It’s hard to say what stands out more about this week’s guest—her culinary passion or her legal expertise. Lauren Tuckey is a valuable asset to Chicago’s hospitality scene, bringing a unique blend of legal acumen and a true love of food. As a Level 2 sommelier and a genetic super taster, she knows her food, but with her law firm, Tuckey Law, she’s also ensuring that some of the city’s top owners and operators stay compliant and focused on what they do best. In this episode, Lauren gives us a master class in the legal side of running a restaurant, covering everything from how to protect yourself in a partnership to the nuances of sick leave, the realities of embezzlement, and much more.

After investing around $30,000 into a beer-making hobby, José Lopez, alongside his brother Javier, knew it was time to turn his passion into a full-fledged business. And we’re so glad he did. The Hermosa native’s Casa Humilde Cerveceria Artesanal has quickly become one of the most exciting spots to enjoy craft beer in town. Casa Humilde originally started in the Lopez brothers' childhood home in Chicago, but their operation has grown significantly since then. They joined District Brew Yards in 2019, and recently, they expanded to a new location in Forest Park. With the new location, Lopez has seamlessly integrated his Mexican heritage into nearly every aspect of the business, from the music and food to the beers themselves. He comes to the studio to tell us about his journey, from finding music as a kid to sourcing ingredients from Mexico for new beers at the brewery. Join us as we talk: the tricky business of making hard seltzers, the best session beers, establishing an identity amidst crowded craft beer market, and so much more.

Allison Rosenwinkel is much more than a design consultant — she’s a brand therapist. Alongside her business partner and husband, Paul Demyanovich, she co-founded and currently serves as the managing director of HiFi Brands. Together, they provide comprehensive, full-range brand strategy and a suite of design and branding solutions for a wide variety of clients in the hospitality industry and beyond. Their approach helps craftspeople and business owners integrate their stories in powerful, emotionally-resonant ways. Allison joins us in the studio this week to discuss the importance of being understated, the benefits and pitfalls of trends, the psychological underpinnings of menu design, and so much more.

This week, we're thrilled to welcome a culinary powerhouse, Milwaukee’s Chef Dan Jacobs, to the show. Known for his bold flavors and inventive takes on American-Chinese cuisine, Dan co-owns Milwaukee’s renowned restaurants DanDan and EsterEv. After a career working throughout Chicago and Wisconsin, he recently made waves on the 21st season of Top Chef, where he earned a top-three finish, showcasing the heart and soul of Midwestern hospitality. Despite living with Kennedy’s disease, a rare neuromuscular disorder, Dan's journey through the competition was a testament to his resilience and creativity, which he continues to showcase every day at DanDan. We dive into his approach to menu development, Bayview hotspots, the lessons learned from cooking under the intense pressure of the Top Chef kitchen, and so much more.

Allan Perales knows how to solve problems. He champions a powerful idea: that there's no such thing as an unsolvable problem -- you're just looking at it from the wrong angle. After working in hospitality as a hotel manager for a number of years, Allan pivoted to a career in real estate. As partner at Goldstreet, his discerning approach and eye for optimal experience have helped independent restaurateurs throughout Chicago secure the space they need to realize their vision. His client list is stacked: Galit, Kasama, Birrieria Zaragoza -- the list goes on. He comes to the studio to tell us all about what brought him to where he is today, in a discussion that covers trends in the real estate market for restaurant owners, the art of securing the right deal, best practices for being a respectful hotel guest, and so much more.

After a string of formative restaurant experiences in Detroit and Chicago, Norman Fenton, preoccupied by wanderlust, got in his car and drove to Tulum, Mexico. In this week’s episode, he tells us all about a journey that shifted the trajectory of his career and life — what he learned about food, leadership, and hospitality, all lessons he’s showcased by opening Cariño, an immersive, innovative taco Omakase joint in Uptown. Hear about his adventure in an episode that covers: the merits of experience over formal training, the challenges and opportunities inherent to opening a new restaurant, how to cook stoned, and so much more.

Our guest this week is Adam Witt, AKA Omnivorous Adam, a chef and videographer bringing major energy and enthusiasm to the online food space. He sits down with us and tells us all about his unconventional journey, from washing dishes as a teen to jetsetting for celebrity clients later on. We get into everything that fuels his relentless curiosity, from epic food crawls around Chicago to nerding out over cookbooks and obscure YouTube channels. Plus: Adam’s stint on a food truck in LA, his favorite places to shop for ingredients, the key to making videos people actually want to watch, and so much more!

