Speaker: 0:25

Hello everybody and welcome. You are listening to the Restaurant Guys. I'm Mark Pascal and I'm here with Francis Shot. Together we own stage left in capital Lombardi restaurants. We are here to bring you the inside track on food, wine, and the finer things in life. Hello, mark. Hey buddy. How are you today? I'm doing great. I also doing great. I love shows. Where we get to talk to somebody that we know pretty well and have a lot of respect for, I mean, everybody we have respect for that's on the show, but people we know really well and, and for a long time, their places and the great shows.

Speaker 2: 0:57

Jeff, Jeff Bell is coming on the show. Jeff is the owner of PDT in New York. He's also recently been doing the Wal or Astoria Peacock Alley. He's coming back with that and he's got a bunch of new projects in New York. So we're looking forward to talking with him about that. But I wanna share with you an experience that I had. With a restaurant that left me somewhat conflicted. Okay. So I, I went to a restaurant recently and it's a new restaurant and it's, uh, full of people that I really like. I mean, I, I like the place, I like the people. Um, and I'm rooting for them. Francis and I are rooting for almost every restaurant. Yeah. Let's, you're not a jerk. If

Speaker: 1:33

you're not a toll jerk. Yeah. Unless you're a jerk. We're, we're, we're in your corner. We want to help you. We want to do what we can to. To make it go. It's hard enough.

Speaker 2: 1:40

Yeah, I agree. It's hard enough. I agree. So I walk into this restaurant, it's a relatively new place. It's, I've been there before and it's beautiful. They spared no expense. They did a beautiful job on this, on the place they have the right equipment. Mm-hmm. They have the right chairs. It's the right feel, the lighting's right. And, um, the people are nice. Mm-hmm. The people are nice, which is very, very important. But they have all this great equipment and it's all beau. It's, but it. It's a little bit like, you know, the suit doesn't fit quite right or they, they don't know how to use, what are you looking at

Speaker: 2:10

me When you say the suit doesn't fit, what, what's up with that?

Speaker 2: 2:14

Oh no, I'm not mean casting any aspersions. It's really hard when you're my size man, but the suit, but the suit doesn't fit and they're trying hard, um, but they don't quite have it down. Mm-hmm. Let me give you an example. Here's the best way to give an example. Okay? Yes. I need an example. I went and I sat at the bar. The bartender was very nice, came over to me right away

Speaker: 2:32

and I. One of the things I just wanna point out, being nice is not necessarily being hospitable. Yeah. Yeah. There's those, those two words are, are not the same word.

Speaker 2: 2:42

Right. Hospitality means you know how to make me feel at home. You're welcoming. Yes. Not just that you're nice to them. So anyway, so they get, and the nice guy comes over and they got me, they greeted me in a reasonable time. They got me a glass of wine in a reasonable time. They took my order. I, I had what I needed. Service was there. Mm-hmm. Um. It's a very small bar and there were only a couple of people sitting at the bar and there was one of the party in me and this very intimate little bar. The bartender, no more than six feet away from you, maybe one foot away from me. Okay, so it's So it's a little

Speaker: 3:12

six

Speaker 2: 3:12

seater or seven seat. Yeah. Yeah. So I get, I get the stuff and then that picture and then the bartender has given me what I need, and then the manager make D comes behind the bar and the manager of the ma d proceed to have a conversation. Okay. And the, and now they're a foot and a half away from me. What are they talking to you about? Uh, they're not talking to me at all. They're talking to each other. They're not talking to the other customers at all. They're talking to each other. They really should be talking to you. You know, and I'm feeling so persnickety. It just, but you wanna feel, hold on. You are persnickety. I am. You can still be right? I am. And still be persnickety. Right? But you wanna feel like you met And look, I didn't care that much because I'm, I'm just kind of observing as a professional. Mm-hmm. But if you go to a bar, you wanna feel welcome and you know it's a new place. Yeah. You have all this stuff to talk. Hey, how are you? How long have you been here? Where are you from? You know? Like a, I don't know, a bartender. This isn't a counter. Mm-hmm. It's a bar. Yep. You know what I mean? You're not a vending machine, you're a bartender. It's like one of the things we teach our staff all the time. That was a great little analogy. You Congratulations. Thank you. Thank you. I get him once in a while. Even a broken clock mark. This is one of the things we always train on. You go into a restaurant and the service says, do you have reserv? No. Mm-hmm. The first thing one human being says to another in our culture is, hello, how are you? How's your evening human? The idea is connection

Speaker: 4:27

come, you've come into my home. Mm-hmm. You don't, you don't ask somebody, you know. When they walk into, oh, was traffic really bad? Is that why you're late? Yeah. That's not the first thing you say to somebody. Yeah. When they walk in your

Speaker 2: 4:37

house, you say, hello, how are you? Exactly. Exactly. And, and when I come to my house, I shove a drink in your hand immediately. Um, then, but then it went on. They're talking about like, do they need a second dishwasher in the back and maybe they should knock a wall down and were they gonna put this stuff? And they're, they're talking about the inside baseball stuff, running this restaurant. So people.

Speaker: 4:55

They're going to try and listen to that conversation. That's, or you can't help it. Right. But, but it, it's, it's just human nature, right? They're gonna, they wanna listen to that conversation. But when you start taking the curtain down, taking the magic away, a hundred percent agree from the restaurant performance. And again, I'm not talking about the doing a fake performance or acting right, but when you take away some of that magic, it degrades the

Speaker 2: 5:21

experience well, and the magic is there. You did all this stuff. Mm-hmm. So that you would get a customer to sit at your bar so you could talk to them. Yep. And make them feel welcome and at home. And again, as soon as I needed anything, he would turn and, and that's what I mean by well-meaning, they just don't understand that that's ruining the. Experience. And

Speaker: 5:39

you know, we get a lot of people who worked in other restaurants who come here and one of the things I always tell them is, you know, there are habits you have now that we have to break.

Speaker 2: 5:47

Yeah.

Speaker: 5:48

That's harder than forming a new habit. Yeah. Breaking an old habit. Yeah. Yeah. And one of the old habits that so many of the waiters who come here, uh, have. They will talk on the floor. Yeah. They will talk about the mechanics. Yeah. Oh yeah. In earshot of the, the person who you're trying to, to put on this production for, put on this show.

Speaker 2: 6:10

Let me give you a really clear example because I thought about this when it happened'cause. They did the thing mm-hmm. That most restaurants don't do that are, that is exciting. Right. So they, there was a salt baked fish. Right. I love salt baked fish. Uh, little salt baked. Whole fish encased in salt. Oh, that's great. But not only that. It was Flambe. Right? So the, well Frankie loves his fire. I do. It's sexy. That's, but you know, cafe Brule, and light it on fire and you've got my attention. You have Francis's attention too, but the whole dining room, you know that the whole dining room does as well. Yes. So the major D walks out with this, this big fish flaming, like beautiful, like really? Mm-hmm. Big fire. And I was like, oh, this is very cool. And they have the right accoutrements. They have the right garon to put it down on. Oh, that's great. They put this down on the garon. I'm like, this is, so you're saying it's a beautiful and spectacular presentation. I'm like, okay, now I'm in Frank Sinatra. Mm-hmm. You know, I mean, they puts it down and the thing is on fire and the whole dining room goes quiet. Yeah. Even if it's not at your table, everybody's looking at it. You've, you've done so much. Mm-hmm. And then the guy said, uh, you know, Johnny C come here. And I'm like, what's going on? So the other guy comes over and he proceeds to train the other guy in how to do it, but not enough. Stay back there and watch me while I, while I create magic and we'll

Speaker: 7:27

talk about what I did later. Right?

