Joiners

Our guest this week never intended to break into the newspaper game, but we are happy he did. Nick Kindelsperger stumbled into food writing by following his gut — after college, he moved to New York City, where he was blown away by the ubiquity of high quality food, and the concept of making one single dish as well as you possibly can. Fast forward to now — Nick is a food critic for Chicago’s paper of record, and his no-nonsense passion for food and expressive panache have helped form and chronicle our city’s vibrant hospitality culture. He sits down with us to tell us about staying excited about food writing, burgers that blew his mind, and what’s new and notable in the Chicagoland food scene. 

With a body of work as impressive as it is diverse, our guest this week is a consummate world builder whose unique approach to concept development marries a commitment to community with acute systems thinking. That's right: this week, Cecilia Cuff pops by to tell us all about her international hospitality journey, from bringing trays of food to the neighborhood trash collectors as a child, to launching an airline in Taos, to what's new at  Bronzeville Winery. Plus: Tim tells us a cautionary tale about the first time he visited New Orleans. 

April Fool's pranks, James Beard awards, and more cheesecake than we know what to do with -- this week, we're talking to our friend Elana Schulman of Eli's Cheesecake, who knows all of these things well. She tells us about growing up in a food family, the extended history of Eli's, and what makes Chicago style cheesecake Chicago style. And at the head, the boys play an educational round of two truths and a lie. 

We've been trying to get this week's guest on since we started the podcast, and even though we weren't able to record this episode over cocktails, we hope you agree that it was worth the wait. Terry Alexander of One Off Hospitality is the industry veteran behind countless classic joints of today and yore, from Danny's Tavern to Big Star. He tells us all about falling ass-backwards into the world of food, cueing up cassettes during the early days of Danny's Tavern, serving celebrities Guinness and Jameson at Francescas, and how Big Star became a spot for tacos instead of BBQ. This one is filled to the brim with the goods, ladies and germs. 

This week, we're joined by Fifty/50 Restaurant Group's extraordinarily talented Director of Beverage, Julietta Campos. She joins us a mere two weeks after she helped open Kindling, a new concept bar that encompasses two floors of Chicago's historical Willis Tower, a project three years in the making. She tells us all about what such an undertaking entailed, offers some insight into The Aviary's hospitality sign language, tells us what it takes to set yourself apart as a bartender, and as always, so much more.

We’ve got an exciting one for you this week, folks. You know him from his PBS series Mexico: One Plate at a Time, his seven James Beard Awards, and his winning run on Top Chef Masters -- and you've probably dined at Frontera Grill, Topolobampo, Tortas Frontera, or any of his other widely lauded restaurants. That’s right: this week we are talking to Rick Bayless, the magnanimous master of Mexican cuisine, who comes to the Joiners studio to tell us about the changing nature of celebrity chefdom, the spoils of Mexico City, the ephemeral beauty of Oaxacan radish festivals, and so much more. And of course, not even Rick Bayless is safe from the sizzling grill of the gratuity round. 

For Episode #32, we're shucking the oyster of life down to its bare essentials with our friend Pete Ternes. He's one of the founders of Bungalow by Middle Brow, once "the littlest bar in Illinois," and one of our favorite brewpubs around. He tells us about his days farming oysters in a windy atoll in French Polynesia, and how that experience helped him leave behind a career as a corporate tax lawyer to start a brewery with a charitable bent. We're talking beer, pizza, and the connected etymology of Middle Brow and Bungalow, as well as their planned enological future.

This week, we break one of the Violet Hour's cardinal rules by having their bartending alum Abe Vucekovich crash the podcast. He's currently working as the beverage director of Meadowlark, one of Chicago's best craft cocktail lounges. He delves into his unique approach to curating a fine drinking experience, illuminates the process of developing one of the most creative menus in the business, and helps us review The Violet Hour's list of rules. 

This week, we're going long on all things agave with one of its most zealous evangelists: Lou Bank of Saving Agave for Culture, Recreation, Education, and Development, or S.A.C.R.E.D., a not-for-profit corporation that helps build libraries, replant agave, and maintain water-preservation systems in rural Mexico. A delightful raconteur, Lou comes to the studio to do more than preach the holy gospel of Mezcal, though there's plenty of that. We talk about the power of leveraging your passions to make the world a better place, the dangers of homogenization, the world's rarest liquid, and of course, so much more. 

For our first podcast of 2023, we're perusing a loaded display case with Sarah Mispagel-Lustbader, co-founder and co-chef (with her husband, Ben) of Avondale's Loaf Lounge. Recently, she took a turn as head consultant on The Bear for all things baking -- and if you caught a glimpse of any of the cakes or doughnuts that the final cut, you know she knocked it out of the park. She joins us today to tell us about her education as a pastry chef, opening a restaurant with your spouse, how working on The Bear felt a lot like working in an actual kitchen, and so much more.