which have the most incredible flavor. I also love our Tequila Tamarind at Street and our muddled mojitos at Border Grill.

Q. What is your most prized material possession?

A. If I could say my dogs, if they’re possessions, it would be my dogs.

Q. If you were about to be executed, what would you want for your final meal?

A. California avocados with extra virgin olive oil and salt, artichokes with mayonnaise, lime, and cracked black pepper, and a rib eye with tomatoes when they’re in season.

Q. Who is the one person living or dead you would most want to meet for dinner?

A. Nelson Mandela.

To read more about Feniger’s panel, click here.

*Photo by Aaron Salcido.