The Restaurant Guys

Mark and Francis announce their guest judging appearance on Ucook! with Chef Bob, which is coming soon to a PBS station near you. Their guest is Kevin Zraly, author of the Windows on the World Complete Wine Course and a new book, The Ultimate Wine Companion: The Complete Guide to Understanding Wine by the World's Foremost Wine Authorities. Kevin is also soon to receive a lifetime achievement award present by the James Beard Foundation. The conversation spans everything from how Kevin inspired so many people, including Francis, to go into the wine business, up and coming wine regions of the world, the passion required in wine making and studying about wine in general, and the technological advances in books that will allow you to watch videos of Kevin when you buy a digital copy of the Windows on the World Wine Course book in the coming months....

Aki Kamozawa, co-author of Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work joins Mark and Francis to discuss the science behind recipes and why bread rises, how to make sauces have a certain mouthfeel, how to cook meat perfectly, specifically why cooking at a lower temperature makes meat more tender and flavorful, and how freezing can enhance the character of foods, among other topics....

Mark and Francis start the show with a discussion of genetically modified foods and the effect they are having on weeds and the advent of roundup resistant weeds and corn as a weed. Their guest is Nick Fauchald, editor-in-chief of tastingtable.com. Their conversation covers secret dining clubs, tasting table, and how Nick and his team gathers all of their information for their electronic publication....

Mark and Francis begin the show with a discussion of possible new legislation in New York that would prohibit smoking on public sidewalks and in parks. Their guest is David Wondrich. They discuss all kinds of punch, from punches made by Mark and Francis in college to more traditional American punches that are featured in David Wondrich's new book, Punch: The Delights (and Dangers) of the Flowing Bowl....

Mark and Francis discuss tipping. Their guest is Colman Andrews. He was the cofounder and a former editor in chief of Saveur, and is the author of four acclaimed cookbooks, including Catalan Cuisine, which introduced the now-trendy cooking of Catalonia, Ferran Adria's home region, to American food-lovers. He joins to guys to discuss his book, Ferran: The Inside Story of El Bulli and the Man Who Reinvented Food....

Cat food on the cover of the New York Times? Mark and Francis discuss the recent pet-centric articles in the food section of the New York Times, as well as the upcoming Manhattan Cocktail Classic. Their guest is Terry Theise, author of Reading Between the Wines. They discuss Austrian and German wines and why they were once a challenge to import and sell in America....

Mark and Francis start the show off with a discussion about genetically engineered fish and the potential pitfalls of its possible legalization. Their guest is Rowan Jacobsen. Rowan Jacobsen is the James Beard Award-winning author of A Geography of Oysters: The Connoisseur's Guide to Oyster Eating in North America, Fruitless Fall: The Collapse of the Honey Bee and the Coming Agricultural Crisis, and The Living Shore, about our ancient connection to estuaries and their potential to heal the oceans. They discuss his new book, American Terroir....

The guys start the show with a discussion of the upcoming New Year's Eve festivities in New Brunswick. Their guest is Eric Ripert, chef at Le Bernardin star of the PBS show, Avec Eric, and author of the accompanying book of the same name. The discussion covers Chef Gordon Ramsay's treatment of chefs on his TV shows and alternate ways of nurturing chefs and other staff in a restaurant situation. They also discuss travel and its effect on the creation of new dishes in restaurants, as well as Chef Ripert's new show and its unique format....

Mark and Francis start the show with a discussion of the mystery of the red bees of Red Hook, Brooklyn. Lidia Bastianich is one of the most-loved chefs on television, a best-selling cookbook author, restaurateur. She joins the guys to talk about her new book, Nonna, Tell Me a Story. They also discuss Eataly, Lidia's Italian shopping and dining project in New York City....

The guys start the show with a discussion of at home winemaking companies and the different pitfalls and pleasures of amateur wine-making. Their guest for the day is Karen Bussen, a well-known New York-based wedding planner and the author of seven books in STC's "Simple Stunning" wedding series. She joins the guys to discuss parties she's planned and some tips for planning parties at home that are outlined in her most recent book, Simple Stunning Parties at Home....

The guys start off the show with a discussion of some of Mark's favorite meals in the last six months. Their guest is Dushan Zaric. Dushan Zaric is co-owner of the Macao Trading Company and Employees Only, two cocktail bars in New York City. He is also the author of the new book, Speakeasy. He joins to guys to discuss his new book, as well as his Bar Academia, a bartending course for novices and professionals alike....

To start off the show, the guys discuss the new New York Times rating system for restaurants in New Jersey and some possible better alternatives. Then the guys chat with Dave Broom, the author of The World Atlas of Whisky. Dave is one of the foremost experts on whisky in the world and has written about whisky over the last 20 years for such publications as Whisky Magazine, The Spectator, Mixology, and Imbide. They discuss everything from production differences in whiskies, ingredient differences in whiskies, and how what choices a distiller makes during the distillation process affects what the finished product tastes like....

The guys start the show by discussing the benefits of having cameras in the restaurant and how they've helped them to catch various misdeeds on camera, including a recent incident with some construction workers. Their guest is Angela Miller, author of Hay Fever: How Chasing a Dream on a Vermont Farm Changed My Life. They discuss Angela's goat farm, Consider Bardwell Dairy, and the cheeses she produces, as well as how she splits her time between being a literary agent in New York and being a dairy farmer in Vermont....

La Petraia: Mark and Francis travel to La Petraia, an agrotourismo in the Chinati Classico region of Italy. They walk through the property with Susan McKenna Grant and Marco Panichi and discuss the various things grown on the property and how they are used in the agrotourismo....

Antoinette Bruno of StarChefs.com joins the guys to discuss the upcoming Chef's Congress happening in New York City September 20, 21, and 22. They discuss mixology, the various events, and the Rising Stars Gala happening in New Jersey on September 22nd....