The Banter

The Guys talk about making vinegar and why you have to take care of your mother. 

The Conversation

The Restaurant Guys welcome writer Rowan Jacobsen to discuss the fifth taste: umami. What is umami? Where does it come from? What pairs well with it? And what does breastmilk have to do with it? Get the skinny from Rowan. 

The Inside Track

The Guys happily get the inside track on the health benefits of chocolate. Rowan has made quite an impression on chocolate lovers in his book Chocolate Unwrapped.

“Women who I've never seen before walk up to me and say, ‘I think of you every time I eat a piece of chocolate. It's changed my life.’

People love that book because it gives them license to do exactly what they want to do anyway,” Rowan Jacobsen on The Restaurant Guys Podcast 2006

Bio

Rowan Jacobsen is a journalist and author who writes about food, nature and the environment for Harper’s, Scientific American, Smithsonian, The New York Times, and others. He has received awards from the James Beard Foundation and the Society of American Travel Writers. He is the author of nine books, including A Geography of Oysters, Fruitless Fall, and Truffle Hound, which have been named to Best Book of the Year lists by the Washington Post.

He is a Nova Media Fellow, researching the science of sun exposure. His new book, In Defense of Sunlight: The Surprising Science of Sun Exposure, will be published on the Summer Solstice, 2026.

Info

Rowan’s site

https://www.rowanjacobsen.com/

Has an article in 

artofeating.com

His book

Chocolate Unwrapped

Paul Wolfert’s vinegar recipe

https://www.claycoyote.com/816-2/

Subscribe: Restaurant Guys' Regular

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Magyar Bank

https://www.magbank.com/

Stage Left Wine Shop

https://www.stageleftwineshop.com/

Our Places

Stage Left Steak
https://www.stageleft.com/

Catherine Lombardi Restaurant
https://www.catherinelombardi.com/

Stage Left Wineshop
https://www.stageleftwineshop.com/

Reach Out to The Guys!
[email protected]

The Banter

The Guys talk about actors being waiters and whether that is a good thing.

The Conversation

The Restaurant Guys catch up with bar owner and author Neal Bodenheimer. They wax sentimental about their glory days behind the bar, discuss clinging to standards and talk about the trajectory of New Orleans. At some point Mark commits Francis to a whole big thing! 

The Inside Track

The Guys, who only briefly met Neal prior to the podcast, were taken by  his commendation.

“What an honor to be on with you guys, and thank you so much for what you've done to make my career possible. Because if it's not for you guys doing what you do, there's no way I could have done what I do,” Neal Bodenheimer on The Restaurant Guys Podcast 2025

Bio

Neal Bodenheimer is the award-winning New Orleans bartender, bar owner, and hospitality leader best known for founding Cure, the cocktail bar that helped kick off the city’s modern drinks renaissance. A native New Orleanian, he returned home after years in the industry to open CureCo, the group behind Cure, Cane & Table, and other acclaimed projects that blend serious craft with the city’s unmistakable soul.

While his bars have won praise and awards, Neal is also a guiding force behind the global cocktail community, serving as a longtime leader of the Tales of the Cocktail Foundation, where he helped shape education, philanthropy, and industry standards worldwide.

Info

Neal’s book

Cure: New Orleans Drinks and How to Mix ’Em from the Award-Winning Bar

By Neal Bodenheimer,  Emily Timberlake

Cure NOLA

https://www.curenola.com/

Subscribe: Restaurant Guys' Regular

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Magyar Bank

https://www.magbank.com/

Stage Left Wine Shop

https://www.stageleftwineshop.com/

Our Places

Stage Left Steak
https://www.stageleft.com/

Catherine Lombardi Restaurant
https://www.catherinelombardi.com/

Stage Left Wineshop
https://www.stageleftwineshop.com/

Reach Out to The Guys!
[email protected]

This is a Vintage Selection from 2005

The Banter

The Guys give you the behind the scenes of the first few days of the opening of their second restaurant Catherine Lombardi and why they have to keep a fork handy.

