The Restaurant Guys

Ben Hewitt is the author of The Town That Food Saved: How One Community Found Vitality in Local Food. He joins the guys to discuss living in Vermont, the situation in Hardwick Vermont, and the state of food in America....

Janit London joins the guys to discuss her food co-op, Purple Dragon. Amy Sutherland joins the guys to discuss cook-offs in America....

Lionello Marchese joins Mark and Francis at Vinitaly to discuss his wine, Castello di Monastero. They discuss Lionello's previous businesses and how that business experience relates to the business of wine. They also discuss the unique terroir of Tuscany and the wines that are made there....

Michael J Gelb is the author of the book Wine Drinking for Inspired Thinking. He is a pioneer in the fields of creative thinking, accelerated learning and innovatve leadership. He joins the guys to discuss his book and the principles that are described within....

Mark and Francis travel to the Vinitaly wine conference in Verona Italy, one of the most important wine conferences in the world, and interview some very important people from each link of the chain that brings quality wine to you. Silvia Vanucci's family produces top quality Sangiovese/Cabernet blends from their family estate in the Carmignano region of Tuscany. Iano DeGrazia, along with his brother Marco DeGrazia export the wine to the United States, where it is distributed by Harmon Skurnik, along with his brother Michael of Michael Skurnik Wines. The wine then finds a home in reputable wine shops and restaurants like Stage Left and Catherine Lombardi. Mark and Francis discuss the whole shebang and process with Silvia, Iano and Michael....

Fresh: The Movie Fresh, celebrates the farmers, thinkers, and business people across America who are reinventing our food system. Producer, Ana Sofia Joanes grew up in Switzerland, but attended college in the US at Barnard and went on to study law at Columbia Law School. Her first documentary, Generation Meds, explored our fears and misgivings about mental illness and medication. She joins the guys to discuss her second film, Fresh!...

Daniel Okrent was the first public editor of The New York Times, editor-at-large of Time, Inc., and managing editor of Life magazine. He worked in book publishing as an editor at Knopf and Viking, and was editor-in-chief of general books at Harcourt Brace. He is author of four books, one of which, Great Fortune, was a finalist for the 2004 Pulitzer Prize in history. He joins the guys today to discuss his new book, Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition....

Giovanni Bonmartini Fini joins the guys to discuss the Pinot Grigio and Merlot that he makes at his family's estate in Alto Adige. They discuss the differences between DOC and IGT wines and their place in the consumer marketplace....

Johnny Iuzzini is the executive pastry chef of the world-renowned Jean Georges restaurant in New York City, won the award for Outstanding Pastry Chef from the James Beard Foundation in 2006. He joins the guys to discuss his new book Dessert Fourplay....

Greg Boehm is an established cocktail expert hailing from Chelsea in New York City. He owns Mud Puddle Books and its child company Cocktail Kingdom, which sells historical bartending guides, exotic mixers and hi-tech bartending tools. He also has a famous library of cocktail books dating back to the 1600's. The guys discuss Greg's library and the importance of out of print cocktail books to today's bartenders....

Mark and Francis discuss a new study from Princeton University on high fructose corn syrup and its effect on obesity. They also interview Stephen Fried, an award-winning investigative journalist , essayist and adjunct professor at Columbia University. They discuss his newest book, Appetite for America, which chronicles the creation of the American hospitality industry by legendary businessman Fred Harvey....

Tony Abou Ganim joins us today to discuss his new book, The Modern Mixologist: Contemporary Classic Cocktails. Tony Abou Ganim created the cocktail program at the Bellagio Resort. He is also the National Ambassador of the US Bartender's Guild and an Associate Member of the Museum of the American Cocktail....

Dinner in a Garage? That's right! Mark and Francis joined some friends at Brooklyn's Fette Sau, a bbq place in a refurbished (slightly) commercial garage. The food is great as is the beer selection. Raw Milk and Food Rights is the topic for discussion with David Gumpert. is a journalist who blogs regularly about the business of health and has written a number of books about small business and entrepreneurship, including Burn Your Business Plan! His latest book is, The Raw Milk Revolution: Behind America's Emerging Battle Over Food Rights. The Guys also talk about the fight to save Zinniker Farm....

Lesley Townsend is the Founder and director of the Manhattan Cocktail Classic and the founding director of Astor Center. A devout believer in the healing properties of madeira and a proud defender of whole eggs in cocktails, Lesley is thinking she should really knuckle down and write a proper bio one of these days (though that day is certainly not today). Lesley joins Mark and Francis to talk about the upcoming Manhattan Cocktail Classic to be held in New York May 14th - 18th. Tickets are on sale now. You can get a discount to the seminar The Guys are doing at the event! Enter promotion code: Restaurant Guys....

The Guys begin the show with a discussion of www.ExpenseASteak.com (http://www.expenseasteak.com/) . It's crazy! Randall Grahm is one of the most interesting and intelligent winemakers in the world, he joins The Guys to talk about winemaking, the new directions of Bonny Doon wines and his extremely intelligent new book, "Been Doon So Long: A Randall Grahm Vinithology."...