Mark 1:02

Hello everybody, and welcome. You are listening to The Restaurant Guys. I'm Mark Pascal and I'm

Speaker 2 1:07

and I'm here with

Mark 1:07

Schott. Together we own Stage Left and Catherine Lombardi restaurants in

Speaker 2 1:11

in New Brunswick, New Jersey. We're here to bring

Mark 1:13

the inside track on

Speaker 2 1:14

food, wine,

Mark 1:16

and the finer

Speaker 2 1:17

things in life.

Francis 1:17

are you today?

Speaker 2 1:18

Francis, I'm well.

Francis 1:19

well. I am very excited. Our guests today are two of my favorite people. Um,

Speaker 4 1:24

so

Francis 1:24

start out normally with a little banter between Mark and Francis, and then after the break we'll come back and we'll be interviewing Mark and Francis.

Mark 1:31

know what's ironic about that? What? One of my favorite people will

Francis 1:34

favorite

Speaker 2 1:35

on

Mark 1:35

today. Thank

Francis 1:35

be on.

Mark 1:36

Thank you, for

Speaker 4 1:37

you for your high opinion of me.

Francis 1:38

Uh, yeah, so every once in a while people ask all the time, they're like, "Can you guys do just a, a you guys only show?" So we got a few things to catch up on, so it's

Speaker 4 1:46

it's just focused

Francis 1:47

us. Um, and the other, my fa- another favorite part of the show today is we're gonna get to drink on the podcast. Yay. it's it's good. So we have to say a special shout-out thank you to, our, longtime listener and friend, one of our regular listeners

Speaker 4 2:02

from the

Francis 2:02

birth of the podcast on the radio

Speaker 4 2:04

Way back. One of the first- way

Speaker 2 2:05

back machine

Speaker 4 2:06

when podcasts were new.

Francis 2:06

Kelvin has, Sent us a- an

Speaker 4 2:08

an article. He often sends us stuff that we sometimes

Francis 2:11

on the show, and do on the show, and he's...

Speaker 4 2:12

he's,

Francis 2:12

and he wrote about

Speaker 4 2:14

the the rebirth of this Hawaiian spirit.

Speaker 2 2:17

Mm-hmm. Um,

Speaker 4 2:17

I'm

Francis 2:18

I'm gonna butcher the pronunciation but I'm gonna give it my best. It's ʻōkalāhau, I think is how

Speaker 4 2:22

how it's pronounced, and it

Francis 2:24

made from, a root in Hawaii that is fermented

Speaker 4 2:28

and then distilled.

Francis 2:29

it went away for a long time and there's been a real revival of the Hawaiian Native Spirit. It is pretty much the only alcohol of Hawaiian Native Spirit. And we'll tell you the story later. So anyway, I love Calvin. I've always loved Calvin. He's visited us

Speaker 4 2:40

us here,

Francis 2:41

come to the restaurant many times. We've actually visited him in Chicago.

Mark 2:45

we'll be out there again for Martini

Speaker 2 2:47

Expo.

Speaker 4 2:47

Yeah.

Mark 2:47

us there.

Francis 2:48

there. Yeah. what I love about Kelvin though, he sent us this article on the, and it was about how this new distillery, the Ola Distillery, was gonna make the best ever there. And, their initial bottling was gonna be numbered bottles that went to people who kinda crowdfunded and became early investors in

Speaker 4 3:05

in spirit.

Francis 3:06

And then he sent us a

Mark 3:07

He's like that.

Francis 3:08

so I'm looking at this bottle of a

Mark 3:10

By the way, if you ever

Speaker 2 3:11

By the way, if you ever wanna become friends with the

Mark 3:12

Guys, sending a bottle is the best

Speaker 2 3:14

way.

Francis 3:15

Or a box of cash. We will also take a

Speaker 4 3:17

a box of cash. No,

Francis 3:19

so Calvin, thank you. we got...

Speaker 4 3:21

So

Francis 3:21

pre-release we learned about it. We're gonna talk about it on the show anyway. And I think these first number bottles you had to be a member to get this first release. It's a big deal. There's a visitor center. You can- We'll put the

Speaker 4 3:32

link in the show notes where you can

Francis 3:33

to the, distillery. When

Mark 3:35

the Restaurant Guys go to Hawaii,

Francis 3:36

Yeah, it's in Hilo on the Big Island. right on the

Speaker 4 3:39

on the water. It's supposed to be great. Um, anyway, so- I

Speaker 2 3:41

hope it doesn't suck. It

Speaker 4 3:42

c- exactly. Boy-

Francis 3:44

c- Yeah, exactly. Boy. Uh, we're gonna tr- If you're hearing this show, it doesn't suck. Uh, but if it, if it, does, Jennifer's gonna trash it. So we've opened this beautiful box.

Mark 3:52

And I'm opening the, certificate of authenticity that comes with the box. We have bottle number 125 of 150. Wow,

Francis 4:01

wow.

Speaker 4 4:02

That's,

Speaker 2 4:02

that's very special. That feels special

Speaker 4 4:03

That does feel special.

Mark 4:04

That feels special.

Francis 4:05

And we're gonna open this bottle. So they

Speaker 4 4:07

they have rele- this isn't their first ever release. They have released before. They've won some great awards. Oh, this,

Francis 4:12

a, it's a sealed wax top, but

Speaker 4 4:14

but they have conveniently made one that you can cut

Francis 4:16

with a wine

Speaker 4 4:17

opener.

Francis 4:18

All right, let's

Speaker 4 4:18

Let's see.

Francis 4:19

Distilled from qui root.

Speaker 4 4:22

K- oh, ki varietal. I guess there are

Francis 4:24

kinds of qui, like there's different kinds of,

Mark 4:26

Yeah, I'm Very knowledgeable on

Speaker 2 4:28

on this subject.

Francis 4:28

not, we are not knowledgeable at all, but it, there must be different,

Speaker 4 4:31

versions of it, you

Francis 4:32

different kinds of mezcal.

Mark 4:34

So that-

Speaker 4 4:34

this is pretty cool.

Speaker 2 4:35

So that-

Mark 4:36

oak is gonna give a little bit of color, even if it's not for too, in there for too long

Francis 4:40

it's really kind of a straw yellow

Speaker 4 4:42

gold.

Speaker 2 4:42

Yeah, it's got a real whiskey vibe.

Francis 4:44

Wow. I've never smelled anything like that. It's got a real whiskey vibe. It's almost got a scotch-like note to it. But it's, it's, it's

Speaker 4 4:51

it's kinda honeyed.

Mark 4:52

It's got definitely, you know, that honeysuckle

Francis 4:55

and I say scotch 'cause it's got kind of that

Speaker 4 4:58

clover field, Mm-hmm clover kinda thing.

Francis 5:01

Very gentle

Speaker 4 5:02

for the-

Speaker 2 5:03

Yeah

Speaker 4 5:04

Well, it's 41.7%, so-

Speaker 2 5:05

Let's go.