The Conversation

The Restaurant Guys speak with Heritage Foods founder Todd Wickstrom about his company’s mission to support family farms by providing high quality products to consumers. He values genetic diversity, transparency and traceability in the food supply. The Guys declare that formula delicious!

The Inside Track

The Guys use Heritage products both personally and in the restaurant. As Todd explains, the way to save some endangered breeds of livestock is to raise them for food. 

 “What we're trying to really promote, what we are in the end is we are really a conservation movement. We call it conservation by consumption.,” Todd Wickstrom on The Restaurant Guys Podcast 2005

Bio

Todd Wickstrom is the co-founder of Heritage Foods USA, a pioneering force in reviving rare, pasture-raised livestock breeds and championing small family farms. A longtime advocate for sustainable agriculture, Todd helped build a national distribution network that connects chefs, home cooks, and producers dedicated to responsible, nose-to-tail eating. His leadership has shaped the modern heritage meat movement, bringing transparency, biodiversity, and farm-to-table ethics to the forefront of American food culture.

He has worked for several of the most respected Specialty Food companies in America, including his role as the Managing Partner of Zingerman’s Deli, and as the Chief Operating Officer of Rishi Tea.

Info

Heritage Foods

https://heritagefoods.com/

The Meatrix

https://www.themeatrix.com/

Subscribe: Restaurant Guys' Regular

https://restaurantguysregulars.buzzsprout.com/

Magyar Bank

https://www.magbank.com/

Stage Left Wine Shop

https://www.stageleftwineshop.com/

Our Places

Stage Left Steak
https://www.stageleft.com/

Catherine Lombardi Restaurant
https://www.catherinelombardi.com/

Stage Left Wineshop
https://www.stageleftwineshop.com/

Reach Out to The Guys!
[email protected]

The Banter

The Guys talk about early days of restaurant-ing and how taking reservations over the phone led to scammers as well as long-time patrons. (Francis may even cry.)

The Conversation

The Restaurant Guys welcome an icon in their field: Drew Nieporent! Drew has been behind some of the most acclaimed restaurants world-wide. Listen to his experiences and stories from his decades as a restaurateur and a pioneer in hospitality. 

The Inside Track

The Guys have followed Drew’s career and methods since they became restaurateurs. Whether it’s dealing with unruly guests and bartenders on the take or nuturing steadfast regulars and devoted employees, they’ve seen it all! The Guys loved the book and feel it reflects the attitude of Drew and his career.

Francis: Your book is full of really amazing stories and what I like about you is, and it comes through clearly in your book, there's a lot of insight and there's a little bit of f- you. That's really part of your personality that comes through and I really like it. 

Drew: That's true.

-Drew Nieporent on The Restaurant Guys Podcast

Bio

Drew Nieporent is one of America’s most influential restaurateurs, the force behind Myriad Restaurant Group and the visionary who helped shape New York’s dining scene for more than three decades. Known for creating iconic destinations like Tribeca Grill, Nobu, Corton and Montrachet, he’s partnered with culinary legends and Hollywood heavyweights while championing hospitality at the highest level. His restaurants have earned Michelin stars, James Beard Awards, and global acclaim. 

In fall 2025 he released a memoir I'm Not Trying To Be Difficult: Stories from the Restaurant Trenches.

Info

Drew’s book

I'm Not Trying To Be Difficult: Stories from the Restaurant Trenches.

By Drew Nieporent

Subscribe: Restaurant Guys' Regular

https://restaurantguysregulars.buzzsprout.com/

Magyar Bank

https://www.magbank.com/

Stage Left Wine Shop

https://www.stageleftwineshop.com/

Our Places

Stage Left Steak
https://www.stageleft.com/

Catherine Lombardi Restaurant
https://www.catherinelombardi.com/

Stage Left Wineshop
https://www.stageleftwineshop.com/

Reach Out to The Guys!
[email protected]

This is a Vintage Selection from 2005

The Banter

The Guys tell of an unnecessary battle: it’s curtains!

