The Restaurant Guys

Latest Episodes:

Jon Taffer: Birth of Bar Rescue Feb 27, 2025

Show notes

This is a Vintage Selection from 2011

The Banter

The Guys talk about the serious issue of migrant farm workers (yes, back in 2011) and who will pick the food if we don’t let them do it.

The Conversation

The Restaurant Guys meet with Jon Taffer after his first season of the hit show Bar Rescue. He shares how he came to this line of work and they all swap crazy restaurant consulting stories.

The Inside Track

The Restaurant Guys and Jon dig deep into how to attract and maintain a client base and what keeps folks coming back.

“I don't believe guys that we're in a restaurant business. I don't believe we're in a bar business. I don't believe we're in a product business…I bet you guys will agree with me on this cause you obviously get it. That cook in the kitchen isn't making an entree. He's making a reaction. He's achieving it through the entree. I suggest that the plate of food isn't a product at all, it's just a vehicle. The product is the reaction,” Jon Taffer on The Restaurant Guys Podcast 2011

Bio

After decades of experience bartending and running nightclubs, Jon Taffer starred on the television show Bar Rescue for over 200 episodes. He owns Taffer’s Tavern in Georgia.

He is a New York Times best-selling author of Don’t Bullsh*t Yourself and authored several books and ebooks.

His latest creation is Taffer’s Browned Butter Bourbon.

Info

Jon Taffer

https://jontaffer.com/

Bar Rescue

https://www.youtube.com/c/BarRescue

Oct 26-31 - Spooky Bar at Stage Left Steak

https://www.stageleft.com/event/spooky-bar-1026-1031/

Oct 27, Tuesday - Robert Simonson book signing cocktail party

More info - https://www.stageleft.com/events/

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!
TheGuys@restaurantguyspodcast.com

Why Great Drinks Ideas Need a Little Lunacy | Philip Duff Feb 25, 2025

Show notes

The Banter

The Guys revisit an incident involving an older Burgundy, a decanter and a difference of opinion.

The Conversation

The Restaurant Guys have Philip Duff on the show to hear about his genever. The conversation winds into Irish whiskey, Batavia Arrack, and a special vodka endorsed by an action film star whom Philip is teaching to bartend.

The Inside Track

The Guys have crossed paths with globe-traveling Philip Duff for decades. Philip has had his hand in many aspects of the bar world and here is what he thinks is the key to making it in this wild and wonderful industry.

“You build something, be it a brand, be it a bar and people are right to tell you it's crazy because if it was a good idea, well, why didn't anybody else do it? But without lunatics, we don't get Teslas and Stage Left Steak and Old Duff Geneva and Door 74, right? A certain degree of lunacy has to be baked in,” Philip Duff on The Restaurant Guys Podcast 2025

Bio

Philip Duff began bartending at 15 in his native Ireland. In addition to working behind bars, he became an educator of spirits, bartending and cocktails and teaches at many spirits and cocktail conventions.

He began Liquid Solutions, the on-trade consultancy. He founded Holland’s first speakeasy bar, Door 74 in Amsterdam, and owns the award-winning Old Duff Genever brand.

Philip has published articles in Drinks International, CLASS magazine, Imbibe UK, Mixology (Germany), Australian Bartender, and Reuters.

He also served as the educational director for Tales of the Cocktail and judged for the IWSR, the World’s 50 Best Bars, and the Spirited Awards.

Info

Old Duff Genever

http://www.oldduffgenever.com/

Philip’s podcast

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-philip-duff-show/id1614308846

Francis demonstrates decanting Burgundy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8MdkUr5dBA

Oct 26-31 - Spooky Bar at Stage Left Steak

https://www.stageleft.com/event/spooky-bar-1026-1031/

Oct 27, Tuesday - Robert Simonson book signing cocktail party

More info - https://www.stageleft.com/events/

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!
TheGuys@restaurantguyspodcast.com

Brooklyn Pizza and the Myth of Authenticity | Kim Severson Feb 20, 2025

Show notes

This is a Vintage episode from 2007.