Speaker 4 5:06

Yeah, yeah

Francis 5:07

A whole

Speaker 4 5:08

new Richard

Speaker 2 5:09

Ladies and

Mark 5:09

we have a new category

Speaker 4 5:10

Wow. Wow. I

Speaker 2 5:12

mean- Which super,

Mark 5:13

know, I, I get that, that smokiness that you would get from a scotch-

Speaker 2 5:16

Right, right,

Mark 5:17

But at the same time, I get that, that honey heather that, you get from an Irish

Speaker 2 5:21

whiskey.

Speaker 4 5:22

Yeah.

Mark 5:23

You know, I got a little bit of that vibe in there at the same time, But I think more scotch-like than, than anything else.

Francis 5:30

Time, but I think more scotch-like than, than anything else Yeah, but

Speaker 4 5:30

but there's

Francis 5:30

a... it's got

Speaker 4 5:31

got a richness to it, and there's,

Francis 5:32

there's that

Speaker 4 5:33

core of honey, and

Francis 5:34

a viscous r-

Speaker 4 5:35

richness through it. And

Francis 5:37

finish goes on forever. I'm a sh- super big fan. I think they sell this for, like, 500 bucks

Mark 5:43

bottle. This is really

Speaker 2 5:44

cool.

Speaker 4 5:44

I

Francis 5:44

It's really cool. I think they sell this for, like, 500 bucks

Mark 5:45

for like 500 bucks a bottle. It's a lot.

Francis 5:46

It's a lot.

Speaker 4 5:50

Um-

Speaker 2 5:50

Well, we are drinking

Mark 5:51

a hand-labeled, hand-bottled 125

Speaker 2 5:53

125

Mark 5:54

of

Speaker 2 5:54

of 150.

Francis 5:55

Well, and I have to say, I'm an old, I'm a cynical old man, And this is a

Speaker 4 5:58

a brand n- something brand new under the sun. Uh, so- I'm, I'm very impressed

Speaker 2 6:01

all right.

Mark 6:02

So if you are a friend of mine

Speaker 2 6:04

and you

Mark 6:05

try this product, come in and, pour you a little sample. If you are not a friend of mine, I will tell you we're out of it.

Speaker 2 6:10

it.

Francis 6:10

I, well, no,

Speaker 4 6:11

no, so Here's the deal. Here's what we're gonna do. If

Francis 6:13

a Restaurant Guys regular, and if you are a Restaurant Guys regular,

Speaker 4 6:16

then within a month of or podcast,

Francis 6:18

you

Speaker 4 6:18

come into Stage Left in Catherine Lombardi

Francis 6:20

ask for us." We're

Speaker 4 6:21

usually here. But whether we are or we're not, if you want,

Francis 6:24

the

Speaker 4 6:24

first two people who are Restaurant Guys regulars

Francis 6:26

in and ask for

Speaker 4 6:27

for a little,

Francis 6:28

little

Speaker 4 6:28

taste of this, we will pour you a little- We'll pour,

Speaker 2 6:30

you

Mark 6:30

we'll pour you a little half ounce until we can't pour you a little half ounce anymore.

Francis 6:33

Yeah, well no, first five guys. I'm

Speaker 4 6:35

I'm drinking the rest. You

Francis 6:36

I'm only giving the first five

Mark 6:37

drinking it. We can't, we're only getting the first five guys. I didn't say why we

Speaker 2 6:38

can't

Francis 6:39

I was gonna say, when, why we can't have nice things? Yeah. Oh, there, there you go. All right, so let's tell everybody about this spirit, 'cause I was fascinated to learn about it. So it's the Ola Distillery in Hilo. and what this is from

Speaker 4 6:47

from the ki root. So the ki root,

Francis 6:49

K-I,

Speaker 4 6:50

is native

Francis 6:51

the Hawaiian Island chain, and it

Speaker 4 6:53

it was

Francis 6:53

produced throughout the Hawaiian Islands .........pre-European contact, right? So it was

Speaker 4 6:58

fermented, slightly

Francis 7:00

'cause it has an okay sugar content, But it was a lightly fermented beverage. It

Speaker 4 7:04

It was really the only

Francis 7:05

product that the native Hawaiians had on the, on the island, right? That's what I

Speaker 4 7:08

I read.

Speaker 2 7:09

Yeah.

Speaker 4 7:09

and then they encountered

Francis 7:11

sailors who were like, Let's turn this up

Mark 7:13

And then it

Speaker 4 7:14

a bit," right? And so it

Mark 7:15

need more alcohol, less volume

Francis 7:17

And then it became a stronger, uh, alcoholic product 'cause they

Speaker 4 7:21

they fermen- they- Mm-hmm ......c- and concentrated sugars more and fermented it better, and then they distilled it. And so this became,

Francis 7:27

it's kind of a, a

Speaker 4 7:28

confluence of the native

Francis 7:31

and then meeting European

Speaker 4 7:32

practices. And the name comes from... Okole Hao

Francis 7:36

means iron butt

Speaker 4 7:38

because they

Francis 7:38

ferment it in iron, rounded pots. And what everybody does- Yeah, that's what it meant. And what

Speaker 4 7:42

I'm, glad that's

Speaker 2 7:42

what it meant

Speaker 4 7:43

and, And what everybody doesn't know is- that was also Mark's nickname in high school- Iron,

Francis 7:48

iron butt. Okay, there you go.

Speaker 4 7:50

so what emerged

Francis 7:50

the iron butts was kind of, a

Speaker 4 7:53

moonshine. I'm

Francis 7:54

they weren't aging it in virgin oak barrels

Speaker 4 7:57

in the, in the ships, but-

Speaker 2 7:58

There's a

Mark 7:59

part of the story though that I, that I'm enjoying.

Speaker 2 8:02

This is in an old sugar

Mark 8:04

that was built in 1924 is where the distillery is, and they've

Speaker 2 8:08

they've

Mark 8:08

of repurposed that old sugar factory to become this distillery, and, uh, just a

Speaker 2 8:12

a cool story.

Speaker 4 8:13

Yeah. and if

Francis 8:14

if you're

Speaker 4 8:14

you're, down there,

Francis 8:15

it's worth a visit. I'm gonna visit

Mark 8:16

it

Speaker 4 8:16

it if if I'm- For sure I'm out,

Francis 8:18

it it looks beautiful and it's

Speaker 4 8:19

it's a cool story and they, obviously were taking great care

Francis 8:23

the fermentation. it's three different stills. They have two

Speaker 4 8:25

two different kinds of continuous stills and a pot still.

Francis 8:28

Uh, obviously they're taking a lot of care. It's

Speaker 4 8:30

Has everyone tuned off yet? Are we- I I just did. Can I

Mark 8:32

All right. They also make a smoked-

Speaker 2 8:32

just... Sorry.

Francis 8:32

sorry. They

Speaker 4 8:33

They

Francis 8:34

make a smoked- version, 'cause you were talking about smoky before. Yeah. This isn't that, with local woods.

Speaker 4 8:39

And one of the cool things they do is when they make the spirit, they put it in barrels that they rotate every day.

Francis 8:47

And so you read a lot about-

Speaker 2 8:49

You mean like

Mark 8:49

they

Francis 8:50

You mean like riddling they rotate? yeah. yeah. They, they turn the barrel every day.