Speaker 2: 7:28

Well, I create magic for these people who are staring at me. He says, okay, here's what you do. So you look at the flame and it looks like this. And then when it's, it's, uh, you know, the flame starting to die down and it's just starting to die down. That you here, that's when you throw the

Speaker: 7:40

towel over it, you throw the towel over it like this. Yep. By the way. You might as well throw the towel in right there, dude, that's it. Might as well throw the towel right there. And I

Speaker 2: 7:47

watched the people who were having this done for them being ignored by this guy. And look, I, he's a nice man. I'm not, this is not a shot. Just nobody ever taught him that. The whole reason you are doing this, it's for the two, two people chant these people. Mm-hmm. And you need to make them feel like you're doing it. For them. You know why you need to make'em feel that way? I do.

Speaker: 8:11

Because you're doing it for them. Because you are. That's why you're doing it.

Speaker 2: 8:13

But if you want to invite them to your training class mm-hmm. They're not gonna come.'cause nobody wants to go to your training class. Yeah. Anyway, so it was the whole thing. He threw the towel on it. Then you use the spoons to break up the the salt, which you do through the towel, which I know'cause I'm a restaurant professional, but he's giving this class and he's lost the crowd. Mm-hmm. We use the analogy all the time. It's like if the stage hands came out mm-hmm. During the play or sat right in front of you and had a conversation about it, you know, and then the grips in the back aren't working so well. And what about the pulleys and did you see the, you know, or if after Julius Caesar was killed in the play, the actress still dressed as Julius Caesar came out and sat next to you and ate a hamburger. You know what I mean? Well, then it

Speaker: 8:52

would be. A different play That would be a very

Speaker 2: 8:55

different play. The, the ghost of Julius Caesar, which, uh, will be premiering soon after Mark and I write it. The whole magic of the play is lost. I did not say that to make fun of these guys. Mm-hmm. And we never use names when we're talking about things that we think are wrong. We will always tell you when a restaurant's doing something exceptional. But we talk about these things because we, in the restaurant world, I want everybody to do things right. I'm, I want this to be a helpful show and uh, I want to go back there and, uh, teach'em how to do that. Goddamn fish, everyone in it. No, you don't. No you don't. You want to go back there and have them

Speaker: 9:24

magically present it to you. That's what you want. So

Speaker 2: 9:27

close. So close. I'm rooting for them. I really am. Just like, I'm rooting for you and you should root for us. We'll be back in just a few minutes. Talking with Jeff Bell from PDT and the Waldorf Hotel. And now Mix Teca. And now Mix Teca in Manhattan. Don't miss it. Stick with us. You're listening to the restaurant guys@restaurantguyspodcast.com.

the-restaurant-guys_2_08-28-2025_122302: 9:46

Hey there everybody. Welcome back. Our guest today is Jeff Bell. We've known Jeff for years, but then again, so has everyone in the cocktail world. Jeff owns the iconic. Please don't tell. Or PDT in the East Village of Manhattan, which has won more awards than I can list. And if you don't know about PDT, you're probably not a listener to the show already. He's opening a new three concept space in Greenwich Village that includes Mix Teca Tacos, 1986 and Kees. He's at the Waldorf Historia, which brought him on to help them reopen their long awaited and famous peacock alley within the hotel. There's so much going on there, we couldn't be Happy to welcome Jeff Bell to our show today. Jeff Bell. Welcome.

jeff-bell_1_08-28-2025_122302: 10:23

Wow. Thank you. What an intro.

the-restaurant-guys_2_08-28-2025_122302: 10:25

Yeah, it's, it's all real, man. That's actually your life. All you're doing is I think when people click on you on LinkedIn, you should just play my voice. You know? That could be the, that could be the intro right there.

jeff-bell_1_08-28-2025_122302: 10:34

my, yeah, I need that. I need some LinkedIn help. I think I have, uh, I, a friend of mine told me to, I need to plus it up a little. I was like, oh gosh. I'll, I'll put a picture up.

the-restaurant-guys_2_08-28-2025_122302: 10:43

I keep wanting to replace my picture, but every picture I put up there looks worse than the picture that was there'cause I'm older in it. So, yeah. I think I don't like that. It's not a function of the pictures, Francis. Alright, so let's go back. So I, we love these shows where we know the people who are coming on the show in advance. I love meeting new people as well, but um, I think the fact that we. When you first started at either my or PDT when you first came to New York, You started working as a barback at PDT in 2010, and I own the damn place. Um, and we've been friends through all of that. Um, tell us a little bit about your story. That's a very unusual. Trajectory is, it's not an unusual trajectory for a bartender to start as a barback and on a bar. It's an unusual trajectory for someone to start at the barback and then own that bar. So tell us your story.

jeff-bell_1_08-28-2025_122302: 11:34

Yeah. You know, I, uh, I, I was fascinated with restaurants from an early age, and I think part of it was we never really out to eat too much as a kid. So there was something super, mystifying or, you know, really exciting about the idea of. Dining and having somebody, your order cooked food. And that whole process was like something that became really interesting for me. And, and when I started college, it became the, the obvious choice of where to work to kind of support myself. So, you know, classes during the day, uh, you know, work at night in a restaurant, and that started in. A dish pit. And then busing tables, waiting tables. And I did that for until about my senior year when I was 21. And then I got behind the bar. And once I got behind the bar, I was like, this is it. It just like, it just clicks,

the-restaurant-guys_2_08-28-2025_122302: 12:19

I was behind the bar for eight minutes. actually, I remember I was doing weddings at a wedding hall, one of my, my, one of my first restaurant jobs. And I got to bartend the happy hour, you know, the cocktail hour before. And I was like. I don't wanna do anything else except this ever. I'll tell you, I was 21 years old. My, I had, my cousin had taught me how to bartend behind his bar, and then I got my first bartending job at 21 years old at the Frog and the peach in town. Mm-hmm. And I was behind that bar and I didn't know what the hell I was doing, but two things I said were, I'm gonna figure this out. And this is fricking awesome. Yeah. Bartending. If you are a born bartender, there's no better job for you in the world.

jeff-bell_1_08-28-2025_122302: 12:59

it's really amazing. There's such a, a wonderful energy in the being, kind of like the connector of the room and the person that. Everything kind of goes through you. It's like a, it's a big responsibility, but I, I found in my life that I, I kind of need or want to have that big responsibility. It's like, okay, move to New York City because it's harder to make it there, so you'll do better there. I kind of like that challenge and bartending is kind of like that, where it's like you're responsible for the tables in the dining room, you're responsible for the people sitting at the bar counter. You're responsible for the people in the lounge, so there's, everything kind of flows through you so that, responsibility kind of. It can push you, you know, in one or two ways. Like it's for you or it's not for you, and, and did that all through, you know, the rest of college and then. In 2009, I came with the idea that I had this realization that I, it was the first time in my life I had zero attachments. No, no relationship, no, schools. I was graduated college, um, I didn't live at home. So there was like, was the first point in my life that I actually felt free of everything. That I didn't have an obligation to be anywhere or answer to anyone. And that when I, when I had that moment, it was like March 20. 2009, and I was like, I'm gonna move to New York because I can, because I, I should just do it because I can. And I want to go there. Um, and I wanna be part of that energy. I'll go to New York and I'll learn more about the bar and restaurant industry and then I'll come back in five years and to Seattle and open up my own place. You know, that was kind of the goal. And I was gonna party hard, you know, the entire time.'cause I was,

the-restaurant-guys_2_08-28-2025_122302: 14:37

As I recall. As I recall, you did a good job with that part. Yeah. You were good at that. Well, you know, I remember Jeff. You know, you say that people used to say all the time, oh, you know, you guys opened a restaurant. You're 26 years old. You were so brave. You were so courageous. I was like. At 26, I was risking nothing. Right. Right. I didn't have anything. When I start a new venture, now I'm brave and courageous. Yeah.'cause I risk the, all those other things that I've done. Yeah. At 26, you're just like, you know, you know this dumb machine that just says, I'm going, I'm going, I'm going for it now. like you said, it's more freeing. It was a freer free time in my life to say, I'm gonna experiment, I'm gonna try Cool new things.

