The Restaurant Guys

Recorded on location at the Martini Expo in Chicago.
Why This Episode Matters
Colin Asare-Appiah takes The Guys inside Ajabu, the cocktail and spirits festival connecting bartenders across Africa and the wider cocktail world, and discusses Black Mixcellence and the Black voices too often missing from cocktail history.
François Monti explains why vermouth deserves far more respect than the neglected bottle at the back of the bar and how Madrid’s cocktail culture changed the way he thought about both vermouth and the martini.
Ryan Maybee traces the unlikely revival of J. Rieger & Co., from a pre-Prohibition Kansas City whiskey brand to a modern distillery and hospitality destination, and explains why their American gin deliberately looks to classic London dry tradition.
The Conversation
Colin Asare-Appiah talks about co-founding Ajabu, created to spotlight the ingredients, bartenders and rapidly developing cocktail cultures across the African continent. The conversation turns to his book Black Mixcellence, the importance of recovering Black contributions to cocktail history, the enduring legacy of Tom Bullock and the Pornstar Martini created by his late friend Douglas Ankrah. Colin also explains why he sees the martini as a timeless drink—and why his choice between gin and vodka depends on what’s on the table.
Belgian-born, Madrid-based writer François Monti joins The Guys for a deep dive into vermouth. He explains Spain’s culture of drinking vermouth on its own, his journey from Belgian beer to cocktails, and Madrid’s long history of serious cocktail bars. The conversation eventually becomes unexpectedly personal when Mark explains why he disliked his early martinis: old vermouth or virtually no vermouth at all, and the fresh bottle that finally convinced him that vermouth could be delicious.
Ryan Maybee tells the story of discovering the forgotten J. Rieger & Co. whiskey brand while researching the history of a Kansas City hotel and ultimately helping bring it back to life. He recalls the visit to Milk & Honey that changed his career, describes the easygoing Midwestern hospitality he brought to Manifesto, and explains the historical use of sherry in Kansas City whiskey. The Guys taste Rieger Gin before Ryan discusses the freedom of American gin, why his own version deliberately embraces London dry tradition, and the classic martini experience that showed him just how much presentation matters.

Guest Bios
Colin Asare-Appiah is a Ghana-born, London-raised bartender, drinks industry veteran and co-founder of the Ajabu Cocktail and Spirits Festival in South Africa. He is co-author of Black Mixcellence: A Comprehensive Guide to Black Mixology.
François Monti is a Belgian-born spirits and cocktail writer based in Madrid. His work has appeared in publications including Punch, and he is the author of 101 Cocktails to Try Before You Die.
Ryan Maybee is a bartender, restaurateur and co-founder of J. Rieger & Co. in Kansas City. He previously opened Manifesto and has played a significant role in the development of Kansas City’s modern cocktail culture.

Timestamps
00:00 — Back at the Martini Expo: three more conversations from Chicago
02:30 — Colin Asare-Appiah and the Ajabu cocktail experience
09:30 — Black Mixcellence, Tom Bullock and recovering Black cocktail history
17:00 — The Pornstar Martini, the cocktail canon and Colin’s martini philosophy
22:30 — François Monti: from Belgian beer to Madrid cocktail culture
28:30 — Why vermouth is more than a martini ingredient
34:00 — François’ martini revelation—and Mark’s problem with bad vermouth
39:00 — Ryan Maybee: resurrecting J. Rieger & Co.
50:30 — American gin, London dry tradition and Ryan’s martini moment

Info
Martini Expo
Colin Asare-Appiah — Ajabu Cocktail and Spirits Festival
Book: Black Mixcellence: A Comprehensive Guide to Black Mixology
François Monti — 101 Cocktails to Try Before You Die
Writing: Bottoms Up
Ryan Maybee — J. Rieger & Co., Kansas City, MO

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 the Martini Expo in Chicago.