The Banter

The Guys discuss the role of the bartender. With great power comes great responsibility…and some amusing stories.

The Conversation

The Restaurant Guys talk with Kim Severson of the New York Times about her recent assessment of The Joy of Cooking in its past and present iterations. They go on to discuss a novel product: Brooklyn-Style pizza. Find out what the heck that is!

The Inside Track

The Guys welcome Kim Severson on her first of many appearances on The Restaurant Guys. They enjoy her articles and “steal” her topics for the show. This is what she said about her experience with the classic cookbook The Joy of Cooking.

“The thing that I think is enduring about The Joy of Cooking is it has all kinds of things in it. It can tell you how to purify water and how to make a gimlet, both of which are valuable in cases of emergency,” Kim Severson on The Restaurant Guys Podcast 2007

Bio

Kim Severson is a national food correspondent for the New York Times. She was previously the New York Times Southern bureau chief. Severson won the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service for her contributions to the team that investigated sexual harassment and abuse against women. She also has won four James Beard awards and the Casey Medal for Meritorious Journalism for her work on childhood obesity.

She has written four books, The Trans Fat Solution, The New Alaska Cookbook, a memoir called Spoon Fed: How Eight Cooks Saved My Life, and, in 2012, Cook Fight! a collaborative cookbook with fellow New York Times writer Julia Moskin.

Info

Kim’s website

https://www.kimseverson.com/

Domino’s Brooklyn-style pizza commercial 2006

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ua_OjuCQZSk

Oct 26-31 - Spooky Bar at Stage Left Steak

https://www.stageleft.com/event/spooky-bar-1026-1031/

Oct 27, Tuesday - Robert Simonson book signing cocktail party

More info - https://www.stageleft.com/events/

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!
TheGuys@restaurantguyspodcast.com

Daniel Holzman Brings NYC Pizza to the West Coast Feb 18, 2025

Show notes

The Banter

The Guys are stoked about The Restaurant Guys LIVE with Rocco DiSpirito taking place at the theater next door on March 14, 2025! In other earth-shattering news, Francis changes his mind.

The Conversation

The Restaurant Guys welcome pizza pioneer Daniel Holzman who was determined to bring NYC slices to LA. They discuss some of the challenges and joys of great pizza and why Daniel wants to share that with California.

The Inside Track

The Guys and Daniel, co-host of On the Line, talk about the loss of food journalism and how a quality podcast can help fill that void.

“You start to see the breakdown of information that is actually useful to people, which for me is the biggest sadness. I think (the podcast) definitely plays a useful and realistically a positive role in society, which is a nice place to start if you're going to think about adding something to the already overcrowded conversation,” Daniel Holzman on The Restaurant Guys Podcast 2025

Bio

Daniel started his cooking career at the age of 15 at Le Bernardin in New York City until he attended the Culinary Institute of America.

In 2010, Daniel co-founded The Meatball Shop in New York City followed by five more locations.

He moved to LA to embark on a new passion, pizza, and opened Danny Boy's Famous Original in 2021. He opened his second location in the summer 2024, and has his plans for a third.

He is the co-author of Food IQ: 100 Questions, Answers, and Recipes to Raise Your Cooking Smarts, and The Meatball Shop Cookbook.

He is a co-host of On the Line podcast with Amanda Freitag.

Info

Danny Boy’s Famous Original Pizza

https://www.dannyboysfamousoriginalpizza.com/

Link to On the Line podcast

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/on-the-line/id1739016869

Oct 26-31 - Spooky Bar at Stage Left Steak

https://www.stageleft.com/event/spooky-bar-1026-1031/

Oct 27, Tuesday - Robert Simonson book signing cocktail party

More info - https://www.stageleft.com/events/

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!
TheGuys@restaurantguyspodcast.com

Vinitaly: The Restaurant Guys Abroad! Feb 13, 2025

Show notes

This is a Vintage Selection from 2010

The Banter

The Guys tell about the wonderful and enormous Vinitaly Wine Festival that they just attended along with a story about a Verona closer to home.

