The Restaurant Guys
The Restaurant Guys is one of the original food and wine podcasts, launched in 2005 by restaurateurs Mark Pascal and Francis Schott. With roots as a daily radio show, the podcast features in-depth conversations with chefs, bartenders, winemakers, authors, and hospitality professionals—offering the inside track on food, cocktails, wine, and restaurant culture. New episodes and vintage conversations—because the best stories, like the best bottles, age well. Expect insightful, opinionated, and entertaining conversations about food, wine, and the finer things in life. Contact: TheGuys@RestaurantGuysPodcast.com
Episodes
Why You Should Listen
- From television and advertising to building Asheville’s restaurant scene
- How fine dining, farm-to-table thinking, and wine culture shaped a food town
- The 2008 crisis and a pivot to neighborhood Italian that lasted
- What Hurricane Helene revealed about restaurants as community lifelines
The Banter
Restaurateurs Mark Pascal and Francis Schott set the table with stories starting with Mark’s Uber Eats account ta...
This is a Vintage episode from 2005.
Why This Episode Matters
- How globalization began reshaping wine style, taste, and production in the early 2000s
- Why market pressure and critical consensus can lead to homogenized wines
- The tension between wines made for place versus wines made for approval
- What is lost when tradition and restraint give way to international sameness
- A timeless argument for authenticity, terroir, and consumer respon...
Why This Episode Matters
- Bartenders are central to hospitality culture
- Industry legacy plays a critical role in preserving bar professionalism
- Non-alcoholic cocktails require intention, balance, and structure
- The future of the bar depends on respecting craft while adapting to change
The Banter
Mark Pascal and Francis Schott open the show riffing on old-school hospitality, handwritten reservation books, and whether pencil-a...
This is a Vintage episode from 2011.
Episode Description
Mark Pascal and Francis Schott open the show with reflections on family vacations and the waning of independent restaurants where distinctive dishes are still made in-house.
They are joined by Gabrielle Hamilton, chef and longtime owner of Prune in New York City, for a candid conversation about her memoir Blood, Bones & Butter and the experiences that shaped her life in food...
The Banter
Mark Pascal and Francis Schott return to the restaurant floor with stories about hospitality as a lifelong condition—why you never stop working the room, why saying “goodnight” at lunch still feels natural, and how unusual guests and moments are part of the job. The Guys share a truly unsettling encounter with a guest who can’t eat meat and reflect on why restaurant life is a magnet for stories you can’t make up.
Episode Description
This is a Vintage Selection from 2005. Chef, author, and Saveur editor Melissa Hamilton joins the Restaurant Guys to talk about community feasts, food culture, and the role shared meals play in bringing people together. The conversation centers on the joy of cooking for one another.
The Banter
Mark and Francis reflect on restaurant culture in the mid-2000s, touching on critics, clever reviews, and the er...
Episode Description
Mark Pascal and Francis Schott share stories from recent travels through Ireland and Austria on this travel food podcast, exploring wine, history, and memorable restaurant experiences along the way. From pub culture and historic cities to standout meals abroad, the episode ends with a cautionary tale from a marina restaurant in Florida—and what it reveals about hospitality.
The Conversation
Francis r...
This is a Vintage Selection from 2005
Episode Description
Mary Ann Esposito, pioneering host of PBS’s Ciao Italia, the longest running cooking show, joins the Restaurant Guys to discuss authentic Italian cooking before it was trendy. The conversation explores traditional Italian cuisine, regional cooking, food television, and how Italian food in America drifted from its roots.
The Banter
The Restaurant Guys open with a candid...
From kitchens around the world to cocktail media, why it’s time to talk about cooking with booze
The Conversation
In this episode of The Restaurant Guys Podcast, hosts Mark Pascal and Francis Schott head to Brooklyn to record at the new studio of Tim McKirdy.
Tim McKirdy shares his unconventional career path, from cooking in kitchens in London and Buenos Aires to becoming an influential writer in drinks journalism at VinePai...
This is a Vintage Selection from 2005
Ever wonder how great restaurant wine lists actually come together — and why some completely miss the mark?
The Banter
The Guys tell stories of their “glamorous” lives being restaurateurs that (surprisingly) involves more plumbers than they ever expected.