Why This Episode Matters
Toby Maloney looks back at the first wave of the modern cocktail renaissance from Milk & Honey to The Violet Hour and explains why great ice, precise dilution and serious technique still have to serve hospitality.
Jackson Cannon recalls bringing serious cocktails into a high-volume Boston restaurant at Eastern Standard, building a team around consistency and collaboration, and why, after all the technique and innovation, the guest still matters most.
Federico Lombardi, formerly of Barcelona’s Paradiso and now working in the U.S., compares European and American cocktail cultures and explains the lesson that taught him why temperature, dilution and precision make the martini such an exacting drink.
Dan Smith takes The Guys inside Chicago’s Queen Mary Tavern, where a 1940s neighborhood bar became an elegant cocktail destination without losing its soul and explains why, when every small detail of a martini comes together, “it is perfection.”
Banter
Before heading into the Expo, The Guys compare notes on their very compact Chicago hotel rooms and discover that the Moxy apparently shares Stage Left’s taste in wallpaper: monkeys smoking cigars and drinking vodka.

The Conversation
Toby Maloney goes back to the beginnings of the modern craft-cocktail movement, including becoming the first bartender hired at Milk & Honey and later helping establish The Violet Hour in Chicago. He and The Guys geek out over metal-on-metal shakers, why experienced bartenders can hear the quality and quantity of ice in a tin, and how dilution changes a drink. Toby also reflects on The Violet Hour’s influence, the danger of cocktail expertise becoming pretentious, and his newer project, The Elbow Room in Vancouver, Washington. Then he explains his unusual martini built around vermouth-and-sherry granita topped with frozen gin.
Jackson Cannon joins the conversation to talk about opening Eastern Standard in Boston in 2005, when serious cocktails were still largely disconnected from serious restaurant dining. He recalls the self-taught first generation of the cocktail revival, building consistency across a large bar team and creating buy-in rather than simply dictating technique. Looking at where cocktail culture has gone since, Cannon argues that technique and creativity aren't enough to sustain a career behind the bar. What matters most is still the guest: as he puts it, borrowing from Julia Child, “It’s not what’s on the table, it’s what’s on the chairs.”
Federico Lombardi compares the cocktail cultures of Italy, Spain and the United States, talks about creating drinks through the lens of chefs and food, and recalls the training that made him understand the martini as a drink in which every detail has to be right. 
Finally, Dan Smith explains how old movies first made him curious about cocktail culture, how The Violet Hour turned that curiosity into a career, and how a Polish neighborhood tavern sealed up for four decades became Queen Mary Tavern. He gets into the judicious use of salt in cocktails, the gin-and-rum Navy Strength Old Fashioned, and the Violet Hour martini that showed him what happens when dilution, bitters, temperature and technique all land exactly where they should.

Guest Bios
Toby Maloney is a bartender, author and longtime figure in the American craft-cocktail movement. He was the first bartender hired at Milk & Honey and later helped open Chicago’s influential Violet Hour. He is the author of The Bartender’s Manifesto and The Classic Cocktail Sessions and is now involved with The Elbow Room in Vancouver, Washington.
Jackson Cannon helped shape Boston’s modern cocktail culture as the longtime bar director at Eastern Standard, which opened in 2005 with serious cocktails integrated into a large, full-service restaurant. He later partnered in The Hawthorne and became an influential mentor to a generation of Boston bartenders.
Federico Lombardi is an Italian bartender who worked at Paradiso in Barcelona when it reached No. 1 on The World’s 50 Best Bars list. He has since moved to the United States and works behind the bar at Dante in New York.
Dan Smith is managing partner of Queen Mary Tavern in Chicago’s Ukrainian Village. His approach combines serious cocktail technique with the warmth and accessibility of a neighborhood tavern.

Timestamps
00:00 — Chicago, Martini Expo and the Moxy Hotel
03:45 — Toby Maloney: Milk & Honey, The Violet Hour and hearing the ice
14:30 — The Elbow Room, free pouring and Toby’s vermouth-granita martini
24:45 — Jackson Cannon: bringing craft cocktails to Boston
31:00 — Building bartenders, cocktail culture and hospitality
34:45 — Federico Lombardi: Europe vs. America and his martini lesson
42:45 — Dan Smith: The Violet Hour and the story of Queen Mary Tavern
54:00 — Navy Strength Old Fashioned and Dan’s perfect martini moment 

Info
Martini Expo — https://www.martiniexpo.com/
Toby Maloney — The Elbow Room, Vancouver, WA
Books: The Bartender’s Manifesto; The Classic Cocktail Sessions
Jackson Cannon — Eastern Standard; The Hawthorne
Federico Lombardi — Paradiso, Barcelona; Dante, New York City
Dan Smith — Queen Mary Tavern, Chicago
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

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