Speaker 2 8:52

Okay.

Speaker 4 8:53

is, but you can't age things very long on islands

Francis 8:55

a lot of wind, a lot of heat, a lot of dryness, you know. Seven years in there's nothing left

Mark 9:00

the

Speaker 4 9:00

in the barrel. Right, evaporation. You know?

Francis 9:01

they turn it every day ...and they're taking advantage of And one of the things they say, which is not what the indigenous spirit was when it wasn't aged in oak,

Speaker 4 9:09

with the fact that oak respires, you know, that you get Mm-hmm ......some respiration to it,

Francis 9:13

the salty air, the tropical air, the tropical breezes

Speaker 4 9:17

give it a unique

Francis 9:18

like happens with some rums. but they also, they agitate it every day cause it

Speaker 4 9:22

it does what those

Francis 9:23

bottlings do. Like, so one of the things that's popular

Speaker 4 9:27

is they've taken to

Francis 9:29

aging a lot of different whiskeys on ships,

Speaker 4 9:32

sending them around the world. And one of the things that happens with them,

Francis 9:35

they're in sealed containers, not oak, but one of the things that happens with them is they're agitated all the time 'cause the boat is always moving, And they, conjecture that that has an effect on the spirit.

Speaker 4 9:45

So-

Speaker 2 9:45

So sitting next to you is a lot like me

Mark 9:47

a whiskey on a

Speaker 2 9:48

on a boat.

Speaker 4 9:48

Why is that

Mark 9:48

I'm agitated

Speaker 2 9:49

all the time.

Francis 9:51

I didn't see that coming. I'm really surprised. I'm

Speaker 4 9:54

I'm really surprised.

Francis 9:55

Um, but I don't roll you around, every day only 'cause I can't. I

Speaker 4 9:58

I would. I would if I could. Jefferson Ocean Aged Bourbon is tremendous,

Francis 10:03

the cask

Speaker 4 10:03

strength. So we love the ocean

Francis 10:06

trend. I I find that it does affect the spirit because we have a lot of-

Speaker 4 10:08

lot

Mark 10:09

gotta tell you, it was one of those things that I just thought was malarkey.

Speaker 2 10:12

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And it,

Mark 10:13

there it

Speaker 2 10:13

it was. it's great It produces great spirit.

Francis 10:16

because you have the Jefferson regular right next to the Jefferson Ocean aged, and the only difference is one has been sent on a voyage for

Speaker 4 10:22

for eight months.

Speaker 2 10:22

Mm-hmm.

Francis 10:23

you're like, Oh, it's,

Speaker 4 10:24

it's different." It's different. Anyway, so-

Speaker 2 10:25

No question it's different.

Speaker 4 10:26

so they do that here. Little bit of the history.

Francis 10:29

it was lightly alcoholic, then it was greater alcoholic, then it was distilled, then it was banned

Speaker 4 10:35

by King Kamehameha I. 'cause everybody's getting

Francis 10:38

on the island.

Speaker 4 10:40

Then,

Francis 10:40

the ban was lifted by King Kamehameha

Speaker 2 10:44

So

Mark 10:44

know what everybody in our generation

Francis 10:46

you know what everybody in our generation knows about- Of

Mark 10:47

course when you say King Kamehameha.

Speaker 2 10:49

I don't know, Mark.

Speaker 4 10:50

What's the story-

Francis 10:52

of a man named Brady who was living with three boys of his own? All right, for All you young people, I wanna tell him of that Brady Bunch

Mark 10:59

So they went to Hawaii and they found a King Kamehameha idol on the beach, and it turns out it was cursed. and Greg had a surfing accident, and then Peter got attacked by a, a, giant spider. And then all sorts of bad things happened until they returned the idol to its rightful

Francis 11:21

So I don't know if you're familiar with the

Speaker 4 11:23

the term jump

Mark 11:24

shark. Do you know that, do

Speaker 4 11:25

do you know

Francis 11:25

that, do you know that term? Do you know what that

Speaker 4 11:26

that means?

Francis 11:27

so jump the shark means, like, when you've just gone too far. it's over, it's... And it was... So as the Happy Days franchise kept going, and they just ran out of stuff to write about, they went somewhere, and Fonzie not only is a motorcycle guy,

Speaker 4 11:41

He was water skiing,

Francis 11:42

and then there's a shark, and then Fonzie jumps the shark, He jumped the shark, and that was when everybody, even nine-year-olds were like, "Okay, this show's too stupid." I can't watch I can't

Speaker 4 11:52

can't watch it anymore."

Francis 11:53

And the similar episode for The Brady Bunch was the Hawaiian vacation with

Mark 11:56

I loved... It

Speaker 2 11:57

It was a two-parter.

Speaker 4 11:59

Okay?

Francis 12:00

I forgot

Mark 12:01

loved that show.

Speaker 2 12:02

You're just not thinking like a 10-year-old

Francis 12:04

just not thinking like a 10-year-old. Yeah, I know. I'm thinking like an old man, and to finish the history of this particular

Speaker 4 12:09

spirit, in 1889 a smuggled bottle earned a bronze medal at the Paris Exposition,

Francis 12:15

and so it had

Speaker 4 12:16

international standing. So

Francis 12:19

what happens after World War

Speaker 4 12:20

II.

Francis 12:20

I- it was illegal.

Speaker 4 12:22

moonshiners were doing it, some World War II people

Francis 13:51

stationed there. My dad was actually stationed on Hawaii in World

Speaker 4 13:54

World War

Mark 13:54

So was Uncle Joe

Speaker 4 13:55

never never heard of this spirit from either

Francis 13:57

Joe or

Speaker 4 13:58

or my dad. but then it kind

Francis 13:59

faded away completely,

Speaker 4 14:01

like, if you were a tourist,

Francis 14:02

you could buy a souvenir bottle. But what the souvenir bottles were, was they were, either bourbon or some other neutral spirit with some

Speaker 4 14:10

extract

Francis 14:10

of the ki root in it And so it wasn't really being made on any scale at all. Fakey

Speaker 2 14:15

Fakey fake.

Speaker 4 14:15

fakey fakey fakey, fake. Um, and

Francis 14:17

it's, I think it's really tremendous that,

Speaker 4 14:20

you know,

Francis 14:21

there's a a renaissance, if you will, of this,

Mark 14:23

I'm

Francis 14:23

uh, great

Mark 14:24

a big fan of new categories, so let's go. Let's make 10 of

Speaker 2 14:27

of these.

Mark 14:28

Let's have 10 different versions

Speaker 2 14:30

and

Mark 14:31

out a new category.

Francis 14:32

thanks Kelvin for

Speaker 4 14:33

for sending it. We're gonna be right back with our guests. As you know, our favorite

Francis 14:36

we ever have, us. So stick with us. we'll be

Speaker 4 14:38

we'll be back in just a second. Okay. Hey there, everybody. Welcome back. It's Mark and Francis. So

Francis 14:43

are we gonna talk about today, Mark? We have no guests, so we have to

Speaker 4 14:45

to, like, talk about our own stuff.