jeff-bell_1_08-28-2025_122302: 15:16

Yeah, you're driving a truck, right? Like at that age you're driving a truck without a trailer behind it, you know,

the-restaurant-guys_2_08-28-2025_122302: 15:20

Yes. Yeah, that's a great, that's great. Yeah. Yeah, a hundred percent. So you wind up, your first job in New York is at Milino, where we actually had some mutual friends. You met our friend Val, who eventually wound up marrying Jim Meehan, who was the owner of PDT, who you then bought it from. Crazy story. So how do you wind up a PDT and how do you get from Barback to owner?

jeff-bell_1_08-28-2025_122302: 15:42

I got hired at Mile in 2009 and. I was just blown away. I thought it was like it. It had been open for a couple months and it was Being new to New York and being part of a really splashy New York City restaurant opening was like surreal. You know, every. Celebrity you can think of as gracing, the room, it was just everybody needed to be there. That was really cool to be around and the food was amazing and the drinks were great and I just felt that as much as I love that restaurant, it was a restaurant. And I told the management, I was like, please don't schedule me for the, the dining room. I just wanna work in the bar. I'll wait tables in the bar if you need me, or whatever. Like just, but the bar just has like, there's a casualness

the-restaurant-guys_2_08-28-2025_122302: 16:25

Yep. Yep.

jeff-bell_1_08-28-2025_122302: 16:25

a comfortability I have there and I just wanted to be there and finding out that bar manager, Valerie's husband. Jim Meehan and he was the founder of PDTI got. I started thinking about, well I love this cocktail element'cause there is like a cocktail menu at Mile. There's like some thoughtfulness that goes into it. Kevin Denton was working on that list at the time like, there's something to the cocktail aspect of bartending that I think has some, like, has some legs and I love the actual. Bartending part of it, the tending to the bar of taking care of the people. But there's like something else, this like creative thing that could be like the cherry on top of this for this job that I think might be my career at this point. And I just told Val and Jim, I was like, can I just work at PDT? I'll do, I don't know if I could st if I could be a Barback or whatever. You know, job there is. And so I started bar backing on Thursdays and while working my, my full load at, at Milino. And I did that for a handful of months and just kind of waited in the wings until some people left and nobody had left PDT in a while. So I wasn't anticipating to be soon. So. some, some shifts opened up pretty quickly when that happened. was kind of the one there to, to get sent into the

the-restaurant-guys_2_08-28-2025_122302: 17:43

That's, that's the story of this business, right? Yeah. Yeah. You gotta, you, you put in your time and if you show that you're the right type of person, yeah. You'll have an opportunity. Yeah. You know, we had a, we had. Sous chef a, a guy who was a famous New Jersey chef, take a job here as a sous chef. And about a year later, an opportunity, uh uh, came up and he became executive chef. And we sat him down and said, you know, why did you take a sous chef job? You could have been a chef anywhere. And he said, well, there were only four or five places in New Jersey I wanted to work. You guys were one of'em. I saw the sous chef ad. I know this business, if you do what you need to do and show yourself to be the right person, opportunities will arise. Yep. They, they will, they will present themself to you if you put yourself in the right situation and you know that's, there's your story.

jeff-bell_1_08-28-2025_122302: 18:31

Yeah, a hundred percent. There's, there's a lot of value in the bar industry of staying still. And I think that everybody is like, I'm gonna go to this, go

the-restaurant-guys_2_08-28-2025_122302: 18:38

Yep.

jeff-bell_1_08-28-2025_122302: 18:38

new bar. I'm gonna work for this brand. And, and what they're. don't wanna go down the rabbit hole of talking about creating your own brand, but it's like creating a synergy with like a business in a, in a brick and mortar or a place to plant a flag. Like investing your time and energy into that space that exists that's bigger than you and it'll kind of pay it back to you at the same time. And I, and I find that that's important because, you know, Jim actually once told me, and he used an analogy of like going to a big cocktail party and it's like. you wanna go to the cocktail party and run around and try to say hi to everybody? Or do you wanna post up at the bar and wait for that whole party to some point, come by and say hi to you. It's like having that, that patience to understand that the conversations are gonna happen opportunities are gonna happen, but just be prepared and do your, do a good job along the way, and then they'll present themselves and then you can seize it instead of chasing.'cause chasing is very, a very exhausting process.

the-restaurant-guys_2_08-28-2025_122302: 19:31

You know, I think that in this industry, both in the kitchen and behind the bar, there is a value to saying, Hey listen, I wanna go work with, with three or four chefs that I respect, or I wanna go work with in two or three different places, or two or three different bars. I think that's a valid, um, kind of st sharing kind of part to your career. But after you've done that for a couple of years, don't keep doing that.'cause I look at people who've been in the bar business for eight years and they've worked at nine places I think. I, I want nothing to do with you. I'm sorry. You know? Whereas I look at somebody who's just gotten into the business and they worked for a year here and a year there, and they say to me, listen, I wanna come here and learn what you've got. Maybe I'll stay and maybe I'll go on to the next. You know, more open to that, you know, I think. But like you said, eventually you wanna stay one place. You wanna stay long term and you want to, like you said, plant your flag and make a difference. So you go, you step behind the bar, and then how do you go from your bartender? Where's the world where you become the, uh, manager of the place and then, and then the owner of the place?

jeff-bell_1_08-28-2025_122302: 20:27

Yeah, so it, it was just a lot of, you know, when you don't have something to say, like you're at a dinner party, you don't have anything to say. You just sit there and listen. You know, you wait for that time for you to say something that is gonna add value to that conversation. And that's, that's what I did at PDT. I just. I just looked at the schedule. I was cleared my, my social life to fit in around what was happening at the bar. And if Jim needed an extra set of hands for an event and Jim was always doing a bunch of stuff, or, you know, food and wine or this, that and the other, whatever, I always made sure to say yes to every opportunity so that Jim could rely on me to be that person that could fill in, in a moment's notice. you know, there's a little bit of sacrifice, but again, like it's not quite the same as the sacrifice now of me having a wife and three kids. Like I can cancel dinner plans on a Monday night because oh, so and so needs us to make cocktails in their apartment. That sounds great. Yeah, I can do that. Um, you know, any kinds of those things would, would always be something I would go after. And then you start. Kind of building your, your network yourself and, learning and just being a sponge and being in, you know, mid, early twenties. You, you are so absorbent of like everything coming your way and it's like everything you now I'm, you know, I'm 40, so I've been doing it for nearly 20 years and I'm a bit more spiritual about it, but it's like what I, real looking back, realizing what I was doing is I was just like. In good data, just bring in good

the-restaurant-guys_2_08-28-2025_122302: 21:56

Yep.

jeff-bell_1_08-28-2025_122302: 21:56

good relationships, good network, and then that's all gonna kind of hit the subconscious and it's gonna come out when it needs to come out. And it's like that person you met at this thing, you know, this really organic relationship or conversation that's gonna somehow serve you in the future and serve them in the future. And, and just kind of taking it all in. And that was, that was years of doing that. Like when I had dinner with you guys, it must have been 2011.