The Conversation
In this episode, The Restaurant Guys are joined by Chris Goodhart, wine buyer for Keith McNally’s restaurants in New York City, ...
California whiskey isn’t just a trend — it’s challenging bourbon’s throne.
First, The Guys talk about recent dining experiences including being escorted into a bar, and too much salt.
Then, The Restaurant Guys meet up in-person with Jeff Duckhorn, Head Distiller at Redwood Empire, to talk about why West Coast whiskey tastes different, ages differently, and is suddenly showing up on serious back bars.
Jeff breaks down how climate impa...
This is a Vintage Selection from 2007
The Banter
The Guys discuss food psychology. When it comes to the containers used for fruit juice to M&Ms, size matters.
The Conversation
The Restaurant Guys talk with Eric Asimov, wine and spirits writer for the New York Times, about rye whiskey. He details its history, resurgence and highlights some of the excellent choices on the market at the time. You won’t believe the 2007 prices! They al...
This is a Vintage Selection from 2005
The Banter
The Guys talk about the new concept (in 2005) of podcasting and answer some listener questions about sweet corn and sweet looks.
The Conversation
The Restaurant Guys are joined by Charlie Palmer shortly after he opened Dry Creek Kitchen in Healdsburg, CA. They talk risk, vision, sourcing relationships, and why Healdsburg was worth betting on long before it became a national dining hotsp...
The Conversation
The Restaurant Guys talk about fine dining at the Arctic Circle. They discuss delicacies like reindeer and seal, and highlight the restaurant's enormous wine list! Naturally their conversation includes their comedic banter (and a comparison of Mark to a tiny reindeer) in this special Christmas episode.
Info
Jeffrey Merrihue’s article
https://open.substack.com/pub/xtremefoodies/p/huset-a-gourmet-miracle-withi...
This is one of the two shows recorded on location at the Food & Wine Classic - Charleston 2025.
Maneet Chauhan
The Restaurant Guys welcome ball of fire Maneet Chauhan, accomplished chef, restaurateur and two-time winner of Tournament of Champions. They discuss the beauty of street food and the myth of authentic Indian cuisine. Hear what she has to say when people complain she doesn’t make dishes like their grandmom.
Ca...
This is one of the two shows recorded on location at the Food & Wine Classic - Charleston 2025.
Our Guests
Ivy Odom
The Restaurant Guys catch up with Ivy Odom, Senior Lifestyle Editor at Southern Living Magazine, at the Food & Wine Classic - Charleston. They talk about bourbon, recipes, bacon fat, and how those support her passion for Southern cooking and hospitality.
James London
James London of Charleston’s Chubby Fish and S...
This is a Vintage Episode from 2006
The Conversation
The Restaurant Guys discuss the much-anticipated arrival of the Michelin Guide in New York City, marking the first time the prestigious guide has reviewed restaurants in the United States. They delve into the significance of Michelin stars and the impact of receiving Michelin stars on restaurants in terms of recognition and business. They highlight some of the newly starred restau...
The Banter
The Guys answer a listener’s question about one of their favorite topics: Martinis!
The Conversation
The Restaurant Guys travel to Charleston, SC to meet up with chef Orlando Pagán at his newly Michelin-starred restaurant Wild Common. They cover tasting menus, health challenges and, for some reason, Dungeons and Dragons.
The Inside Track
The Guys get real with Orlando about taking care of yourself and taking care of those ar...
The Banter
The Guys talk about making vinegar and why you have to take care of your mother.
The Conversation
The Restaurant Guys welcome writer Rowan Jacobsen to discuss the fifth taste: umami. What is umami? Where does it come from? What pairs well with it? And what does breastmilk have to do with it? Get the skinny from Rowan.
The Inside Track
The Guys happily get the inside track on the health benefits of chocolate. Rowan has made ...
The Banter
The Guys talk about actors being waiters and whether that is a good thing.
The Conversation
The Restaurant Guys catch up with bar owner and author Neal Bodenheimer. They wax sentimental about their glory days behind the bar, discuss clinging to standards and talk about the trajectory of New Orleans. At some point Mark commits Francis to a whole big thing!
The Inside Track
The Guys, who only briefly met Neal prior to the podc...
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