Speaker 2 14:47

You know, it's funny, we

Mark 14:48

so

Speaker 2 14:48

much stuff to talk about

Mark 14:50

that we're like,

Speaker 2 14:51

We need to do a show Right with just us

Speaker 4 14:53

Right

Speaker 2 14:54

because we have too many topics we wanna get to.

Francis 14:56

Well,

Speaker 4 14:56

the first thing I wanna talk about is I think the Green Star experiment was very interesting in the

Francis 15:03

Guide,

Speaker 4 15:04

and

Francis 15:05

really nobody to talk about that with

Speaker 4 15:06

with except Michelin.

Francis 15:07

Michelin Man. We could have had the Michelin Man on the show, but, uh, he was unavailable

Speaker 4 15:11

'cause he doesn't really exist.

Francis 15:12

So, um, let's talk about the Green Stars. Will you tell everyone

Speaker 4 15:15

what Green Stars were?

Mark 15:16

So Green Stars were a Michelin accolade that that you could earn by sourcing local and really focusing on your ingredients being sustainable, it more than that. also the way you treated your Oh, my

Speaker 4 15:30

God, mental health of your employees overall.

Speaker 2 15:34

I just think that It, it really never had a chance, and I think the reason it never had a chance is because how could you...

Mark 15:42

a lot of people

Speaker 2 15:43

wanted to go for it, how could you vet them all? There's so many metrics. Dude, if two people wanted to go for it, how do

Mark 15:49

vet them all? Well,

Speaker 2 15:50

them all? Well, you have a lot of,

Mark 15:51

you had a lot of

Speaker 2 15:51

of people trying to get a Green Michelin Star. Our friend Michael Cimarusti at Providence a, a, Michelin Green Star.

Speaker 4 15:57

and, and there's no doubt. I mean, we know people who work for him now Mm-hmm and who used to work for him at a high level, and

Francis 16:01

you know, he

Speaker 4 16:02

really does everything to-

Speaker 2 16:03

Right down to the, beehive on the roof.

Francis 16:06

yeah.

Speaker 4 16:07

I think it's good to recognize restaurants that do those things, but you know, when you're awarding a Michelin Star for service or, or a, a Bib Gourmand or multiple stars, it's about sending in a critic who judges what the diner's experience is with service and food. That's pretty-

Speaker 2 16:24

Judges the product.

Speaker 4 16:25

Yeah, and you

Speaker 2 16:26

may- They, they Judge the results.

Speaker 4 16:28

And, and, you know, you can... Y- you judge what the customer gets when they go- Mm-hmm. into the dining room, And you may get that wrong. You may visit on three bad nights. Mm-hmm. You might have a

Francis 16:36

that's

Speaker 4 16:36

not that good, but Michelin Star... Michelin was always known for having great reviewers who remained anonymous, who visited several times, and, you

Francis 16:44

could judge a product. But if you're

Speaker 4 16:46

trying to judge all those other things,

Francis 16:48

you gotta send in somebody to, like, cross-reference receipts, ......uh, do mental health

Speaker 4 16:53

checks on the employ- It

Francis 16:54

foolish endeavor, I think,

Speaker 4 16:55

and

Francis 16:56

the way they

Speaker 4 16:57

did it

Francis 16:57

they were like,

Speaker 4 16:58

Oh, well, we, you answer a

Francis 17:01

Now, no one has ever lied on

Speaker 4 17:02

on a questionnaire as far as we know. But might they exaggerate? But

Speaker 2 17:06

you know they vetted some of that, you know- Yeah, but- You know from talking to Michael they spent some time vetting Providence and making sure it was Green Star worthy. I think the problem,

Mark 17:16

honestly from where I sit,

Speaker 2 17:18

was y- you just can't use all those resources to, to truly vet all the places that want a Michelin Green Star- I or that are, that are in line to possibly get one.

Speaker 4 17:29

Well, I 100% agree with you there. But I think even if you wanted to... Do you remember the story we did, um, I think this was in the old,

Francis 17:37

the, before the

Speaker 4 17:38

the resu-

Francis 17:39

the, before the

Speaker 4 17:39

the resurrected restaurant guys. Mm-hmm. We did a story on a like a-

Speaker 2 17:42

Resurrected and Restaurant Guys, let's not do that.

Speaker 4 17:45

Okay. Let's...

Speaker 2 17:46

It's a little-

Francis 17:46

no, we're gonna hold

Speaker 2 17:47

off- It just feels a little bit,

Francis 17:48

That is a little bit, uh- No, We'll wait until we start our cult blasphemous. We'll wait until we start our cult. Anyway,

Speaker 4 17:52

th- but there was a, a a young chef

Francis 17:55

who

Speaker 4 17:55

opened a sustainable restaurant on an island, and he claimed that everything they served

Francis 18:01

came from that

Speaker 4 18:01

that island.

Speaker 2 18:02

Mm-hmm.

Speaker 4 18:02

And we're like, "Well, sir-"

Francis 18:04

Where

Speaker 4 18:04

is your two acre chicken coop?" You know what I mean? Mm-hmm. It was like be... It was physically impossible- Right. I,

Speaker 2 18:09

I

Speaker 4 18:09

do remember that ...for everything to come from that I do remember that story. But, but

Francis 18:11

so-

Speaker 4 18:12

some stuff

Francis 18:12

come from the island, And

Speaker 4 18:14

And it was when workers who worked for him

Francis 18:17

the

Speaker 4 18:17

the whistle.

Speaker 2 18:17

Outed him.

Francis 18:18

How would they know? Um, so how would

Speaker 4 18:19

would

Francis 18:19

know that you're gonna cross-reference

Speaker 4 18:20

his

Francis 18:21

for a year to see which

Speaker 4 18:22

eggs come from where? Uh. It

Francis 18:24

it was a fool's errand. I, it was a

Speaker 4 18:25

was a fool's errand.

Speaker 2 18:26

It seems really, really difficult to do. Uh-

Speaker 4 18:29

Anyway, they pulled it. And you know what? Kudos for them for trying,

Francis 18:31

but I'm glad they pulled it cause I thought, Oh, there's a lot of

Speaker 4 18:34

of opportunity for bullshitting here."

Speaker 2 18:35

So,

Mark 18:36

you know, on the topic of Michelin, uh, you and I haven't really covered There are a lot more places where Michelin restaurants are being reviewed. And a lot more types of restaurants are getting Michelin stars and Michelin recog- recognition

Speaker 2 18:53

right now.

Speaker 4 18:53

Yeah.

Speaker 2 18:54

And some of that I

Mark 18:56

as a really

Speaker 2 18:57

good thing,

Mark 18:58

and some of

Speaker 2 18:59

of that I see

Mark 19:00

a, like Michelin being a little both

Speaker 2 19:03

deluded and Diluted

Speaker 4 19:06

Diluted and Deluded. Yes. That

Francis 19:08

great, Mark. I like that.

Speaker 4 19:10

We should

Francis 19:10

a band, and that should be

Speaker 4 19:11

be its name. Diluted and Deluded. Um, yeah, well, you know, it's funny. I think the problem is,

Speaker 2 19:18

And we could spend all day talking about this, and we're not gonna do that

Speaker 4 19:20

Yeah, but just

Speaker 2 19:21

So no worries for those of you who are about to turn us off.