The Conversations

The Restaurant Guys are in Italy at Vinitaly Wine Festival! They walk the listeners through the wine supply chain from proprietor Silvia Vannucci of Piaggia to exporter Jano de Grazia of Marc de Grazia Selections to importer Harmon Skurnik of Skurnik Wines. Hear from each link in the chain that brings YOU excellent wine.

The Inside Track

The Guys have had a long-standing business relationship and friendship with Harmon Skurnik. Here is how Harmon describes wine.

Harmon: Wine is enjoyment. It's a pleasure. It's one of life's pleasures. It's no secret. You guys are restaurant guys. You guys have a passion for wine and the reason is that wine is meant to be consumed with food. It's all about a pleasurable hedonistic experience.

Francis: Yeah. We're all about hedonism here in The Restaurant. Guys.

Harmon Skurnik on The Restaurant Guys Podcast 2010

Info

Skurnik Wines (Harmon Skurnik)

https://www.skurnik.com/

De Grazia Imports (Jano De Grazia)

https://marcdegrazia.com/us/

Piaggia (Silvia Vannucci)

https://www.piaggia.com/

Piaggia at Stage Left Wineshop

https://www.stageleftwineshop.com/websearch_results.html?kw=piaggia

Oct 26-31 - Spooky Bar at Stage Left Steak

https://www.stageleft.com/event/spooky-bar-1026-1031/

Oct 27, Tuesday - Robert Simonson book signing cocktail party

More info - https://www.stageleft.com/events/

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!
TheGuys@restaurantguyspodcast.com

Bhutan’s First Wine: Vineyards in the Himalayas | Michael Juergens Feb 11, 2025

Show notes

The Banter

The Guys discuss keys to having a great restaurant experience. Find out what happens when one is missing.

The Conversation

The Restaurant Guys host ground-breaking (literally) wine guy Michael Juergens who has championed wine-making in Bhutan. Hear the story of how that has come to fruition as well as the future and impact of Bhutanese wines. They also discuss his edgy book and the “right” way to experience wine.

The Inside Track

The Guys met Michael through a long-time college friend of theirs and co-worker of Michael’s. After spending some time together hearing about his exciting project, they knew they had to have him on the show!

This how Michael describes our profound relationship with wine.

“I believe that wine is an intrinsic part of the human experience. It's wired into our DNA,” Michael Juergens on The Restaurant Guys Podcast 2025

Bio

Micheal Juergens is prominently known as a Senior Partner at Deloitte Consulting, running the “Wine Solutions Practice.” He is a certified sommelier, a certified wine specialist and is on the way to becoming a Master of Wine. He and his wife Ann Cross created Bhutan Wine Company in 2017, and planted the first vines ever to be planted in the Kingdom of Bhutan in 2019.

He has written eight books about wine under the pen name Micheal Amon and publishes a weekly newsletter Drinking and Knowing Things.

Info

Michael’s Site https://www.drinkingandknowingthings.com/

Bhutan Wine Company https://www.bhutanwine.com/

His Books (Under Michael Amon) https://www.drinkingandknowingthings.com/who-am-i

Oct 26-31 - Spooky Bar at Stage Left Steak

https://www.stageleft.com/event/spooky-bar-1026-1031/

Oct 27, Tuesday - Robert Simonson book signing cocktail party

More info - https://www.stageleft.com/events/

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!
TheGuys@restaurantguyspodcast.com

Caviar Queen | Deborah Keane | Preview Feb 08, 2025

Show notes

This is just a teaser from a bonus episode for our subscribers. If you'd like to become a Restaurant Guys' Regular and listen to the entire episode and other commercial-free episodes, subscribe here

https://www.buzzsprout.com/2401692/subscribe

This is a Vintage Selection from 2005

The Banter

The Guys colorfully mock the snobbery of the authors of a travel guide.

The Conversation

The Restaurant Guys talk with the Caviar Queen, Deborah Keane of Tsar Nicoulai Caviar about the caviar situation in the world and in the U.S. You’ll be getting out your mother-of-pearl spoon by the end of the episode!

The Inside Track

The Guys met Deborah at an event where she was serving Tsar Nicoulai. They liked it so much that they began serving it in their restaurants.

