The Restaurant Guys

This is a Vintage episode from 2006.

Why This Episode Matters

Rick Tramonto makes the case for fine dining that is polished and precise without being stiff or intimidating.
The Guys tackle an enduring hospitality dilemma: when does accommodating one guest diminish the experience for everyone else?
Tramonto reflects on restaurants as a place for nontraditional careers, mentorship and finding a sense of belonging.
The conversation ends with the importance of cooking, family and gathering around the table.

Banter

Mark and Francis discuss a 2006 proposal to block cell-phone signals in movie theaters—and whether restaurants should do the same. That leads to the story of guests who opened a laptop in the Catherine Lombardi dining room and started watching a movie with the sound on.

The Conversation

Rick Tramonto joins the cell-phone debate from the perspective of Tru, where the philosophy was to cherish the customer and say yes whenever possible—until one guest’s behavior began interfering with everyone else’s experience. From there, he explains his approach to fine dining: maintain impeccable technical standards, but lose the stiffness, read the table and make people feel comfortable.
The conversation broadens into why restaurants attract people who take unconventional paths. Tramonto talks about cooking as a combination of art, science, craft and business, and about the responsibility chefs and operators have to mentor young people drawn to the intensity of restaurant life. He closes with the importance of home cooking, family meals and keeping people gathered around the table.

Guest Bio

Rick Tramonto is an acclaimed chef, restaurateur and cookbook author. At the time of this 2006 conversation, he was chef-partner of Chicago’s celebrated Tru restaurant and one of the leading figures in American fine dining.

Timestamps

00:00 Vintage introduction
01:00 Cell phones and dining-room etiquette
08:00 Rick Tramonto joins: when hospitality has to say no
14:00 Taking the intimidation out of fine dining
18:00 Restaurants as a path for nontraditional learners
22:00 Mentorship and restaurant culture
25:00 Family, home cooking and gathering around the table

Info
More about Rick
https://tramontocuisine.com/

Oct 23, Friday - Winemaker Dinner w/ Neri Capponi of Villa Calcinaia Winery

Oct 26-31 - Spooky Bar

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

Recorded on location at Monteverde Restaurant & Pastificio in Chicago 

Why This Episode Matters
Grueneberg explains why being willing to step down in title to keep learning can be one of the smartest career moves in hospitality.
Monteverde turns pasta production into part of the dining-room experience with its open pastificio, including filled pasta made to order.
The restaurant’s batteria of balsamic barrels isn’t just decoration: Grueneberg sees the continuously aging, fermenting vinegar as part of Monteverde’s living soul.
She also shares what comes next: Trattoria Lo So, Monteverde’s forthcoming second restaurant in Chicago’s Bucktown neighborhood, with longtime Monteverde chef Bailey Sullivan leading the kitchen.

The Conversation
Grueneberg traces the path from Brennan’s of Houston to Chicago, where she deliberately went back to garde manger at Spiaggia because she wanted to learn Italian cooking. She and The Guys talk about the value (and ego check) of taking a lower position in order to learn from the right people, as well as what Chicago’s restaurant culture gave her that she was looking for at that stage of her career.
At Monteverde, that education shows up in both the food and the room. Grueneberg wanted guests to feel what she calls “calm chaos”: a restaurant alive with music, smells, movement and pasta being made in full view. She explains why the pastificio was brought out of the prep kitchen and put onstage, how Monteverde handles both extruded and filled pastas, and why its seven-barrel balsamic batteria has become part of the restaurant’s identity.
The conversation moves into Grueneberg’s approach to Italian cooking “a traditional heart with a modern hand” from pork neck ragù to cacio whey pepe, and how traveling through Italy gave her permission to respect tradition without simply reproducing it. She also breaks news about Trattoria Lo So, her team’s next Chicago restaurant. Then, after dinner, Mark and Francis return to the microphones to report on whether Monteverde lived up to everything they had just heard. Spoiler: Mark finds a meatball worthy of discussion, which is not a low bar.

Guest Bio
Sarah Grueneberg is the chef and co-owner of Monteverde Restaurant & Pastificio in Chicago’s West Loop. She previously spent eight years at Spiaggia, rising to executive chef during a period when the restaurant earned one Michelin star for three consecutive years, and is a James Beard Award winner for Best Chef: Great Lakes. Her cooking combines Italian traditions with influences from her Texas upbringing, travels and training.
Grueneberg and her Monteverde partners are preparing to open Trattoria Lo So in Chicago’s Bucktown neighborhood in early 2027. Bailey Sullivan will lead the kitchen as executive chef, with Grueneberg serving as creative director. 