Speaker 4 19:23

but the

Francis 19:24

but the Michelin stars were, I

Speaker 4 19:26

I think

Francis 19:26

one star had a, had a cast a broad net. But

Speaker 4 19:29

But when you get to two and three stars, historically

Francis 19:31

it has

Speaker 4 19:31

has always been fine linen tablecloth, fine dining rooted in Mm-hmm the Western tradition, and they're trying to broaden that out. And I think it's great

Francis 19:38

broaden that out, but

Speaker 4 19:39

but I just think that you need to, have a different category w- A Michelin three star restaurant

Francis 19:45

not be a sandwich truck under it.

Speaker 4 19:46

it. Mm-hmm. Now,

Francis 19:46

I'm

Speaker 4 19:47

exaggerating.

Speaker 2 19:47

Right.

Speaker 4 19:48

Yeah. It's,

Speaker 2 19:48

it's- I, I, and I guess what you and I are saying there is it can't just taste good.

Francis 19:52

Yeah,

Speaker 2 19:53

Can't just be super tasty. There's got, there's gotta be more to it than that.

Speaker 4 19:57

I think that brings up the issue are restaurant critics still

Francis 19:59

at all?

Speaker 4 20:00

And, and I think

Francis 20:01

grew up in a time

Speaker 4 20:02

when restaurant critics were everything, and they'd visit you once every year or two years- I think Michelin is still important

Speaker 2 20:07

or three years.

Speaker 4 20:08

Yes.

Speaker 2 20:08

So you have to... Y- if, and those are restaurant critics. are, are, are four diamonds from,

Mark 20:13

AAA

Speaker 2 20:14

still important?

Speaker 4 20:15

Oh,

Speaker 2 20:15

it's important. It's not as important as it once was, but still important. So those, those people are critics.

Speaker 4 20:20

think I think

Francis 20:21

for our

Speaker 4 20:22

growing up they were too important. And I think-

Francis 20:24

...that in this day and

Speaker 4 20:25

and age-

Speaker 2 20:26

Jim, Jim from Sheboygan who- Yeah who comes in and says- But, but it's- your staircase

Mark 20:30

is,

Speaker 2 20:31

too steep

Speaker 4 20:31

Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker 2 20:32

And it should- It's a little- should be disqualified.

Speaker 4 20:34

Well, look, there are problems with both sides, but I think there are places in the world for professional writers like Michelin and the, and the professional food

Francis 20:40

out there still. Um, and

Speaker 4 20:42

and I think maybe we don't give them enough credit these days. Mm-hmm.

Francis 20:44

Um, but I

Speaker 4 20:45

I think it's good

Francis 20:46

a balance like that.

Speaker 2 20:47

So, yeah, the Green Star thing, I think is a failed experiment and- Yeah you know, well, well-headed- You know, well-meaning-

Speaker 4 20:54

Kudos to them for trying it,

Speaker 2 20:55

you know? But I think it, I think it had too much red tape.

Speaker 4 20:59

Yeah,

Speaker 2 20:59

I don't think Too much investigation

Francis 21:01

don't think it was possible to

Speaker 4 21:02

to

Speaker 2 21:02

do

Speaker 4 21:02

so there's a lot in this world that people try, and I, you

Francis 21:05

give a lot

Speaker 4 21:05

lot of credit to people who try things, and some things

Francis 21:07

gonna work out well.

Speaker 4 21:09

Let's

Francis 21:09

about another thing that I

Speaker 4 21:11

I think it's a fraught issue that m- may not be working so well

Mark 21:17

certain communities. I don't

Speaker 2 21:18

I don't think

Mark 21:18

fraught issue, 'cause I, 'cause I know what you're gonna talk about, 'cause we had a, a, a pregame today- Yeah

Speaker 4 21:22

Yep

Speaker 2 21:23

where we talked about, mocktail bars.

Mark 21:24

bars. Bars that only make

Speaker 2 21:28

non-alcoholic cocktails.

Speaker 4 21:30

Yeah.

Mark 21:30

And I, you know, I, The reason we're talking about this is is I saw in the news yet

Speaker 2 21:35

another one closed,

Mark 21:36

uh,

Speaker 2 21:37

in Brooklyn. a- a- and I'm like-

Speaker 4 21:39

like,

Mark 21:39

They're,

Speaker 2 21:40

they're going to keep closing.

Speaker 4 21:41

Yeah. It's

Mark 21:42

they're, and they

Speaker 2 21:43

they may keep opening, but they're definitely going to keep closing. Yeah. They're going to keep closing

Mark 21:48

because

Speaker 2 21:50

anybody can do it.

Mark 21:52

And if that's your only purpose... I

Speaker 2 21:54

I don't wanna say anybody

Mark 21:55

it, because obviously some people are gonna

Speaker 2 21:57

gonna do it better than other people do it. Yeah.

Speaker 4 21:58

I mean, anybody can ma- make a chicken.

Speaker 2 21:59

Correct. But Right

Mark 22:02

you have some of the greatest cocktail minds in

Speaker 2 22:04

in the world

Mark 22:06

working on non-alcoholic drinks at Sunken Harbor Club or Kathleen Lombardi or the

Speaker 2 22:12

Clover Club

Speaker 4 22:13

Or Dead Rabbit.

Speaker 2 22:14

Or Dead Rabbit.

Mark 22:15

Or Dead Rabbit Yeah. And some of the greatest cocktail minds and and flavor minds

Speaker 2 22:19

and flavor mixers in the world

Mark 22:22

are working on

Speaker 2 22:23

non-alcoholic spirits. And for you to come in

Mark 22:27

and open one of these

Speaker 2 22:29

places

Mark 22:30

where your

Speaker 2 22:31

choices are so limited- know I think is a problem

Mark 22:34

because

Speaker 2 22:36

There's no reason to go to a cocktail bar that only serves

Mark 22:38

cocktails because you

Speaker 2 22:41

can go

Mark 22:41

a cocktail bar and have non-alcoholic cocktails,

Speaker 2 22:44

unless you don't want to be around people who are drinking.

Speaker 4 22:47

Well, I think that if you,

Francis 22:49

if

Speaker 4 22:50

you don't wanna have alcoholic cocktails and you go to a non-alcoholic cocktail bar, I can see why you might want to do that.

Speaker 2 22:56

Mm-hmm.

Speaker 4 22:57

and I can see how some of those great minds

Francis 22:58

go off and open their own cocktail

Speaker 4 23:00

bars, and maybe some of these non-alcoholic cocktail bars, 'cause we haven't been to many, maybe they're doing amazing work. I think there is just

Francis 23:07

less

Speaker 4 23:07

social about that. And I think, we think that non-alcoholic cocktails are very important to have

Francis 23:12

as part of a cocktail program, or at least I do. do.

Speaker 4 23:14

Do you?

Speaker 2 23:15

Uh-huh.

Mark 23:15

So yes, but I, but I, disagree

Speaker 2 23:18

with you a little bit on

Mark 23:19

one. I don't think they need to be

Speaker 2 23:21

any less social.

