With a body of work as impressive as it is diverse, our guest this week is a consummate world builder whose unique approach to concept development marries a commitment to community with acute systems thinking. That's right: this week, Cecilia Cuff pops by to tell us all about her international hospitality journey, from bringing trays of food to the neighborhood trash collectors as a child, to launching an airline in Taos, to what's new at Bronzeville Winery. Plus: Tim tells us a cautionary tale about the first time he visited New Orleans.

April Fool's pranks, James Beard awards, and more cheesecake than we know what to do with -- this week, we're talking to our friend Elana Schulman of Eli's Cheesecake, who knows all of these things well. She tells us about growing up in a food family, the extended history of Eli's, and what makes Chicago style cheesecake Chicago style. And at the head, the boys play an educational round of two truths and a lie.

We've been trying to get this week's guest on since we started the podcast, and even though we weren't able to record this episode over cocktails, we hope you agree that it was worth the wait. Terry Alexander of One Off Hospitality is the industry veteran behind countless classic joints of today and yore, from Danny's Tavern to Big Star. He tells us all about falling ass-backwards into the world of food, cueing up cassettes during the early days of Danny's Tavern, serving celebrities Guinness and Jameson at Francescas, and how Big Star became a spot for tacos instead of BBQ. This one is filled to the brim with the goods, ladies and germs.

This week, we're joined by Fifty/50 Restaurant Group's extraordinarily talented Director of Beverage, Julietta Campos. She joins us a mere two weeks after she helped open Kindling, a new concept bar that encompasses two floors of Chicago's historical Willis Tower, a project three years in the making. She tells us all about what such an undertaking entailed, offers some insight into The Aviary's hospitality sign language, tells us what it takes to set yourself apart as a bartender, and as always, so much more.

We’ve got an exciting one for you this week, folks. You know him from his PBS series Mexico: One Plate at a Time, his seven James Beard Awards, and his winning run on Top Chef Masters -- and you've probably dined at Frontera Grill, Topolobampo, Tortas Frontera, or any of his other widely lauded restaurants. That’s right: this week we are talking to Rick Bayless, the magnanimous master of Mexican cuisine, who comes to the Joiners studio to tell us about the changing nature of celebrity chefdom, the spoils of Mexico City, the ephemeral beauty of Oaxacan radish festivals, and so much more. And of course, not even Rick Bayless is safe from the sizzling grill of the gratuity round.

For Episode #32, we're shucking the oyster of life down to its bare essentials with our friend Pete Ternes. He's one of the founders of Bungalow by Middle Brow, once "the littlest bar in Illinois," and one of our favorite brewpubs around. He tells us about his days farming oysters in a windy atoll in French Polynesia, and how that experience helped him leave behind a career as a corporate tax lawyer to start a brewery with a charitable bent. We're talking beer, pizza, and the connected etymology of Middle Brow and Bungalow, as well as their planned enological future.