In collaboration with Tales of the Cocktail for our first entirely remote episode, we're on the horn with New York City's Harrison Ginsberg. He's a world-class bartender and bar director who cut his teeth at renowned establishments in Providence and Chicago before heading back to the Big Apple to help curate one of the finest hospitality experiences on the planet: Overstory, a 64th-floor cocktail bar that spoils visitors with a breathtaking view and equally memorable libations. He tells us all about his journey in a conversation covering the key differences between Chicago and NYC cocktail scenes, watching the first season of "Cheers" as training, the challenges inherent to memorizing an extensive repertoire of drinks, and so much more.

It’s happy hour on Joiners this week as we sit down for a booze-infused conversation with Luke DeYoung. He's a bartender and cocktail craftsman with decades of experience at some of the city’s finest bars, including Scofflaw, where he worked alongside the one and only Danny Shapiro. Together, they have been hard at work on Sip Sip, a video cocktail series that seeks to lower the barrier of entry for handcrafted cocktails with engaging tutorials and educational content. To top it all off, he's the beverage director behind Oliver's, a 1930s speakeasy in the South Loop that opened earlier this year to much fanfare. This is a man who knows his way around a good pour — we get into the nitty-gritty of technique, deliberately finite dining experiences, the best spots for heavy petting at Scofflaw, and, as always (because we can’t help ourselves): so much more.

This week, we're excited to sit down with Thomas Oh who recently opened his newest restaurant, Perilla Korean American Steakhouse with his partner Andrew Lim. It's a fine dining joint dedicated to creatively reinterpreting Chicago steakhouse staples with a modern twist -- and delivering with the commitment to hospitality Thomas clearly champions. We explore what it's like to collaborate with one of the world's largest food corporations, the best way to make instant ramen (and why it matters), the unique challenges and opportunities of being a second-generation restaurateur, and so much more.

This week, we delve into the world of Michael Muser, a charismatic veteran sommelier who has played a pivotal role in shaping Chicago's dining scene. With his characteristic showmanship and deep passion for hospitality, Michael guides us through a captivating array of topics, his raconteur's charm on full display. From his beginnings as a self-described "baseball brat" to his influential positions at prestigious venues like the Peninsula Hotel and Grace, Michael's journey is a fascinating one. Now a partner at award-winning establishments Ever, After, and The Canvas, his story offers rich insights into the world of fine dining. In this episode, we explore what draws people to the hospitality industry and examine the challenges and changes in a post-COVID landscape, particularly the exodus of mid-career professionals. Michael regales us with tales that range from Olivia Colman's near-miss as a scullery worker at Ever, to the intricate "Russian dolls" of wine knowledge, to rubbing shoulders with Chris Nolan's complicated brother, and so much more.

This week, we're strengthening the Chicago-Cleveland connection by chatting with one of The Land's kind titans of hospitality: Andrew Watts, the proprietor of the renowned Cordelia, a restaurant named for his great grandmother. Known for its delicious, elevated, sharable takes on American classics (conceived by Andrew's right-hand man, Chef Vinnie Cimino), Cordelia was named Cleveland Magazine's best new restaurant of 2023 and was honored as a 2024 James Beard Award finalist. Andrew was kind enough to stop by the studio while he was in town for the awards, and we had an amazing chat about his fascinating journey across the hospitality landscape and how he realized his dream of opening his own restaurant. We cover the delicate dance of feedback, opening a hotel in Cleveland while their baseball team was in the World Series, tactfully bouncing celebrity guests, and a clandestine chef hang, replete with banana leaf exfoliation and bandsaw steaks for those lucky enough to be in the know.

This week, we sit down with Ria Neri, the creative force behind the acclaimed Four Letter Word Coffee and a certified Cicerone with an unwavering passion for craft beer, made crystal clear by her founding of Whiner Beer Company. Inspired by the vibrant coffee culture in Istanbul, Ria and her partners opened their first café on Burgaz Island before bringing their vision to Chicago. Ria shares the fascinating origin of the Four Letter Word name, their journey to creating a haven for coffee lovers in Logan Square, and her love for both beer and coffee. We also learn how a simple excuse to travel can turn into a thriving business and get to the bottom of the distinction between gose and gueuze (yes, they're different kinds of beer.) This is an episode you don't want to miss: Ria is a true connoisseur of sensory experiences, and it's clear that she loves to share her passion.