Mark 23:23

I th-

Speaker 2 23:23

I look at

Mark 23:24

from an economics perspective, like

Speaker 2 23:26

like I do a lot of things, right?

Speaker 4 23:28

Sure. Yeah.

Mark 23:28

Is this sustainable? Will this continue to work? And you're, when you're single-headed

Speaker 2 23:35

like this

Mark 23:36

and you wanna be extraordinary, you have to

Speaker 2 23:40

to be better

Mark 23:41

than the people who

Speaker 2 23:43

are doing it as part of their

Mark 23:46

Yep. Yep. Okay? You

Speaker 2 23:47

You have to be better than

Mark 23:48

are, And

Speaker 2 23:49

I don't

Mark 23:49

how

Speaker 2 23:50

any of the,

Mark 23:52

uh, we'll

Speaker 2 23:52

we'll call them mocktail

Mark 23:53

even though the, I

Speaker 2 23:54

I know that

Mark 23:55

some people. I'm sorry if you're upset. but there's no reason to

Speaker 2 23:59

go to

Mark 24:00

places other than to

Speaker 2 24:02

around, not be around people who are drinking.

Mark 24:04

That's, That's, the

Speaker 2 24:04

the only reason I

Mark 24:05

to go to those places Why wouldn't you go to Sunken Harbor Club and have one of the great non-alcoholic cocktails in

Speaker 2 24:11

all the world? Why would you go

Mark 24:14

one of these

Speaker 2 24:14

other places

Mark 24:15

unless you're

Speaker 2 24:16

you're going to a coffee bar?

Speaker 4 24:17

Well, I think you are right in that you

Francis 24:19

you

Speaker 4 24:20

cast a broader net with a great bar that serves both

Francis 24:23

and

Speaker 4 24:23

and non-alcoholic cocktails.

Francis 24:25

I,

Speaker 4 24:25

I'll throw out to you, I think a coffee bar is a good analogy. I think that going out for drinks is a social thing, and we can welcome into the larger social environment of people going out for drinks people who come for non-alcoholic cocktails. The reality is people who come for the non-alcoholic cocktail

Francis 24:43

probably staying for

Speaker 4 24:43

one or two and going anyway. Well,

Speaker 2 24:45

that's why I'm talking about the

Mark 24:46

right? You're, you're

Speaker 2 24:48

probably not staying and

Mark 24:49

dinner. You're

Speaker 2 24:50

probably not staying and having- Well the, the extra things that you would have in that atmosphere.

Speaker 4 24:56

Well, so what you're saying, but what you're saying is that people will, who will go for a non-alcoholic cocktail

Francis 25:00

will be having dinner and a

Speaker 4 25:01

a non-alcoholic cocktail,

Speaker 2 25:02

right?

Speaker 4 25:03

Mm-hmm. But what I mean is if you go to a bar, forget cocktail bar. you and I have been to bars

Francis 25:09

to get a bottle of mediocre beer and play

Speaker 4 25:12

darts, right? Mm-hmm. If it

Francis 25:14

a

Speaker 4 25:14

a non-alcoholic beer bar, we wouldn't have

Francis 25:17

there to play darts, and there's

Speaker 4 25:18

something

Francis 25:19

about alcohol itself

Speaker 4 25:21

for many people

Francis 25:23

that s- other people

Speaker 4 25:24

people wanna be

Francis 25:24

participate in it to whatever level,

Speaker 4 25:26

But nobody goes to the non-alcoholic beer bar and

Francis 25:29

out for four hours

Speaker 4 25:30

listening to music and throwing darts. I- It

Mark 25:32

doesn't happen

Speaker 4 25:33

happen

Speaker 2 25:33

I guess my point is more

Mark 25:35

two, factions of

Speaker 2 25:36

of people are already

Mark 25:37

this niche. Mm-hmm. one faction is the, the coffee bar,

Speaker 2 25:41

and they're doing their thing,

Mark 25:42

kudos to them. they they filled a void that,

Speaker 2 25:45

that I didn't even know existed.

Mark 25:47

Right. But they definitely have done it, and congratulations, and they're doing it.

Speaker 2 25:50

And the other is

Mark 25:51

the

Speaker 2 25:52

true cocktail bar

Mark 25:53

where people are going out

Speaker 2 25:54

out to socialize,

Mark 25:55

and actually it's

Speaker 2 25:56

it's an... There's

Mark 25:57

one, the, restaurant that is serving cocktails

Speaker 2 26:01

and wine and Yeah ...liquor

Mark 26:02

those things. Those places are

Speaker 2 26:04

already filling

Mark 26:05

void. Yeah.

Speaker 4 26:05

Yes.

Mark 26:06

now you're

Speaker 2 26:06

you're gonna also

Mark 26:07

against restaurants that

Speaker 2 26:08

that have no liquor licenses, which we have a lot of here

Mark 26:10

Jersey-

Speaker 4 26:11

yeah

Speaker 2 26:11

which are serving non-alcoholic cocktails.

Mark 26:14

to go to a, a bar that is not serving alcoholic cocktails, that is

Speaker 2 26:18

is not serving,

Mark 26:19

a

Speaker 2 26:20

restaurant menu,

Mark 26:22

I, just don't see the need for it. I don't see how that mocktail bar, stays in business for a long period of time,

Speaker 2 26:29

and,

Mark 26:29

so far I'm right.

Speaker 4 26:31

I agree with everything you said,

Francis 26:33

t-

Speaker 4 26:33

I say that the non-alcoholic bar, the bar that serves

Francis 26:37

even if it's mediocre, but if it's in a good place and it's

Speaker 4 26:40

it's convenient,

Francis 26:41

people will go there and hang out all

Speaker 4 26:42

all afternoon and watch the game, or just hang out with each other, or go there and meet and talk. But people are not going to the... the You go to the coffee, bar, you have your coffee, you leave. Nobody stays at the coffee bar all afternoon drinking coffee for four hours. And I think it's just a, it's a different social milieu You

Speaker 2 26:57

so Jennifer has just brought to us a

Mark 27:00

point, that

Speaker 2 27:00

she sits in a

Mark 27:01

bar, and spends

Speaker 2 27:03

three or four

Mark 27:03

there. And Francis' retort to that was,

Speaker 2 27:06

"Well, how many do you have?" And she

Mark 27:08

Two." And

Speaker 2 27:09

my point to

Mark 27:10

is,

Speaker 2 27:10

and while Jennifer's sitting there,

Mark 27:13

70 people

Speaker 2 27:14

go up to

Mark 27:14

counter, grab a

Speaker 2 27:16

a to-go coffee, Yeah and go, and go Yeah ...and do

Mark 27:19

thing. Yeah, yeah. And the difference is people aren't gonna go into a mocktail bar, grab their mocktail, take it

Speaker 2 27:25

it to go,

Mark 27:26

and drive home down the,

Speaker 2 27:27

the

Francis 27:28

down the freeway. Al- although I have to tell you, I

Speaker 4 27:29

I think it's kinda interesting. I think of Jersey City,

Francis 27:30

everybody were

Speaker 4 27:31

were walking around

Francis 27:31

fancy mocktails

Mark 27:32

down the

Speaker 4 27:33

down the street- I think it'd really

Francis 27:34

the whole town. I really do.