Timestamps
00:00 The Restaurant Guys arrive in Chicago and head to Monteverde
01:30  Sarah Grueneberg’s path from Houston to Spiaggia; taking a step backward to learn
08:00 — Chicago hospitality, “Midwestern nice” and building a restaurant team
14:00 — Creating Monteverde’s “calm chaos”
18:30 — The pastificio: fresh pasta, filled pasta and making it to order
21:00 — Monteverde’s balsamic batteria and how traditional balsamic is made
28:00 — Grueneberg’s approach to Italian cooking “Traditional heart, modern hand”
33:00 — The Italy trip that changed her career
37:00 —  Sarah’s new Trattoria Lo So and what comes next
39:00 — After dinner: The Guys review Monteverde, from meatballs to agnolotti
Info
Monteverde Restaurant & Pastificio https://monteverdechicago.com/
Trattoria Lo So  Bucktown, Chicago; expected to open in early 2027
Oct 23, Friday - Winemaker Dinner w/ Neri Capponi of Villa Calcinaia Winery

Oct 26-31 - Spooky Bar

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

This is a Vintage episode from 2007.
Why This Episode Matters
Father Greg Boyle explains how Homeboy Industries uses jobs, training and support to help former gang members build different lives.
Rival gang members work side by side — and Boyle describes what happens when people who once saw each other as enemies begin to know one another.
The conversation gets at something restaurants can do particularly well: teach skills, create pride in work and offer a path that doesn’t require a traditional academic route.
Boyle makes the case for employment as intervention in one unforgettable line: “Nothing stops a bullet like a job.”
The Conversation
Father Greg Boyle joins The Restaurant Guys to talk about Homeboy Industries, the Los Angeles organization he founded to help people leave gang life through employment, training and support. He explains how former rivals learn to work side by side, and how services such as tattoo removal and mental-health care grew out of the needs of the people coming through the program.
The conversation turns to the role of food and restaurants in that work. Boyle describes the pride that comes from making something tangible at Homeboy Bakery and Homegirl Cafe, while Francis reflects on restaurants as places where people can learn by doing, build skills and create a career without following a traditional academic path.
Boyle also talks about replacing hopelessness with the possibility of a future for people who have often been “planning their funerals and not their futures” and why, as Homeboy puts it, “nothing stops a bullet like a job.”

Guest Bio
Father Greg Boyle is the founder of Homeboy Industries in Los Angeles. In this 2007 conversation, he discusses the organization’s work creating employment, training and support for former gang members through ventures including Homeboy Bakery and Homegirl Cafe.
Timestamps
00:00 Father Greg Boyle of Homeboy Industries
 02:20 Rival gang members working side by side
 04:00 Tattoo removal, food and the dignity of creating something
 08:30 Learning the basic skills of work
 13:00 Restaurants, apprenticeship and planning futures instead of funerals
 16:00 “Nothing stops a bullet like a job”
 22:30 The Guys on good causes, good food and why quality still matters

More Information
Homeboy Industries https://homeboyindustries.org/
Elijah’s Promise School https://elijahspromise.org/promise-culinary/
Father Boyle’s book
G-Dog and the Homeboys: Father Greg Boyle and the Gangs of East Los Angeles
by Celeste Fremon (Author), Tom Brokaw (Introduction) 