the-restaurant-guys_2_08-28-2025_122302: 22:20

Yeah.

jeff-bell_1_08-28-2025_122302: 22:21

In New Orleans and just kind of watching. I remember there was a situation at that restaurant we sat at and there was a bunch of knuckleheads that were like

the-restaurant-guys_2_08-28-2025_122302: 22:27

Oh yeah.

jeff-bell_1_08-28-2025_122302: 22:28

wasted. I'm like, that's what not to do. Looks like they're having a lot of fun. But then

the-restaurant-guys_2_08-28-2025_122302: 22:34

Right.

jeff-bell_1_08-28-2025_122302: 22:35

people watching and there's

the-restaurant-guys_2_08-28-2025_122302: 22:36

I remember the restaurant The very first time that I remember meeting you, we were in PDTI think Francis was with me and you were working behind the bar, and Jim came over and he sat down with us for a couple minutes, I mean, I think is the only time that Jim's ever sat down with us at, at PDD And we were like, oh, I can't believe you're sitting down. He is like, you know, this guy Jeff Bell behind my bar, you know, he's got something. He's really good. So you're there maybe a year and a half at the time. A year at the time. And, and Jim was already thinking of you as his key guy. that's what I remember. I remember that, that, that was the very first time I heard your name. I, well, that I remember hearing your name, that I remember seeing your face. And I was like, all right then. All right.

jeff-bell_1_08-28-2025_122302: 23:19

for that. Yeah. I didn't know I, but I, I can see that in, in how I see people myself. you know, it doesn't take long for you to realize if someone that is working for you has got that, that it thing that can do something special,

the-restaurant-guys_2_08-28-2025_122302: 23:32

so how does the opportunity come up to take over management of the place? So you go from being a bartender and then you, you became the general manager. Is that correct? Did I get that right? Mm-hmm.

jeff-bell_1_08-28-2025_122302: 23:39

yeah, yeah. In summer 2014, Jim moved to Portland. I had been a head, the head bartender for, three or four years at that point. I, I moved into the head bartender role pretty quick. I think it must've been 2010 or 11. Um, and so I moved into the general manager position as Jim moved to Portland. so did that from 2014 onward.

the-restaurant-guys_2_08-28-2025_122302: 24:05

It gives you the set of skills to be the owner. And I think as the owner, you're setting a stage for that bartender and for that hospitality, and you're setting the expectations for what you expect in your bar. So you're kind of a bartender. So how does it come about that you buy the bar that you're working in? I think a lot of people who are listening would like to be in that situation. it's an unusual one. So how does that work out?

jeff-bell_1_08-28-2025_122302: 24:26

Well, I, I, like I had said earlier, I was planning on. Going to New York to learn and then open my own place in Seattle, which was kind of just a, a pipe dream. But the goal I was working towards was like, I'm gonna open my own bar by the time I'm 30, which was like kind of an arbitrary thing, but it gave me at least like. address and the navigation. It's like, I'm gonna go towards this. And then, know, about five years into my time at PDT. I'm like, well, do I need to open my own bar for, for what purpose? Like to, to feed my ego, to prove to myself, to prove to people that I'm good. Like I don't, I don't know what the point is. And it's like there is. You know, at this point Jim's living in Portland and Brian, the other, uh, owner of PDT and Crif Dogs lives in Vermont. And I'm thinking, well, I could buy this business. this is like 2017 or 18, I start having these like conversations and I don't know anything The finances of a business, like, uh, fundraising or investment or structuring that, or valuations and, and those kinds of things. So I just spend a long time talking to people that I've, I've got to know over the years that, that, that could tell me, well, it's worth this much, or that, or this is how you would structure that deal. And then kind of went to, to Brian about it, and we figured out like. number that was fair, or agreed upon. And, and then we had a, uh, a deal in place that was gonna, um, be executed. I think it was March 20th, 2020.

the-restaurant-guys_2_08-28-2025_122302: 26:05

There you go. Ouch. There you go. Yeah, and there you go. It's a weird time to be thinking about buying a business, that's for sure. Right.

jeff-bell_1_08-28-2025_122302: 26:13

Yeah. I was so dead set on doing it that I'm like, because I wanted it so badly. I wasn't believing that the pandemic was real. I wasn't believing that there was like, the life as we knew it would change for a while. Like, I didn't believe any of that because I'm like, oh, this is my, the thing I'm gonna do, I have to do this. then once I kind of realized, okay, shutting down the business, um. That's it. Okay. I almost, uh, felt like once I realized it was off the table, had the most amazing pandemic. And not, to minimize what anybody went through, but just in my own personal experience, we had a son in April, 2020. was on unemployment, which I felt like we're living in Sweden because it was like. Paid parental leave with my

the-restaurant-guys_2_08-28-2025_122302: 26:55

Yeah. Yeah. Yep.

jeff-bell_1_08-28-2025_122302: 26:56

so, you know, it was a, it was a modest amount of money coming in, but we made due and was able to spend months with our newborn son. it was really like a remarkable family, uh, time of being together in a crazy, crazy time. And then sometime in the summer, I just reached out to Brian. I was like, he was done.

the-restaurant-guys_2_08-28-2025_122302: 27:16

Mm-hmm.

jeff-bell_1_08-28-2025_122302: 27:17

I'm gonna leave it. And I was like, is there a way we can pick up the pieces and figure it out? It's gonna be a different deal because it's closed. There's

the-restaurant-guys_2_08-28-2025_122302: 27:23

Sure.

jeff-bell_1_08-28-2025_122302: 27:23

no sign of it reopening and figured out a way to, you know, a good lawyer that, helped structure the deal in a way that protected the process so My partners and I bought the intellectual property of PDT and Crif Dogs because we wanted to make sure that was the key thing that we could buy, So we started a new company. Bought the intellectual property. then once we had that, then negotiated with the, the landlord and, submitted the application for a new liquor license. So that way everything was like ground zero, but it meant we didn't get any PPP money or anything like that because it was a brand new business.

the-restaurant-guys_2_08-28-2025_122302: 27:58

I think we should just pause there for a second because that's something that I think. A lot of young business people, especially restaurant business people need to know when you're buying a restaurant, when you're buying a bar, you know, you don't want to buy for, in most cases the assets and the liabilities, right? You want, you want those to, to fade away with the old corporation. That's why you want to be opening a new corporation and, starting at zero because you never know. Who slipped and fell in that space four years ago. And is is bringing a lawsuit against you? I mean, there's, there's all sorts of baggage that comes with, with buying the assets and liabilities. You wanna start a new corporation and buy the intellectual property?

jeff-bell_1_08-28-2025_122302: 28:41

if, like if somebody wasn't paying their sales tax or,

the-restaurant-guys_2_08-28-2025_122302: 28:44

Yeah. Yeah.

jeff-bell_1_08-28-2025_122302: 28:45

paying their vendors, you know, there's, there's a lot of baggage associated with a company

the-restaurant-guys_2_08-28-2025_122302: 28:50

So now through this rather circuitous route, you now own the rights to the name and the intellectual property of PDT. You get a lease and Crif Dogs and Crif Dogs, and you get a lease and you get back open in the space. Tell us about reopening after COVID and, and what the landscape you found for yourself and, and your business.

jeff-bell_1_08-28-2025_122302: 29:07

Oh man, in 2021 was just like I don't know. I had a better perspective on life. I think after kind of realizing everything I wanted to do was gone. Well, that's a very dramatic way of saying it, but like the process I was, the, the trajectory I was on was severely changed into a different route. And so I, I was more well equipped to handle all of the, the drama, the extra work and, and getting the business going.'cause I had like this a, a much more defined, articulate sense of purpose with like my, family life. Seeing how easily things can, can go away. But it was, you know, bar is kind of like a vintage car if it sits in the garage and doesn't get driven for a year, it's not good. And so, so

the-restaurant-guys_2_08-28-2025_122302: 29:54

good.