Speaker 4 27:36

I

Speaker 2 27:36

just- Out for a dog

Francis 27:37

Yeah, that

Mark 27:37

that was a happy- a little puppuccino and a, and a-

Speaker 2 27:39

a- Well- ......and a mocktail

Francis 27:40

A puppuccino. I love it. I honestly, I think I would like it better if it

Speaker 4 27:44

it was actual cocktails, But I think...

Francis 27:46

But here, every place that serves cocktails should

Speaker 4 27:48

serve mocktails. I just think that- Yes ...you can, but you can, Well,

Speaker 2 27:51

and now you have that's happening.

Speaker 4 27:53

yes. yes.

Speaker 2 27:53

So that's why I think there's not

Mark 27:55

space economically. But- Again, I don't,

Speaker 2 27:58

I, I'm not talking

Mark 27:59

philosophically here. I'm

Speaker 2 28:00

talking about economically, I don't know how to make that

Mark 28:03

work, and it appears

Speaker 2 28:04

that nobody does.

Speaker 4 28:06

what I was gonna say earlier is every place that serves

Francis 28:08

cocktails should serve a mocktail, but if they don't, they're gonna be fine as

Speaker 4 28:11

as a business. Mm-hmm. 'Cause you can, you can have a standalone

Francis 28:14

bar, beer bar, whatever. It just isn't economically viable to have

Mark 28:18

a, a

Speaker 4 28:18

bar. I,

Speaker 2 28:18

I don't

Mark 28:19

formula.

Speaker 2 28:19

Maybe

Mark 28:20

economically possible,

Speaker 2 28:21

and maybe somebody's gonna figure out

Mark 28:22

formula,

Speaker 2 28:23

but it ain't gonna be

Francis (2) 28:24

there's end our mocktail bar. discussion

Speaker 4 28:27

I need a drink before we

Francis 28:28

so we'll be back in just a moment.

Speaker 4 28:29

Stick with

Francis 28:30

On

Speaker 4 28:30

On the other side, I'm gonna give you a hack for and the ever-rising cost of wine lists in America, something we discovered when we were out at

Francis 28:38

so you

Speaker 4 28:38

so you don't wanna go

Francis 28:39

Hey there, folks. Welcome back. So Mark, I have a hack that I, I shared with you when we were

Speaker 4 28:44

were out

Speaker 2 28:44

That's

Mark 28:45

cause I

Speaker 2 28:45

I usually call you

Francis 28:46

It's funny 'cause I

Speaker 2 28:47

a hack. So,

Mark 28:48

so tell me

Speaker 2 28:49

me about your Hack-

Speaker 4 28:50

Hack- Do you know, Do you-

Francis 28:50

you- do you know the thing about us is

Mark 28:53

us is

Francis 28:54

know you never

Speaker 4 28:55

call me anything behind my back that you don't call me to my face.

Francis 28:59

Because you call me everything to my face,

Speaker 4 29:01

Which

Francis 29:02

fine, which is

Speaker 4 29:02

is great.

Speaker 2 29:03

I

Mark 29:04

am meaner to you on the show, you are

Speaker 2 29:05

are meaner to me in real life.

Speaker 4 29:06

Oh, that's not- That's not true. I think that's not true.

Francis 29:10

So I came up with a hack I wanna share with everybody. We were out in

Speaker 4 29:13

in Aspen at the Aspen Food

Francis 29:14

Festival. Let

Speaker 4 29:15

Let me tell you something. It's not

Francis 29:17

in

Speaker 4 29:17

in Aspen

Mark 29:18

It- Aspen. is a city

Speaker 2 29:20

for the

Mark 29:21

Yeah. Okay? But it

Speaker 2 29:22

it doesn't mean that that the non-rich can't go and visit and have little samples while

Francis 29:27

can't go and visit and have Little samples. while they're there. Little

Mark 29:28

Little samples. Little samples, and then Yeah

Speaker 4 29:29

skedaddle.

Speaker 2 29:30

Do

Francis 29:30

Little samples. you gotta- you know how you keep poor people out

Speaker 4 29:32

out of your town? Do you

Francis 29:33

how you keep poor people out of your town, You build it on the

Speaker 4 29:35

the top of a mountain.

Francis 29:36

anyway, so

Speaker 4 29:37

I realized-

Speaker 2 29:37

Cause I thought it was your lowest bottle of

Mark 29:39

is

Speaker 2 29:40

$180.

Mark 29:41

Uh, no. I

Speaker 2 29:41

1- I thought that was

Mark 29:42

of the ways to keep

Speaker 2 29:43

poor people out

Speaker 4 29:44

of your town hundred, 125. Yeah.

Francis 29:46

but

Speaker 4 29:46

but honestly,

Francis 29:47

prices are

Speaker 4 29:47

are rising in restaurants, and prices

Mark 29:49

Francis and I are, are traveling a

Speaker 2 29:51

a lot right now, uh, as you know. Thank you Restaurant Guys listeners,

Mark 29:54

supporting, that little

Speaker 2 29:55

dream of

Francis 29:56

And the

Speaker 4 29:56

the regulars in particular. Mm-hmm. Thank you everyone who's a paid subscriber. Thank you very much.

Mark 30:00

but the more we

Speaker 2 30:01

travel, the

Mark 30:02

we see, and it's happening fast.

Speaker 2 30:04

Yeah. It's

Mark 30:05

fast.

Speaker 2 30:05

It, we're

Mark 30:06

back to cities we were

Speaker 2 30:07

were at last year, and we're seeing

Mark 30:09

this, this whole

Speaker 2 30:10

escalation of wine prices and wine lists.

Speaker 4 30:14

Well, and look, we, we own our building, so I think our rate of increase has

Francis 30:17

slower than most. Like, other people- have caught up and, to, to us and gone past us. But, uh, it's, everyone's got, everyone's

Speaker 4 30:24

under tremendous pressure. Everything's uh, more

Francis 30:26

you don't need to hear us whine about

Speaker 4 30:27

that. But what you do face as a consumer is we're facing wine lists where the floor, where the minimum bottle of wine

Francis 30:35

was

Speaker 4 30:35

49, then was 59, then was 65. In New York City, 80 bucks is the

Mark 30:42

and 80, 89 bucks is the

Speaker 2 30:43

the

Mark 30:44

And- ......I see

Speaker 2 30:45

any wine on any

Francis 30:46

list. And in a lot of places 80 bucks, you know, you have four bottles of wine

Speaker 4 30:49

between 80 and 100- Mm-hmm

Francis 30:50

and, 100, and you don't want those four bottles of wine,

Mark 30:52

you know, Right. and

Speaker 2 30:52

And it's the bottle that if you went to a liquor store you could buy for 12 bucks.