This week, we speak to another member of the growing Highland Park mafia — Adam Pollack, a cook turned farmer, responsible for supplying some of the best restaurants in the city. Adam grows his produce right here in the heart of Chicago at Closed Loop Farms. He tells us about his journey, from discovering his passion for food and fresh ingredients, and ultimately expanding his culinary horizons by learning how to grow his own produce. We dig deep into the soil with this one, exploring the art and science of urban farming and how it's reshaping our city's culinary landscape.

Do tropical drinks actually make for gnarly hangovers? What have been the major advancements in distilling in the last century? What happens when a college kid has drink-slinging know-how and unfettered access to booze? In this week’s episode of Joiners, we explore big questions with none other than Kevin Beary, the sagacious beverage director behind River North tiki treasure Three Dots and a Dash. He tells us about his journey from underage bartending in Philadelphia to working towards his master’s degree in distilling science. Listen now for a history of the perennial tiki fascination, a deep dive into what makes good rum, beverage direction wisdom, and much more.

For our latest episode, we sit down with the inimitable Cecily Federighi to explore her fascinating path from the fashion world to the culinary scene. Cecily takes us through her early days being scouted at Six Flags as a teen, globe-trotting adventures in the modeling world, and learning the ins and outs of the restaurant industry from the ground up with Eat Free Pizza. She shares behind-the-scenes stories from opening Pizza Fried Chicken Ice Cream with Ed Marszewski and Won Kim, the joys and challenges of taking over an old school pizza joint with Kim’s Uncle Pizza in Westmont, and her latest venture -- Pizz’amici in West Town. Along the way, we dive into the nitty gritty of dough hydration, the perfect martini, an impassioned defense of Taco Bell, and as always, so much more.

For episode 101, we are sitting down for a master class on hospitality with one of its most innovative and fastidious practitioners. Chris Gerber is a front-of-house guru whose attention to detail and commitment to guests at places like Trio, Alinea, and currently Smyth + The Loyalist have helped earn those establishments scores of well-deserved accolades, including a third Michelin star for Smyth. He comes to the studio to tell us all about how he helped manifest such a coveted title, what Jeff Buckley taught him about excellence, going the extra mile to give guests an unforgettable experience, and so much more.

This week, we’re ringing in our 100th episode the only way we know how: exploring the world of hospitality by chatting with its most colorful characters. This week, our tagline is especially appropriate — we sit down with the multitalented, accomplished, and vibrant Stephanie Izard, whose list of accolades is as impressive as it is long. She opened her first restaurant when she was only 27, bested her competition on Top Chef to take home the top prize, and now runs a quartet of celebrated restaurant in the city —Girl & the Goat (which earned her a James Beard award in 2013), Duck Duck Goat, Little Goat and Cabra. She comes to the studio to spill the tea on the Top Chef experience, espouse the value of constructive criticism, reminisce about working at Olive Garden, and — as we’ve made sure of for 100 episodes — so much more.

This week, we’ve brought in an owner who just might handle more covers per night of service than anyone else in town. In this episode, Danny Wirtz, the fourth-generation owner of the Chicago Blackhawks, joins the crew to discuss everything from growing up in the northern suburbs to the evolving landscape of sports and entertainment in the city. Danny shares his passion for music, his experiences working in the industry, and how those lessons have shaped his approach to running the family business. He also dives into the nitty-gritty of brand building, both in the beverage industry with Breakthru Beverage Group and in the world of professional hockey. Tune in for some incredible stories, like: Danny's month-long stay in the Edmonton "bubble" during the 2020 NHL playoffs; the unforgettable Stanley Cup celebrations in Chicago; the time Ministry recorded a Blackhawks team song (that never quite made it to the arena speakers), and so much more.

Chef Christian Hunter may be new to Chicago, but he's already making waves in the city's culinary scene as the inventive talent behind Atelier, where he and his dynamic team recently earned their first Michelin star. In this episode, Christian shares his journey from his early days experimenting in the kitchen to his time at culinary school and his rise through the ranks of the restaurant industry. He discusses the challenges and triumphs of opening Atelier and creating an accessible yet extraordinary 12-course tasting menu experience. Christian also dives into his creative process, his focus on seasonal ingredients, how he accommodates dietary restrictions without compromising flavor or experience, and so much more.