The Conversation

The Restaurant Guys welcome wine and restaurant critic Peter Schleimer from his home in Austria. They talk about grape-loving birds, where to get authentic Austrian food and some wine recommendations that are still good advice today. 

The Inside Scoop

The Guys have spent time eating and drinking  with Peter both in the U.S. and in Austria. They ask him about the rise in popularity of Austrian wines at the time.

“The main reason is that we just have extremely interesting varieties. We have stuff other countries don't have and that's the secret. We have great varieties that are first of all, unique and second of all, interesting,  too. 

It doesn't help if they're only unique and they and the wines suck,” Peter Schleimer on The Restaurant Guys Podcast 2005

Bio

Peter Schleimer worked in the Austrian wine industry, specifically at the Austrian Wine Marketing Board and the Austrian Wine Academy, and as an editor for the Austrian trade journal Vinaria, he was appointed its editor-in-chief in 2006. Peter was also editor-in-chief of the biannual magazine Vinaria Gourmet from 2006 to 2011. 

Since 2025, Peter Schleimer has run a restaurant in Mödling called Genussatelier Mödling with Doris Bracher. He also operates a wine business focused on international markets and cultivates his own wine on a small scale in the Thermenregion.

Info

Wine recs

Schloss Gobelsburg

https://www.gobelsburg.at/en/

*We have some at Stage Left Wine Shop!
https://www.stageleftwineshop.com/wines/Schloss-Gobelsburg-Riesling-1er-Cru-OTW-Heiligenstein-2020-w4844439u9

Weingut Glatzer 

https://www.weingutglatzer.at/en/

Heidi Shröck & Son

https://www.heidischroeckundsoehne.com/en/

Subscribe: Restaurant Guys' Regular

https://restaurantguysregulars.buzzsprout.com/

Magyar Bank

https://www.magbank.com/

Stage Left Wine Shop

https://www.stageleftwineshop.com/

Our Places

Stage Left Steak
https://www.stageleft.com/

Catherine Lombardi Restaurant
https://www.catherinelombardi.com/

Stage Left Wineshop
https://www.stageleftwineshop.com/

Reach Out to The Guys!
[email protected]

The Banter

The Guys discuss cultural differences in the best way to leave a party. Expeditious or rude?

The Conversation

The Restaurant Guys speak to Procera Gin founders Alan Murungi and Guy Brennan from Kenya. Alan and Guy had a vision to create gin from fresh (not dried) juniper berries that are hand foraged at great heights in the juniper forests of Kenya. They distill locally and use hand-crafted glass bottles for their exceptional libation which is a favorite of Mark and Francis

The Inside Track

The Guys heard about Procera gin and wanted to hate it, but it was too tremendous! They got acquainted with Alan & Guy and fully appreciated their motives.

“Alan and I were in the backyard drinking a Bombay sapphire gin and tonic, and Alan looked at the bottle and said, 

'This is absolute bullshit. Why do we make gin in England with African botanicals that they send to us and we drink every weekend in Kenya? Let's make a gin company.’ It was a sort of an FU to people using African stuff and selling it to us,” Guy Brennan on The Restaurant Guys Podcast 2025

Bio 

Procera was founded with a vision to share the best of Africa with the world. Distilled in Nairobi, Kenya, their gins are the first to showcase African Juniper. The berries are handpicked from wild forests growing at altitudes above 2,000 metres, across many distinct regions of Kenya. The fresh juniper and other regionally-grown botanicals create a distinctive gin that is among the first distilled in Africa. 

Info

Procera Gin

https://www.proceragin.com/

Subscribe: Restaurant Guys' Regular

https://restaurantguysregulars.buzzsprout.com/

Magyar Bank

https://www.magbank.com/

Stage Left Wine Shop

https://www.stageleftwineshop.com/

Our Places

Stage Left Steak
https://www.stageleft.com/

Catherine Lombardi Restaurant
https://www.catherinelombardi.com/

Stage Left Wineshop
https://www.stageleftwineshop.com/

Reach Out to The Guys!
[email protected]

This is a Vintage Selection from 2012.