Speaker 4 30:55

So here's the interesting thing that

Francis 30:57

I discovered out there, and I realize is kinda true overall. More and More restaurants who are like, "Listen, the rent is so high, I can't charge less than 80 bucks a bottle for a bottle of

Speaker 4 31:07

of wine." Yeah. I... I... and but, but they wanna have a more

Francis 31:11

wine by the glass

Speaker 4 31:12

program. So if they're charging where we were 100,

Speaker 2 31:15

120 bucks for the cheapest bottle of wine- Well, because what end, in- invariably what ends up happening if you, if your wine list

Mark 31:18

too expensive, people will go to beer or wine by the glass

Speaker 2 31:21

or cocktails.

Speaker 4 31:23

Right.

Speaker 2 31:23

So

Mark 31:23

you want your wine by

Speaker 2 31:24

by the glass list to be a little more approachable so it's in line with beer or cocktails, right?

Speaker 4 31:30

So what

Francis 31:30

smart wine buyers are

Speaker 4 31:31

are doing, and yes, you're exactly right, but

Francis 31:33

a lot of smart wine buyers are doing

Speaker 4 31:35

is they're bringing in wines specifically for by the glass. But those wines at a fair markup

Francis 31:43

might be lower than the floor they wanna have- ...for their wine by the

Speaker 4 31:46

the bottle. And so what we started doing was

Francis 31:51

I

Speaker 4 31:51

I noticed that was happening at a

Francis 31:53

out there,

Speaker 4 31:54

and, I've done

Francis 31:55

couple times since,

Speaker 4 31:57

and I noticed that there was a really good glass of wine in their mid by the glass pricing.

Mark 32:03

Let's even call

Speaker 2 32:04

call it 25 bucks a glass, right?

Francis 32:06

R- or 20

Speaker 4 32:07

bucks a

Speaker 2 32:07

glass. Yeah, 20, 25

Mark 32:08

a glass so something that would be

Speaker 2 32:09

80 or 100 bucks a bottle.

Francis 32:12

So

Speaker 4 32:13

I, we looked at something that

Francis 32:13

20 bucks a

Speaker 4 32:14

a glass,

Francis 32:16

their lowest bottle... I, I, didn't want anything

Speaker 4 32:18

under 120 that

Francis 32:19

on their wine list,

Speaker 4 32:20

list, but they had some really thoughtful selections

Francis 32:22

by the glass

Speaker 4 32:22

list. And this is an important question you have to ask.

Francis 32:26

you

Speaker 4 32:26

say to the waiter, the

Francis 32:27

"How many glasses do you get out of a bottle of wine?" Cause

Speaker 4 32:30

some people pour four ounces, some

Francis 32:32

pour five, and

Speaker 4 32:33

and some people pour six, right?

Speaker 2 32:34

Yep.

Francis 32:34

And the,

Speaker 4 32:36

the sommelier said, "Well, we generally get f- uh,

Francis 32:39

and a half glasses out of a bottle of

Speaker 4 32:40

of wine." And I said, Well,

Francis 32:43

okay, this $20 a glass wine, how much is this by the bottle? I don't see it on your bottle list." He's like, "Oh, that's not on the list." I said,

Speaker 4 32:49

"Well,

Francis 32:50

if I were to

Speaker 4 32:50

to order a bottle of this? Can I

Francis 32:51

one?" He's like, "Yeah, you can have that for 80 bucks." I'm like, "Oh, okay. We'll do that

Speaker 2 32:57

I was with Francis

Mark 32:58

when, he did this the first time,

Speaker 2 33:00

that bottle of wine,

Mark 33:01

I believe,

Speaker 2 33:02

was more

Mark 33:03

interesting, a

Speaker 2 33:04

a better value,

Mark 33:05

and made

Speaker 2 33:06

us happier than any of those wines under $120 on that list that we looked at. Yeah.

Speaker 4 33:11

Yeah. So there's a new hack

Francis 33:12

and I think that

Speaker 4 33:13

only... People r- respect what you're doing when you ask the question, but you have to ask,

Francis 33:18

How many glasses you get out of a bottle? Hey, what if I, were to just order a bottle of this? and uh, it's a

Speaker 4 33:23

a new

Francis 33:23

we ordered an $80 bottle of wine

Speaker 4 33:25

there was nothing

Francis 33:26

wanted to drink for under 120.

Speaker 4 33:27

And I, I think that's a, a, trick that's

Francis 33:29

come in handy. So there's a little restaurant guy's

Mark 33:31

hack

Speaker 4 33:32

hack.

Speaker 2 33:32

So Francis, what you don't know-

Speaker 4 33:34

Yeah

Mark 33:35

is that I had a hack

Speaker 2 33:37

very similar to this before you had this hack.

Speaker 4 33:40

Tell me.

Speaker 2 33:41

Well, I

Mark 33:43

went

Speaker 2 33:43

to a restaurant-

Speaker 4 33:44

Yeah

Mark 33:45

and I, needed to to leave relatively quickly and and I didn't want to wait for them to

Speaker 2 33:50

to make me a whole pizza. So I said,

Mark 33:54

"Can I get six slices of

Speaker 2 33:56

this pizza?"

Mark 33:58

And they were like, "Well, I can make you a pie." And

Speaker 2 34:00

And I said, "No,

Mark 34:01

I'll just take

Speaker 2 34:02

these six slices."

Francis 34:03

it

Speaker 4 34:03

it more

Mark 34:04

And they heated up my six slices. It was the same price. They heated up my six slices. I

Speaker 2 34:09

got out of there in six minutes, And I was on

Mark 34:11

way. So I've been doing

Speaker 2 34:13

your little hack

Mark 34:14

since the

Speaker 2 34:15

the '80s.

Speaker 4 34:16

How is it that you're

Francis 34:18

fancy with the fancy upbringing and my dad drove a truck for Reingold? How, how is that? That should be

Speaker 4 34:24

switched. that should really be switched.

Speaker 2 34:25

I think maybe we were, we were born to the wrong

Francis 34:28

I

Speaker 2 34:28

I

Mark 34:29

It's

Speaker 4 34:30

think maybe. Very

Speaker 2 34:31

possible.

Speaker 4 34:32

I think my

Francis 34:32

always want a football player and He didn't get

Mark 34:34

he wanted me, And I wanted

Speaker 2 34:35

wanted my dad to be able to lift a keg.

Speaker 4 34:36

Yeah, there you go. So. Anyway, I hope you

Francis 34:38

have enjoyed the time with just The

Speaker 4 34:40

The Restaurant Guys. It's intimate little things like this that bring us so

Francis 34:43

closer together. Don't you think?

Speaker 4 34:45

us. Hey,

Francis 34:45

wanna support us

Speaker 4 34:46

and support the things we do,

Francis 34:47

we

Speaker 4 34:48

would really appreciate you doing a couple things. One

Francis 34:50

tell a friend about The Restaurant Guys. If you like us, we would love for more people to know about the show. and if you could

Speaker 4 34:56

find your way to subscribe

Francis 34:57

the price of a nice cup of coffee every month, uh, you can have

Speaker 4 35:00

have

Francis 35:01

with The Restaurant Guys and, we would appreciate that very much. I'm Francis

Speaker 4 35:04

Szott.

Speaker 2 35:05

And I'm Mark

Francis 35:06

We are The

Speaker 4 35:06

The Restaurant Guys, and

Francis 35:07

find out more about us, as always, at restaurantguyspodcast.com.