Oct 23, Friday - Winemaker Dinner w/ Neri Capponi of Villa Calcinaia Winery

Oct 26-31 - Spooky Bar

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 This Episode Matters
Til Death The Speakeasy is literally hidden beneath a working funeral home outside Kansas City and unlike most modern “speakeasies,” it really isn’t generally open to the public. 
 The room comes complete with a casket bar, an urn used to smoke cocktails, mysterious doors and at least one unexplained doorbell incident. 
 The basement’s secret-drinking history predates its current owners: decades ago it reportedly served as a discreet drinking club for local Southern Baptists. 
 What started as a cocktail obsession became a charitable passion project, raising money for organizations including Veterans Community Project and inspiring Til Death’s cocktail education program. 
Banter
Before heading underground, Mark and Francis find an object lesson in how not to communicate hospitality: a neighborhood restaurant whose storefront has slowly accumulated signs telling customers what NOT to do. As Francis puts it, the whole storefront seems to say: “Go away! Don’t do this! You’re all wrong!" 
The Conversation
Andrew Loos and Phil Worden join The Guys from Til Death The Speakeasy, a private Prohibition-inspired cocktail room beneath a working funeral home near Kansas City.
They explain how home bartending, Sasha Petraske’s cocktail movement and Kansas City’s bar scene inspired them to transform a forgotten basement into a genuinely secret speakeasy. Guests enter through the funeral home before descending through a series of doors which naturally leads Francis to start planning his own funeral and cocktail party there.
Andrew and Phil also share the stranger side of Til Death: an unplugged doorbell that mysteriously rang after an event, cocktails smoked in an urn and served on a casket, and the basement’s earlier life as a secret drinking spot.
Beyond the novelty, Til Death has become a vehicle for giving back. Andrew and Phil discuss their work with Veterans Community Project, along with other charitable events, and explain how Til Death The Academy teaches cocktail enthusiasts to become more knowledgeable bar patrons.
Guest Bio
Andrew Loos and Phil Worden are the team behind Til Death The Speakeasy. Together with their families, they run cocktail events, Til Death The Academy and charity fundraisers beneath Andrew’s working funeral home. 
Timestamps
00:00 The restaurant storefront that says “Go away”
05:45 Inside Til Death: a speakeasy beneath a working funeral home
13:00 Francis plans his own speakeasy funeral
15:00 Ghosts, an urn smoker and the basement’s secret drinking history
25:00 Turning cocktails into a charitable passion project
29:00 Veterans Community Project and the tiny-home model
37:00 Til Death The Academy 
Info
Veteran’s Community Project
https://vcp.org/

Til Death
https://tildeathkc.com/

Oct 23, Friday - Winemaker Dinner w/ Neri Capponi of Villa Calcinaia Winery

Oct 26-31 - Spooky Bar

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

This is a Vintage episode from 2006.
Why This Episode Matters
Long before sustainable seafood became a mainstream restaurant conversation, Rick Moonen was pushing chefs and diners to think about where their fish came from and how it was caught.
Moonen explains why cooking fish requires precision and why buying the freshest fish often means abandoning your shopping list and letting the market decide dinner.
From beluga caviar to Chilean sea bass, the conversation shows how quickly popularity can put pressure on a species.
And because this is The Restaurant Guys, a serious discussion about ocean conservation eventually leads to foie-gras potatoes and steaks stuffed with oysters.
Banter
Mark and Francis consider the economics of extraordinarily expensive restaurants and why a casino might happily operate one without worrying much about the restaurant itself making money.
Naturally, this gives them an idea: put slot machines downstairs at their own restaurant.
There is, unfortunately, the small matter of getting arrested.
The Conversation
Rick Moonen joins The Guys shortly after making the move from New York to Las Vegas, where RM Seafood at Mandalay Bay represented the biggest opportunity of his career.
They talk about why seafood can be unforgiving to cook, Moonen's effort to make home cooks more comfortable preparing fish, and how to shop for seafood by looking at what's freshest rather than arriving at the market with a fixed plan.
Then the conversation turns to sustainability. Moonen discusses the pressure on sturgeon and caviar, the enormous popularity of Chilean sea bass, and the responsibility chefs have when deciding what goes on their menus. His message extends to diners, too: ask where your seafood came from, ask how it was caught, and don't assume one person's choices don't matter.
Finally, the conversation returns to the friendship between Moonen, Mark and Francis through their years in the Red Meat Club including one memorable cookout featuring potatoes cooked in foie gras fat and carpetbagger steaks stuffed with oysters.
Guest Bio

Rick Moonen is a chef best known for his work at The Water Club, Oceana and RM Seafood, as well as his longtime advocacy for responsible seafood sourcing. In this 2006 conversation, he was also working on his cookbook Seafood Without a Doubt.
Timestamps
0:00 The price of luxury dining
5:30 Rick joins: leaving New York for Mandalay Bay
9:00 Why cooking fish intimidates home cooks
13:00 How to buy fresh fish and cook what's in the market
15:30 Sustainable seafood, caviar and Chilean sea bass
21:20 The Red Meat Club, responsible sourcing and an upscale cookout
Info & Links
Rick’s book Seafood Without a Doubt 
Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch https://www.montereybayaquarium.org/animals-the-ocean/how-to-choose-sustainable-seafood/seafood-guides
Perry's Restaurants — Rick Moonen currently serves as Master Development Chef
Oct 23, Friday - Winemaker Dinner w/ Neri Capponi of Villa Calcinaia Winery

Oct 26-31 - Spooky Bar

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