jeff-bell_1_08-28-2025_122302: 29:55

so Overing, PDT after a year, 13 months was like, there was a lot of things, there was a lot of settling that had happened in the space and, actually about. Nine, gosh, was it nine months after we opened the building that we're in a flood. Their, their main

the-restaurant-guys_2_08-28-2025_122302: 30:13

Uh,

jeff-bell_1_08-28-2025_122302: 30:14

was blocked, and so we had the lowest strains in the building, and so we got flooded like crazy

the-restaurant-guys_2_08-28-2025_122302: 30:20

we're familiar.

jeff-bell_1_08-28-2025_122302: 30:21

the floor was damaged. We had, then we found out that there was some structural issues with the, the support beams. And so it would end up being like a, a nine week or eight week closure. And there was a carve out in the insurance that that kind of flood wasn't covered because that they kind of attributed like a human error element to that instead of like a, a flood from nature. So we didn't, we didn't even get, like, reimbursed for a lot of it. So it was just like. punch after reopening. And then, so that was what, early 22? And then from then on, it's been pretty, you know, smooth ish sailing, right? Like as

the-restaurant-guys_2_08-28-2025_122302: 30:56

It's good that you had that. Nice. Welcome to the to ownership world. You know there's

jeff-bell_1_08-28-2025_122302: 31:00

it's, it's like that Mike Tyson quote, not that I go around quoting

the-restaurant-guys_2_08-28-2025_122302: 31:03

Yes.

jeff-bell_1_08-28-2025_122302: 31:03

He's like, everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face.

the-restaurant-guys_2_08-28-2025_122302: 31:06

Yeah. Yeah, exactly.

jeff-bell_1_08-28-2025_122302: 31:07

that's, that's kind of like, uh, the flood,

the-restaurant-guys_2_08-28-2025_122302: 31:10

so the door's open to PDT. What, how was it received with the customers? What's the fun of the place? What's the, what is it, did you get the joy back right away? Or did we have to rebuild up again? How did what? What was the new world of PDT?

jeff-bell_1_08-28-2025_122302: 31:23

people have a lot of love for PDT, a lot of neighborhood and a lot of long-term regulars. So like, it was very rewarding to get it reopened. there was a shift in consumers and, even still, there's a difference between pre pandemic and post pandemic and how people And I find it to be bit more bipolar now. Like we were never a weekend. The variance from a Friday, Saturday to a Monday, Tuesday at PDT was always minimal. Like,

the-restaurant-guys_2_08-28-2025_122302: 31:55

Well, just so you know, full is full, so it doesn't matter if it's Friday or it's Tuesday. If you're full, you're full.

jeff-bell_1_08-28-2025_122302: 32:01

Yeah, but there's just a, a little bit of a difference in, there's like a more weekend warriors now, like the weekends are just even busier than they were before. And the weeknights have dropped a little bit. And the biggest difference is late night. know, I think

the-restaurant-guys_2_08-28-2025_122302: 32:12

Oh yeah.

jeff-bell_1_08-28-2025_122302: 32:13

a lot of people work from home. More people work from home. They start earlier. So we actually open up five instead of six. How we used to,

the-restaurant-guys_2_08-28-2025_122302: 32:20

it's funny you say that. So one of the things that's happened even here in New Brunswick is we have, you know, four 30. 25-year-old couples are coming out to dinner,

jeff-bell_1_08-28-2025_122302: 32:31

Mm-hmm.

the-restaurant-guys_2_08-28-2025_122302: 32:31

but at 9 30, 10 o'clock, during the week, everybody's gone home. It's just the, the restaurants are, are, unless the weather's spectacular, the restaurants are, are just empty. And we were even in the city earlier this week and I was in a famous restaurant at. Quarter after nine, and there was two other people in the restaurant. I mean, that's, I was like, it's, it's quarter after nine. I'm, I'm in New York City. How is this, you know, how is this famous restaurant almost empty?

jeff-bell_1_08-28-2025_122302: 33:02

I mean, I used to be, you know, 2010, 11, I was like first in line for a 10:00 PM dinner.

the-restaurant-guys_2_08-28-2025_122302: 33:08

Yeah. Oh yeah. So you, so what's happening, what's happening in PDT? Is it, it's an earlier close.

jeff-bell_1_08-28-2025_122302: 33:13

well, we just watch, just watching the, the sales over, you know, by hour and that kind of thing. Just watching that, that three to four, two to three late night is just getting smaller and we have the line to get in is getting bigger and it's like, okay, so at one, so about, I have a great director of ops. Joel that played around with the idea of, okay, on Friday, Saturday, Sunday, we always have a crazy long line and we're, we're, we're slowing down at, at two o'clock, so instead of going till four and opening at five, let's open at four and close earlier. So we do four to two on Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and the staff is happier because

the-restaurant-guys_2_08-28-2025_122302: 33:54

Sure. Yes.

jeff-bell_1_08-28-2025_122302: 33:55

You know, there's, that's the difference too, is that I was very fine working. 5:00 AM and

the-restaurant-guys_2_08-28-2025_122302: 34:01

Yep.

jeff-bell_1_08-28-2025_122302: 34:01

home at six, and it's, it's a little bit different now. I, you know, I don't know if it's a generational thing, if it's a post pandemic thing, but there's, I feel like the staff kind of wants to be done at two

the-restaurant-guys_2_08-28-2025_122302: 34:12

Yeah. Oh hundred percent correct. A hundred percent correct on that. Our, our staff has.

jeff-bell_1_08-28-2025_122302: 34:16

good happens between two and four.

the-restaurant-guys_2_08-28-2025_122302: 34:17

Yeah, I don't know some of the stuff, but some of this stuff feels good at the time between two and I think's never been happier though with the, with the start a little earlier. Be busy right when you, when you hit it and be done a little earlier. Yeah, I think, I think they're enjoying that. Hey, we're gonna take a quick break. We'll be right back on the other side with Jeff Bell. Uh, don't go anywhere. Stick with us, the restaurant guys, and you can always find out more about us@restaurantguyspodcast.com. Don't go anywhere. Hey everybody. Welcome back. It's the restaurant guys, once again with Jeff Bell. So Jeff, I know you have a, a, a family now you have three kids, some of them pretty small, none of them. Very big. And uh, that's a pretty big change in the life of a restaurant bar owner guy who used to work till six in the morning.

jeff-bell_1_08-28-2025_122302: 36:49

Yeah. Yeah, it's a big change. well, I always say that the, um, being a bartender for years is just absolutely great training for, um, parenthood. Not that I say that everybody's, that's a bartender, is qualified to become a parent, there is this volatility and, um. You get from people drinking where it's like the highs and lows where they can just start laughing for no reason or crying for no reason or have a bodily fluid mistake

the-restaurant-guys_2_08-28-2025_122302: 37:18

So you're saying toddlers and drunks at three 30 in the morning have a lot in common?

jeff-bell_1_08-28-2025_122302: 37:23

Oh yeah, they yell at you

the-restaurant-guys_2_08-28-2025_122302: 37:25

They stagger.

jeff-bell_1_08-28-2025_122302: 37:25

and then they give you a hug five minutes later

the-restaurant-guys_2_08-28-2025_122302: 37:28

I.

jeff-bell_1_08-28-2025_122302: 37:28

they love you and they, I love you.

