The Philip Duff Show

Nelson is an old mate  - I can't even remember where exactly we met! - but he has blazed a trail from humble upbringings in Portugal, to the Savoy organisation in London, and back to Portugal, winning countless awards along the way, and now inspiring a new generation as he prepares to reboot the legendary Ritz Hotel Lisbon as a Four Seasons, the very epitome of contemporary hotel cool. 

I loved chatting with Nelson; perhap...

I met Lorenzo and Ibrahima just last week, and their Japanese-style cocktail bar, Mugi, which opened in Barcelona in April of this year, impressed me so much I wanted to get them on the podcast to tell their story. 

They're both Italians (tho Ibra was born in Burkina Faso), met while bartending in London (of course), and developed a deep love of Japan (they are Japalian!) and its traditions while working in top places like Roka...

Natasha is a whole bundle of energy: raised in the Dominican Republic, she moved to NY young and amassed an impressive background bartending and managing in New York at places like Zuma, Llama Inn & Llama San, and, now, ruling the roost at the New York outpost of Ryan Chetiyawardana's Seed Library, whose first branch opened in 2022 in Shoreditch, east London. 

Enjoy!

Natasha on IG: https://www.instagram.com/natashita/

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Adam's a veteran of legendary Manhattan restaurants including Babbo, Carbone and The Grill (formerly The Four Seasons) and became an award-winning writer for publications including Bon Appetit, The Wall Street Journal, Grub Street and many more.

His new book The New Rules of Dining Out is fabulous - maybe the first-ever dedicated guide to enjoying yourself more in restaurants (and bars) by knowing the best way to treat the staff, de...

Officially our most-interviewed guest, me and Tony did our first-ever intercontinental podcast via satellite, and we jammed in  a whole lot - spicy margs, Drastic Dave firing 36% of the staff at Diageo's NY HQ, how the UK as a whole apparently drinks fewer martinis in a year than the legendarily thirsty guests of Bemelmans Bar in NY, and a bunch more. 

We also conducted a tasting of exquisite spirits (Tony) and random stuf...

Shannon is an utter powerhouse, and after seeing her nail it at Death & Co, then the American Bar at the Savoy, then the ultimate (massive) rock 'n' roll venue Outernet London, it came as no surprise she was tapped to be Director of Mixology for the Venetian - 1st or 2nd largest resort IN THE WORLD! - in Las Vegas. 

So we had to talk. 

This is a good one. 

Shannon on IG: https://www.instagram.com/Shannontebay/

(Get ...

I met Allen in an Amsterdam bar in 2008, and everyone in the US scene already knew him; I assumed he'd been a bartender and transitioned into education & consulting, as so many of us did in the late 1990s and early 2000s. 
But the truth is much cooler! 
From growing up in Baltimore, living in NY as an aspiring musician, running a cooking school in Italy to becoming part of the Slow Food organisation, hosting a t...

J'Nai, a born-and-raised New Orleanian, is lead bartender at The Chandelier Bar inside the rather ritzy Four Seasons New Orleans, was just nominated into the final 4 for "US Bartender of the Year" at the 2026 Tales of the Cocktail Spirited Awards, makes content with her companies Pretty Magic Cocktails and Magic House Media, and is also awesome (we met on a shoot for Australian Bitters Co. that involved us, ahem, "taste-testing" Sa...

Well, we - meaning me - survived Tales!

(not that Delta Airlines were any bloody help). 

Here's a recap of what I did, where I went and how I think it all shook out, including of course some  - sometimes salty - commentary on the Spirited Awards, said commentary applying to all the the other awards, Lists, nominations and suchlike that now bedevil our once-tranquil industry. 

Enjoy!

(Get in touch with Duff!

Podca...

I didn't realise Leslie was the person behind Matchbook Distilling until I had her brother, Andrew Merinoff, on the show (Episode #154, here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3Qgz2nPJNYyrVu4MnHoLfd?si=Ypn5UXXlTMii5zNOD_1KrQ )

I was aware of Matchbook, you see, because as well as making their own mindboggling spirits, Matchbook are spoken of reverently by the very best bars in New York, such as Death & Co., Eleven Madison Park, S...

Toby is a veteran bartender and mixologist, who added high-level mixology to his legendary drinkmaking speed with stints at Milk & Honey (NY), The Violet Hour (Chicago) and Mother's Ruin, before turning his hand to (as well as consulting on bar programs) writing and co-authoring "The Bartender's Manifesto" with Emma, which won a James Beard award, and most recently "The Classic Cocktail Sessions" a prequel to the Manifesto.&nbs...

I first ran into Scott down in New Orleans at Tales of the Cocktail, but we've since hung out many times, also in Atlanta. His story, about coming up in mixology, especially in Miami in the early years when it wasn't cool, is fascinating. 

Like a lot of bartenders back then, he made his own bitters, syrups and liqueurs because the industry then hadn't yet caught up to the Second Golden Age of cocktails; unlike a lot of bartende...

H is an old friend and I'd been meaning to catch up with him anyway, but when I heard he was piloting a ground-breaking new mentorship program for bartenders, in association with the brand he helps spearhead, Fresh Victor, it was time to schedule a session. 

From being a line cook to gaining an MBA, creating products for grocery and consulting on liquor brands, then breathing new life into San Francisco's second-oldest bar, he'...

Seymour has has a long career in liquor and has been a global CEO multiple times, adding millions of cases and value to every firm he worked at, from the Philippines to Singapore, to Amsterdam, and from Allied-Domecq to Maxxium to Amber Beverage, and many more besides. 

Seymour was my client for years, starting at Maxxium, and we developed a friendship that's seen us collaborate on many projects since. 

His newest venture, ...

Hemant , who is from a small village in the foothills of the Himalayas, became a star overnight after winning Diageo World Class India, followed quickly by winning Bacardi Legacy India, but when he moved to New York he was briefly homeless and just four weeks from returning to India. At the last moment he was connected to restaurateur  Rajesh Bhardwaj, owner of the Michelin-starred Junoon restaurant, where Hemant went on to be...

Brian is a peripatetic bartender who's slung drinks in his native Pittsburgh, New Orleans, Philadelphia, New York, and, with the recently opened Vieux Carre, back to Pittsburgh. He's also been a fighter, starting with wrestling, then boxing and MMA, and fought the booze too, becoming and staying sober after going to just one too many "celebrations of life" for someone who left us too soon. 

This is a great conversation, and fun...

I met Aarón in Europe when he was visiting, and I've wanted to sit down with him for ages. From a childhood in kitchens to teaching culinary arts around the world and falling sideways into mixology after a stint at Chicago's world-famous Aviary, his career path has been anything but straightforward. He's now moving on from Carnaval, the bar he founded that put Lima on the map for 50 Best Bars, so we caught up on his plans. 

Aar...

I bumped into Mike at NY's legendary Irish bar Swift in 2020, when a mutual friend who'd been showing Mike around Manhattan bars introduced us. I'd heard a story or two about this new-to-the-market MGP-sourced bourbon named Penelope from a couple of New Jersey guys, and I took his business card and wished him well; the whiskey had only been available for a year or so at that stage. Mike sent me a nice email afterwards saying he enj...

I met Rakshay a few years back on one of the legendary Blueblazer press tours of bars in Italy, and he let me taste the agave spirit he produces in India, Maya Pistola Agavepura. Its distilled with traditional tequila methods from an Indian-grown species of agave usually used in Mexico for mezcal, then aged on the tropical Indian island of Goa before bottling. Pistola was born during Covid and after being on the market for just a c...