“ I think you start with the restaurants and chefs because the chefs are always looking for something new, trying to improve and… looking for better alternatives and really paying attention to the planet and organic farming and higher quality products,” Deborah Keane on The Restaurant Guys Podcast 2005

Bio

Deborah Keane, dubbed the “Caviar Queen”, built a complete, vertically integrated spawning-to-serving enterprise and is a leading pioneer in sustainable fish farming. She is the first female owned and operated caviar company in the world and the first female fish farm owner in the state of California, California Caviar Company.

She is on the cutting edge again harvesting caviar using a no-kill method.

Info

Tsar Nicoulai Caviar

https://tsarnicoulai.com/

California Caviar (Deborah’s current company)

https://californiacaviar.com/

No-Kill Caviar, Deborah Keane

https://news.northeastern.edu/2021/08/10/the-caviar-industry-was-in-trouble-this-former-nursing-student-is-saving-it/

Oct 26-31 - Spooky Bar at Stage Left Steak

https://www.stageleft.com/event/spooky-bar-1026-1031/

Oct 27, Tuesday - Robert Simonson book signing cocktail party

More info - https://www.stageleft.com/events/

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!
TheGuys@restaurantguyspodcast.com

How Eleven Madison Park Made Fine Dining Fun | Daniel Humm Feb 06, 2025

Show notes

The Banter

The Guys talk about elements of a great restaurant: excellent food, good atmosphere and discretion.

The Conversation

The Restaurant Guys welcome acclaimed chef from Eleven Madison Park, Daniel Humm, to the show to discuss his new cookbook and how EMP does things a bit differently than other places to create a unique dining experience.

The Inside Track

The Guys have had the great pleasure of eating at Eleven Madison Park and are thrilled to chat with Daniel Humm. Their restaurants have some differences, but Daniel sums up the similarities like this.

“You can have great food, great wine, but in the end, we are in the people business. You need to have great people. The people need to be happy and that's it,” Daniel Humm on The Restaurant Guys Podcast 2011

Bio

Daniel Humm was born in Switzerland in 1979. In 2003, he moved to the United States to become the executive chef at Campton Place in San Francisco. Three years later, he moved to New York to become the executive chef at Eleven Madison Park, and in 2011 he and his business partner Will Guidara purchased the restaurant from Danny Meyer's Union Square Hospitality Group. The following year also opened the critically acclaimed NoMad New York. In 2018 Humm and Guidara opened NoMad Los Angeles. Humm opened Davies and Brook, his first restaurant outside the US at London's historic Claridge's.

In 2021, he reopened Eleven Madison Park with a completely plant-based menu. Eleven Madison Park became the first and only plant-based restaurant in Michelin Guide history to receive a three-star rating in October 2022. The restaurant again received a three-Michelin-star rating in 2023.

In the fall of 2024, Daniel opened Clemente Bar, a bar and dining hotspot, on the second story of Eleven Madison Park.

He is the owner of Daniel Humm Hospitality group and the author of five books.

Info

Daniel Humm Hospitality

https://www.hummhospitality.com/

Daniel’s First EMP Cookbook

Eleven Madison Park: The Cookbook by Daniel Humm and Will Guidara

by Daniel Humm, Will Guidara, Francesco Tonelli (Photographer)

Oct 26-31 - Spooky Bar at Stage Left Steak

https://www.stageleft.com/event/spooky-bar-1026-1031/

Oct 27, Tuesday - Robert Simonson book signing cocktail party

More info - https://www.stageleft.com/events/

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!
TheGuys@restaurantguyspodcast.com

Brian Miller: Tiki Bartender Turned Jersey Guy Feb 04, 2025

Show notes

The Banter

The Guys do a taste test of a product that was released and then repealed. Find out when sugar is a preferred ingredient.

The Conversation

The Restaurant Guys welcome Brian Miller to New Jersey! Brian is known in NYC for being a tiki pirate captain bartender. Now he’s heading up a bar in a 300 year old inn. Hear about what’s old, what’s new and what’s next!