the-restaurant-guys_2_08-28-2025_122302: 37:34

So, I have heard many times before people compare, um, drunks and say they're acting like toddlers. I've never heard the bartender take in the wisdom that toddlers act like drunks. So, so all you have to do is basically treat them like little drunks and everything's fine. Words of wisdom from Jeff Bell in the not too distant past. I had to cut a guy off and, and ask him to leave. And he was in front of the restaurant, I guess, waiting for his Uber or whatever. And my wife happened to walk past him and you know, you've cut somebody off. Well, because he turned to my wife and he, and he points through the window at me and he goes, that guy there. That guy's a great guy. That's a, I love that guy. Do you know who that guy is? He is great. That's how you know, you've cut somebody off in just the right, just the right, right way. And if they're talking about Mark. That, that's how you know he's drunk because he's wrong. He's totally wrong. one of the things, uh, that I really enjoy about PDT is the clandestine approach you have to getting in, right? For those of you who've never been to PDT, you go into a phone booth, you pick up the phone, you call, uh, the host answers, and. And let's you in. So my question to you is, is there ever a moment where you, you see the person in a phone booth and you're like, no, we're not gonna open the door. You're gonna need to stay in the in Crif Dogs for now. All full. Sorry. Do you ever take that

jeff-bell_1_08-28-2025_122302: 38:59

well there's, um,

the-restaurant-guys_2_08-28-2025_122302: 39:00

and say, nah, that's not it.

jeff-bell_1_08-28-2025_122302: 39:02

you know, have to have mastery of your own space and understanding. Okay. Well, if somebody has a problem on the getting into PDT. If we handle that from the Crif Dogs side, it's easier to get them out of the situation than to give them a glimpse of the PDT part of it.

the-restaurant-guys_2_08-28-2025_122302: 39:17

Well, I have to say PDT was one of the, you know, in the, in the era of speakeasy bars when speak the speakeasy aesthetic was at its height. You had Crif Dogs with this secret, you know, faux secret phone. Um, uh. You know, it was secret. There were people in Cryp Dogs who were like, where'd the guy in the phone booth just go? Yeah, but anybody, anybody who, that's true. That's definitely true. But there, but if you wanted to know how to get into PDT, you know, it wasn't really a secret. and that aesthetic is sort of really faded more into the background and in a lot of places that. Speakeasy aesthetic didn't age well, but at PDT it really is, it's sort of the fabric, it's sort of the tongue in cheek inside joke of the thing. What do you think about the speakeasy aesthetic and, and why has PDT survived so well maintaining it?

jeff-bell_1_08-28-2025_122302: 40:04

Well, I think as long as you, if you have a product that is worth the weight on the other side or worth the journey, people will be okay with it. I think a lot of times people misconstrue where the success or where the hard work goes into the business and, and you have people are opening secret. Bars all over the place that don't last long because the, the, differentiating point in their mind is that, oh, if it's, if it's hidden, people will love it. And then they love it once and they're like, okay, well the surface is bad. The drinks are whatever. the service and hospitality and the cocktails are kind of like that barbed hook to like get people to like, keep on coming back for more. So it's like, it's, it's a theatrical, uh, memorable entrance, but we don't take that part for granted. Like, even though we could probably have a revolving door of tourists every day, but that doesn't sound fun. It doesn't make us push ourselves, but we take the cocktail part seriously and hopefully, you know, the menu's always changing and, you know, hundreds of, if not thousands of cocktails. Original cocktails on the menu over the years, like we're always kind of doing extra work that, that people don't really see, but they can kind of have a sense that it's, it's happening

the-restaurant-guys_2_08-28-2025_122302: 41:14

in my interviews with every single employee, I talk about the tiny little details that go into every single thing we do, and most people aren't gonna notice them. Okay. Right. And if you're not the right type of person, you know you're gonna view those things as min uh, minutiae. And if you are the right type of person, you're gonna view those tiny little things as the building blocks of excellence. And, and that is in my interview routine with every single person. Because if you're the type of person who looks at little, little, tiny little things, as, as minutiae, you don't, you don't belong in my organization.

jeff-bell_1_08-28-2025_122302: 41:49

Hundred percent. Yeah. I, I think that the invisible details are the ones that make the biggest difference and the hardest ones to, to quantify and to

the-restaurant-guys_2_08-28-2025_122302: 41:58

Well,

jeff-bell_1_08-28-2025_122302: 41:58

value on.

the-restaurant-guys_2_08-28-2025_122302: 41:59

well, one of the things about PDT and and your entrance and the way you enter is it also makes a difference once you're inside, and this is one of the things I wanted to get to. When you're in PDT, you. You don't feel like you do when you're at some bars and the, and people are just coming in and out and and there's a lot of, you know, motion. By the door. PDT doesn't have that. PDT doesn't have, you know, the people who are waiting to get into PDT aren't in PDT, so you have only when people actually enter and it's, it's just, you feel like you're in your own little space when you're in PDT and it's, it's, it's very different than just being a speakeasy bar. You're in your own little space. Everybody has a snug When you're at, PDT.

jeff-bell_1_08-28-2025_122302: 42:49

Yeah, a hundred percent protecting that. That's, um, that's another intangible, you know, there's a value that people have of that, you know, it's a cocktail preserve, you know.

the-restaurant-guys_2_08-28-2025_122302: 42:57

Well, you, you know that we love PPDT and it's a foundational bar in the, in their cocktail bar restaurant world. But we wanna talk about your new, we gotta talk about your cool new stuff. Yeah. We wanna talk about your new project on Cornelia Street, which is a very important restaurant street. A lot of stuff has happened on this one block street in Manhattan. I think most people in. Who aren't in the New York City restaurant world don't realize how important a block Cornelia Street Yeah. Has been in the history of Yeah. the modern history of New York City restaurants.

jeff-bell_1_08-28-2025_122302: 43:23

the, the, there's a, there's a big fan base out there that, that might think it's really important for other reasons. the Swifties,

the-restaurant-guys_2_08-28-2025_122302: 43:31

Oh, oh yeah. That's not us. That's, that's, that's.

jeff-bell_1_08-28-2025_122302: 43:34

I wasn't sure. I wasn't sure if Francis, I don't know. I thought maybe I saw'em in front of her old place taking a picture.

the-restaurant-guys_2_08-28-2025_122302: 43:40

No, no, that, that wasn't me. Yeah. That definitely wasn't me. But, so I'm more interested in the restaurant royalty that's been on that street all along, but you're at one Cornelia Street, you have three concepts in one. Tell us about, the, what's going on. Jeff's newest, uh, iteration.

jeff-bell_1_08-28-2025_122302: 43:55

Oh, you know, I figure, I just figured that, uh. This is the first project outside of PDT in New York City, so I might as well do it at the same time as a Waldorf Astoria and open three new places. Like, just, just to really, you know, see what it's like to, to feel the, feel, the stress.

the-restaurant-guys_2_08-28-2025_122302: 44:11

Remember when you were on vacation during COVID? That's, uh, okay. Make it.