The Banter

The Guys talk about The Balkans International Wine Competition and the implementation of Wine Diplomacy. Hear the Balkan wine suggestions you didn’t know you needed.

The Conversation

The Restaurant Guys are joined by Johnny Schuler from his vineyards in Peru. He runs the oldest working distillery in the Americas that is both state-of-the-art and traditional to create the classic pisco that has been made there for centuries (yes, centuries!). 

The Inside Track

The Guys came across Johnny when they were learning about his beloved pisco. Both Peruvians are unique and something you want to have in your restaurant.

“My argument that pisco is for friendship, pisco is for drinking pisco is for conversation,” Johnny Schuler on The Restaurant Guys 2012

Bio

Johnny Schuler is one of the world’s leading ambassadors of Peruvian pisco. A restaurateur, distiller, and TV host, he’s best known for guiding audiences through the history, craft, and culture of Peru’s national spirit on the hit television series “Por Las Rutas del Pisco”.

As master distiller at Pisco Portón / La Caravedo, Schuler helped introduce premium Peruvian pisco to a global audience. For more than 20 years, Johnny has played an integral role in rallying government ministries and the private sector to regulate the Pisco industry in Peru. The Peruvian Congress awarded Johnny the Medal of Honor.

Info

Caravedo Pisco

https://www.caravedopisco.com/hacienda-la-caravedo

Book Johnny mentioned

The Barbary Coast: An Informal History of the San Francisco Underworld 

by Herbert Asbury

Subscribe: Restaurant Guys' Regular

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Magyar Bank

https://www.magbank.com/

Stage Left Wine Shop

https://www.stageleftwineshop.com/

Our Places

Stage Left Steak
https://www.stageleft.com/

Catherine Lombardi Restaurant
https://www.catherinelombardi.com/

Stage Left Wineshop
https://www.stageleftwineshop.com/

Reach Out to The Guys!
[email protected]

The Banter

The Guys discuss a restaurant experience that let the rabbit out the hat.

The Conversation

The Restaurant Guys catch up with buddy Jeff Bell to discuss the bar scene in New York. From humble beginnings as a barback at PDT to owning it and several other of the coolest places in NYC, Jeff tells about his experiences of becoming a business owner, including (the requisite) major disaster during his first year. 

The Inside Track

The Guys have known Jeff for years and were taken by his wisdom of bartending preparing him for fatherhood. 

“ Being a bartender for years is just absolutely great training for parenthood. There is this volatility you get from people drinking [of] the highs and lows where they can just start laughing for no reason or crying for no reason… or have a bodily fluid mistake,” Jeff Bell on The Restaurant Guys Podcast 2025

Bio

Jeff Bell has been bartending and running bars for over 15 years. At Please Don’t Tell (commonly known as PDT) in the East Village of NYC, he started as a bar-back, worked his way up to head bartender and, eventually, owner. He is also a managing partner in PDT Hong Kong.

In 2025, Jeff co-launched a new venture: a bar concept called Mixteca, an agave-forward cocktail bar in the West Village. The concept is rooted in tequila and mezcal. He will be opening Kees bar, a different concept in the same location, later this year.

He also was in charge of restoring Peacock Alley in the Waldorf Astoria to “its original grandeur” reviving the space and cocktail offerings from the hotel’s rich history

Throughout his tenure at PDT Jeff has earned numerous accolades including Spirited Award: American Bartender of the Year 2017.

Info

Mixteca bar, NYC

https://cocteleriamixteca.com/

Subscribe: Restaurant Guys' Regular

https://restaurantguysregulars.buzzsprout.com/

Magyar Bank

https://www.magbank.com/

Stage Left Wine Shop

https://www.stageleftwineshop.com/

Our Places

Stage Left Steak
https://www.stageleft.com/

Catherine Lombardi Restaurant
https://www.catherinelombardi.com/

Stage Left Wineshop
https://www.stageleftwineshop.com/

Reach Out to The Guys!
[email protected]

This is a Vintage Selection from 2012

The Banter

The Guys talk about a taste of the military that they would have rather not had and what they will be doing to make it up to our U.S. service members. 