The Inside Track

The Guys have had the privilege of enjoying Brian’s personality and beverages. They’ve become friends sharing their love of hospitality and showing that over the bar through conversation and great drinks.

“I think even as bartenders in general, every place that I've worked, we want to leave a legacy one day. I would hope some of my cocktails are in a book, but you want to take care of people first and foremost. It's not about me. It's about the guests and their experience and making sure that they have good cocktails,” Brian Miller 2024 on The Restaurant Guys Podcast

Bio

Brian Miller worked the bar scene in New York City for several years before being on Audrey Saunder’s opening staff at Pegu Club. He then worked for Phil Ward at Death & Company. After Brian took the reins as head bartender, Death & Company won Spirited Awards “Best American Cocktail Bar” and “World’s Best Cocktail Menu” at Tales of the Cocktail in 2010. That same year, Brian was nominated for Spirited Award “International Bartender of the Year.” He was a partner and ran the bar program at The Polynesian, New York City.

He is currently the bar manager at the historic and newly re-opened Stockton Inn in Stockton, NJ.

Info

Brian Miller

https://www.instagram.com/brian.effing.miller/

Stockton Inn

https://www.stocktoninn.com/

Hampden Rum Pack @ Stage Left Wine Shop

https://www.stageleftwineshop.com/spirits/The-Hampden-Estate-Distillery-Eight-Marks-Collection-Ex-Bourbon-Barrels-w6946671y9

Oct 26-31 - Spooky Bar at Stage Left Steak

https://www.stageleft.com/event/spooky-bar-1026-1031/

Oct 27, Tuesday - Robert Simonson book signing cocktail party

More info - https://www.stageleft.com/events/

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!
TheGuys@restaurantguyspodcast.com

Andrew Carmellini, Urban Italian Jan 30, 2025

Show notes

The Banter

The Guys discuss what a world-renowned owner did when crowds infiltrated his speakeasy.

The Conversation

The Restaurant Guys speak with Andrew Carmellini, acclaimed chef and author of Urban Italian, a cookbook he created with his wife in his home kitchen in Manhattan. Andrew shares some stories and favorite dishes including an ingredient some Americans might find unusual with pasta.

The Inside Track

The Guys talk with Andrew about what’s next for him. This was just before he was approached by Robert DeNiro to open Locanda Verde in the Greenwich Hotel in NYC. Here’s what he had to say about cooking Italian.

“A lot of my best customers would come up to me and the things they were loving the most and coming back and requesting were a lot of the Italian stuff. So when I went out on my own as a chef, I really wanted to do Italian cooking because it really made people happy, my Italian food,” Andrew Carmellini on The Restaurant Guys Podcast 2008

Bio

Andrew Carmellini began his cooking career at age 14 in his hometown of Seven Hills, Ohio. Carmellini worked at restaurants in Europe, including Valentino Marcatili's two-star Michelin restaurant San Domenico. In New York, he spent four years on Gray Kunz's New York Times four-star team at Lespinasse and served as sous chef at Le Cirque.

Andrew worked as chef de cuisine at Café Boulud, where he earned three stars from The New York Times, won The James Beard Foundation's Best New Chef and Best Chef: New York awards and was named to Food & Wine’s Best New Chefs roster. As chef at A Voce, he earned a three-star New York Times review and a Michelin star.

In 2009, he opened Locanda Verde, a Tribeca Italian taverna, in Robert de Niro’s Greenwich Hotel with partners Luke Ostrom and Josh Pickard.

With his wife, Gwen Hyman, Andrew is the author of two books of recipes and stories: Urban Italian, and American Flavor.

Info

Andrew Carmellini
https://www.andrewcarmellini.com/

Oct 26-31 - Spooky Bar at Stage Left Steak

https://www.stageleft.com/event/spooky-bar-1026-1031/

Oct 27, Tuesday - Robert Simonson book signing cocktail party

More info - https://www.stageleft.com/events/

Subscribe: Restaurant Guys' Regular

https://restaurantguysregulars.buzzsprout.com/

Magyar Bank

https://www.magbank.com/