jeff-bell_1_08-28-2025_122302: 44:15

Oh, it's the, it's, it's the exact opposite. Yeah. No, it's, um. It's a dream. We know we we're on the corner of West Fourth and Cornelia, and it's a big-ish, you know, space. And I say big because I'm referencing it relative to like PDT, but you know, it's 3000 square feet. So it's about two and a half times the size of PDT and Crif Dogs combined. And when I saw, I've been wanting to do something with Victor Lopez, whom I've worked with for over 15 years at PDT. I've been wanting to do something with him outside of PDT to put him as like, and have him be kind of more of the star of that show. And we, you know, Victor's from Pueblo, Mexico originally and always has like the deepest Rolodex of like agave cocktails. When somebody comes to PDT, it's like, let's do something in the agave space. we'll find a place and, and then this space came up. We, we found a few others over the, the years, but nothing really kind of like. Were calling to us and we saw this one, I was like, oh my God, it's perfect. It was a, it was a place called Carava for many years. And then most recently it was a place called Opa Bistro and they had a fried chicken kind of counter. And I might'cause I didn't actually go, but this is what I was told. Fried chicken counter, like takeout, kind of a fusion bistro and then a Caro karaoke bar downstairs and, and that, and they end up vacating. beginning of 24 or something like that, January, February, something along those lines. But there was something about the, the bones to this space, and I'm not like all about, Hey, I need a second gen space to save money. It was just like. was something about it that really made sense to what we had envisioned and what we were thinking is that if we can do Agave Bar and have a food element that kind of works in the same business model as PDT and Crit Dogs, I think we have something there. And we got to know the tacos. 1986 guys from LA by doing, um. I'm a popup out there since 2017 and I became friends with them, well, F fanboy first'cause the food was so good. And then friends, and then we did a collaboration in 2022 I was just like blown away by how great of like human beings they were and how hard they worked and how much their staff looked up to them and how great their tacos were. And I just said at the end of the week, after spending, you know, nine. Nine festival days, which is like a year, uh, together, and it was like, I have an idea. Let's do something in New York together. And they're like, okay. I don't think they thought I was serious. Victor and Joy, but, but they, they, you know, they humored me and then I started looking for spaces and I would send'em to'em, like, what do you think? And they're like, oh, this guy's serious. then the West Village location, uh, one Cornelia came up and I was like, guys, this is it. And it's already got the framework for exactly what we want to do. We're not shoehorning or backing into anything. It's just like, kind of works. And so that became the tacos 1986 on the corn of the street side of the corner. And then next to, it's gonna be mix deca. Which is the name Victor came up with for the bar, which is kind of the region where he's from. That encompasses Puebla and oca, uh, the mixed deck region. And we have just a ton of agave, uh, on offer. And the bulk of the menu are cocktails made with cia, Soto, Bacca, Nora, you know, a lot of tequila and mezcal and Victor came up with probably. 90. You know, I, I did a couple token cocktails, but nothing too, too much. I wanted Victor to be kind of the star of it, but I, I can't help myself sometimes. But it's, it's mainly Victor's show and I'm there to support and help. And Victor worked, was, was involved in all of the, um, design meetings. And we have VE uh, for the back bar. walls are made out of tequila, believe it or not. we have recycled agave fibers,

the-restaurant-guys_2_08-28-2025_122302: 48:04

Wow,

jeff-bell_1_08-28-2025_122302: 48:05

and that's our plaster. It's like an agave adobe, and that's the plaster for the walls, so they act. The

the-restaurant-guys_2_08-28-2025_122302: 48:10

that's pretty cool.

jeff-bell_1_08-28-2025_122302: 48:11

made of tequila, which is very cool.

the-restaurant-guys_2_08-28-2025_122302: 48:12

it kind of rhymes with the Crif Dogs and PDT, you know, it's tacos and mezcal, but you have a third concept there as well. What's that about?

jeff-bell_1_08-28-2025_122302: 48:18

Yeah, so the third one is downstairs. So it's a, it's, it's a little clandestine, not quite as theatric as like a, you know, a phone booth. But it's, it's a seamless door that blends in with the wall on the, um, the west side of the store and it goes downstairs and there's another bar called Kees that's gonna be opening up. uh it's, if, if Mc deco's, Victor's dream bar Kees is mine, and, and, and, and working under this, you know, it just seemed it makes sense to do a different concept for downstairs, which is a bit more of a punishment and like planning and process and, and cost. I just feel like New York just. You just gotta do it. You just have to do more. In New York,

the-restaurant-guys_2_08-28-2025_122302: 48:58

What is Kees gonna bring? What's the aesthetic of Kees?

jeff-bell_1_08-28-2025_122302: 49:01

Kees is, is borrowing more of like an energetic manner from like mid-century New York of places like the Stork Club or El Morocco or Starlight Roof, or Cabana, these kinds of places that just, you wanted to go out, you wanted to get dressed up, you wanna have a nice time. Those all happen to be like in Midtown, so it's kind of taking that. That energy of these places that I've only read about could never go to obviously in trying to capture that and bring it downtown. thinking of people like Joe Guidara and even modern, like Will Guidara, these really dynamic restaurateurs, Francis and Mark, and having them really inspire the pro the process and,

the-restaurant-guys_2_08-28-2025_122302: 49:42

I always loved you, man, but I love you a little more right now. I'll be honest with you.

jeff-bell_1_08-28-2025_122302: 49:46

And,

the-restaurant-guys_2_08-28-2025_122302: 49:46

Well.

jeff-bell_1_08-28-2025_122302: 49:46

the, the programming downstairs is, is I, I like to think of it, not that I'm inserting myself into it, but it's kind of reflecting of where I'm at in my career too, of there is a, there's a confidence in what I'm creating that is rooted in classics that's articulate and understandable for the consumer, but also. pushing, There are eight pages to the menu. every page is a, uh, a foundational classic, you know, Manhattan Martini, Negroni, sour Collins, highball, and one is gonna have a classic. The classic offering is the first, and then there's gonna be a seasonal, a house version, and some categories will have like a reserve I found in, in serving people over the years is that you could have the most creative menu in the world, but if you don't have any indicators of what the cocktail is gonna taste like for the guests, like a lot of times it, there's a, there's a misunderstanding. it's like, sounds cool, but they don't like, they can understand, oh, this is a, this is gonna be an old fashioned,

the-restaurant-guys_2_08-28-2025_122302: 50:51

No. All the, all the best business decisions I've made and all the coolest events I've done have all revolved around and, and for Francis as well. What do, what would we really enjoy if we were going out to a place? And when you come at things with that frame of reference, I think that people see it, get it. Appreciate it. That's, that's where all of the, the best things that we've done in our restaurants and bars have happened with what would be the most fun? What, what would we really want to do?

jeff-bell_1_08-28-2025_122302: 51:25

I agree a hundred percent. And I think that that's what you have to, that's gotta be your point of view. And knowing that people are gonna think similarly to you,

Mark: 51:33

Well, some people, a there's a a faction of of people who are, and that's what you want. You wanna track those people, I think your new project is damn exciting. We love Cornelia Street. Uh, when we talk about the royalty of Cornelia Street, Barbara and David had home on there. Mario Batali's first restaurant in New York was Poe that he had on there. what else was there? the Pearl Oyster Bar was there. I mean, it's a, it's a fantastic history of restaurant. It was the street that Francis and I were most likely to wander onto at about 10 30 if we were exactly, you know, in between late night and, dinner.

jeff-bell_1_08-28-2025_122302: 52:04

yeah, it's a remarkable street. And now you have, you know, sip and Guzzle has taken over the

the-restaurant-guys_2_08-28-2025_122302: 52:08

Yeah, of course. Yep.

jeff-bell_1_08-28-2025_122302: 52:10

seas across the street. They just like,

the-restaurant-guys_2_08-28-2025_122302: 52:12

It's crazy.