The Conversation

The Restaurant Guys spill the tea with Sebastian Beckwith, tea master, tea lover and tea educator. Topics include the complexities of tea service in fine dining, the nuances of different tea types and the aging and infusion of teas. Sebastian also shares his personal journey into the world of tea.

The Inside Track

The Guys visited Sebastian to have a tea experience as well as an education. Here is how Sebastian relates it to one of their other favorite beverages.

“I would just talk about the parallels with wine. All wine comes from one grape, different varietals. All the vintners are doing different things. Same with the tea plant, the Camellia sinensis plant. Many different varietals and many aspects of terroir and then the craftsmanship and people that make the tea,” Sebastian Beckwith on The Restaurant Guys Podcast 2012 

Bio

Sebastian Beckwith was a trekking guide in Bhutan and northern India, he first fell in love with tea. Since founding the company, he has returned to Asia several times each year, tasting and selecting leaves that are served at some of the finest restaurants in the country, including New York City's Eleven Madison Park, Daniel and Gramercy Tavern. He has lectured at Columbia University with integrative health expert Dr. Andrew Weil, and has led educational seminars on tea at The French Culinary Institute, the Institute of Culinary Education, and The American Museum of Natural History.

 In 2018, he published A Little Tea Book, a pocket guide to the wide world of tea.

Info 

In Pursuit of Tea

https://inpursuitoftea.com/

Subscribe: Restaurant Guys' Regular

https://restaurantguysregulars.buzzsprout.com/

Magyar Bank

https://www.magbank.com/

Stage Left Wine Shop

https://www.stageleftwineshop.com/

Our Places

Stage Left Steak
https://www.stageleft.com/

Catherine Lombardi Restaurant
https://www.catherinelombardi.com/

Stage Left Wineshop
https://www.stageleftwineshop.com/

Reach Out to The Guys!
[email protected]

This show was recorded on location at the Southern Smoke Festival in Houston,  October 2025

The Banter

The Guys look a gift horse in the mouth….and it was delicious!

The Conversations

The Restaurant Guys catch up with more fun people at the Southern Smoke Festival 2025 in Houston, TX in their third episode recorded on location

Joaquin Rodas’s passion was ignited by his work in Chicago and being inspired by some great New Orleans chefs, he made his way to Bacchanal Fine Wine & Spirits in New Orleans where wine paired with great food and music elevate the experience. 

Colby Rasavong is the Executive Chef of Bad Idea, an East Nashville restaurant serving Lao-French cuisine that was named one of the Best Restaurants in America by the New York Times in 2024 and a semifinalist for Best New Restaurant in the 2025 James Beard Awards.

Caroline Schiff is an award-winning Chef and cookbook author based in Brooklyn, NY. She was named a Food and Wine Best New Chef ’22 and is a James Beard Outstanding Pastry Chef Finalist. She is currently working on writing her second cookbook Daily Dessert with aspirations to bring her first restaurant to life- a classic diner. 

Lee Anne Wong is an acclaimed chef, restaurateur, and TV personality best known for her standout run on Top Chef (Season 1) and her culinary leadership in destination-worthy kitchens from New York to Hawaiʻi. 

After early roles at culinary icons like Jean-Georges and Melia Meliá, she helped launch the original Top Chef empire as a supervising culinary producer. 

Lee Anne later moved to Hawaiʻi, where she opened the popular Koko Head Café.

Subscribe: Restaurant Guys' Regular

https://restaurantguysregulars.buzzsprout.com/

Magyar Bank

https://www.magbank.com/

Stage Left Wine Shop

https://www.stageleftwineshop.com/

Our Places

Stage Left Steak
https://www.stageleft.com/

Catherine Lombardi Restaurant
https://www.catherinelombardi.com/

Stage Left Wineshop
https://www.stageleftwineshop.com/

Reach Out to The Guys!
[email protected]