jeff-bell_1_08-28-2025_122302: 52:13

a bunch of heavy hitters on that block. And it's a one street, it's a one block street,

the-restaurant-guys_2_08-28-2025_122302: 52:18

Restaurant Powerhouse. Okay. Speaking of history and restaurant powerhouse, we only have time to really mention it, but, uh, you've also were brought in by the Waldorf Astoria to open the Peacock Bar, uh, which is a fe and storied New York bar and recently redone. Its So I'll intro this. So I recently was, was at an event and Frank Sifa was there, who wrote the Waldorf story. Cocktail book. Oh, it's gotta be 15, 20 years ago now. Right. And he said he walked in there and his feeling was he could still feel the ghosts of the past, but there was this wonderful kind of update to the place that, that gave this place a new vibe and a new feel. So congratulations for that. what brought that about.

jeff-bell_1_08-28-2025_122302: 53:02

Uh, I mean, what a, what a remarkable opportunity. You know, it, it's about a year long process of working with the the Waldorf team on, on revamping the programming for, uh, peacock Alley and Lex Yard. And what an absolute dream to be, you know, a mixology geek. And to be able to, from not from New York, to be able to work on a project like the Peacock Alley Bar

the-restaurant-guys_2_08-28-2025_122302: 53:27

Yep.

jeff-bell_1_08-28-2025_122302: 53:28

the Waldorf Astor, like the greatest hotel of them all. And then there's a, also happens to be a restaurant down the hall, uh, helmed by Chef Mike Anthony, who's like. I've been a friend and more a big fan for many years. It's, uh, it, it's just a big, big stage, big opportunity, and it was a lot of fun because you really take yourself out of the equation a little bit with this one. Like, okay, I'm, I'm a caretaker. You know, thinking of like the people, uh, the head bartenders at the Savoy or, or, that kind of thing where you're, you're, you. You're just like an auxiliary component to this big institution. You're doing something important, but like these people are here for the Waldorf Astoria They want the Waldorf Astoria experience. It's like, how do we up with drinks are gonna serve? their purpose

the-restaurant-guys_2_08-28-2025_122302: 54:15

What's on the menu there? What was the, how did you make it happen?

jeff-bell_1_08-28-2025_122302: 54:19

A lot of martinis. I just felt that you

the-restaurant-guys_2_08-28-2025_122302: 54:21

I like it.

jeff-bell_1_08-28-2025_122302: 54:22

space, you want to have a martini. So there, there's, there's four martinis on the menu. Different, you know, ratios and garnishes styles, and, old martinis and old fashioned are the big ones for that space. And leaning into those and. And then also going through the archives and talking to people like Frank, and I'm just saying, okay, these were drinks that were historically created here, um, or drinks that have a story within this building, Just doing a lot of, uh, recon of like what has been served over this bar over the years and how do we modernize some of it, make some tweaks and, uh, evolving it so it still has the same point that it's tethered to,

the-restaurant-guys_2_08-28-2025_122302: 55:06

updating with respect. So listen Jeff, it sounds like you've been very busy and what I like about when Jeff Bell is very busy is we all get to drink the fruits of his labor. So, uh, we're gonna put everything up on our show notes to tell you all how to do that. And we have had a great time talking with our old friend Jeff, congrat. Thanks so much, Jeff, on everything. Awesome time. Thanks for sharing. And we are overdue for a meal together. Yes.

jeff-bell_1_08-28-2025_122302: 55:30

boy. Let's make it happen. Thanks fellas. It's

the-restaurant-guys_2_08-28-2025_122302: 55:32

Alright man.

jeff-bell_1_08-28-2025_122302: 55:33

Great chatting with you.

the-restaurant-guys_2_08-28-2025_122302: 55:34

Thanks a bunch. That's Jeff Bell. Everybody you know all about him and you'll find out more in our show notes. You can stick with us always@restaurantguyspodcast.com. Hang out, don't

the-restaurant-guys_2_08-28-2025_132758: 56:22

Hey man, he's great. We go back a long way. My goodness. That's, uh, you know, I had forgotten about that, that dinner at Luke that we had together. Oh yeah. With the, with the rowdy guys, the knucklehead as it works. Knuck knuckleheads. Exactly. you know, one of the things Jeff talked about early in the show and one of the things we never talk about. reopening after the pandemic. You know, we talk about a lot about staff and we talk a lot about, you know, the restaurants kind of reigniting. Yep. But we don't talk the physical facility. Oh yeah. When you're not, you know, dusting every week Yeah. And taking care of stuff every week, or you've turned refrigeration equipment. Off and left it off for two months. Right. Your ice machine doesn't turn back on. Yeah, right. That's, that's a, there's a real one. There was, that's a real one. There was, there were a number of times when we, like, as we ramped back up, Uhhuh,'cause we have two restaurants, two ice machines. We're like, ah, we'll just turn the one on for now. And you go to turn on that second ice machine that hasn't been on in six months. There's just a little prayer you say right before you turn, right before you turn that switch. You know, I used to have an old Harley Davidson motorcycle had the same functions and it was, it had a, a shovel head engine, which was, which was nicknamed the trouble head engine. And if I rode that bike at least every other day mm-hmm. Little adjustments here and there a little bit. You think you're gonna leave that bike for a week and not show it any love and it's gonna turn when you 50 50 that thing rolls over. Okay. I'm gonna remind you of some of a moment that happened. So. Pre COVID, we had a really big wine by the glass list of corvin kind Premium wines. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And we had must have had 20 cor Oh, Corvin is a wine preservation system. Right. So we had preserved these wines under corvin and, and it works really, really well for a period of time. It uses argon and it, and it doesn't react with the wine well. Even the corvin has a shelf life. Well, it sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. And Francis and I, after a year and a half, yeah, went back to those Corvin wines and we were like. The Corvin doesn't really last forever does it? Honestly, with some of them it really did. Very few. But you know, we lost 18 of the 20, I'll say. Well, but the other thing, and I don't wanna dis corvin when you No, no. It's a great preservation system, but it's not a permanent, Hey, I'm gonna, you know, set it and forget it. I think it is sometimes. But we had made a mistake that we hadn't realized. When you use a corvin. Geeky time, you're supposed to lay the bottle on its side so the cork doesn't dry out. And we had corvin and left things on up upside. And the other thing you can do if you, anytime you wanna preserve a wine that you've opened for longer, whether it's Corvin or not, is refrigerate. Oh yeah. Also. So if you refrigerate the wine, you get it nice and cold, it'll slow everything down in that wine. Also, a really good idea. can I tell the joke? Go ahead. The, the Argonne joke. Oh my goodness gracious. Go ahead tell it. So tell, we'll finish with a terrible joke. So, and you remember this is Francis' joke, not Mark's joke. It is not a restaurant guy's joke. It is a Francis joke. So you play along as if you don't know. Okay.'cause the audience can't answer. All right. Ready? So, um, so Argon walks into a bar and, uh, Argonne walks in, sits down, the bartender says Argon. Is that you? I told you. Argon never to come into this bar again. I'm not serving you. You're banned from the bar, you and all the other noble gases. Nitrogen. hydrogen. None of you're welcome in this bar. Screw you and screw all your noble gas buddies. And do you know what Argon did? I don't, but I do. It didn't react. See now in the audience out there, they're laughing. You are just staring at me. But there are people driving down the turnpike right now. I'm laughing Francis, but maybe it's not the laugh you're hoping for. It might be a different kind of laugh. Well, I uh, hope you all have enjoyed us and if you did laugh at that joke, please send us an email to the guys@restaurantguyspodcast.com. And if you thought it was terrible, please send that note as well. And we're gonna tally'em all up and we're gonna let, we're gonna let Mark know. If people liked or didn't like that joke. Hope you've enjoyed the time with us and Jeff Bell. We're the restaurant guys. I'm Francis Shot. And I'm Mark Pascal. You can always find out more about us@restaurantguyspodcast.com.