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Welcome to Taste Test, a new segment where a blindfolded Tim and Danny, with the help of Tim's Sister Liz, pit local culinary delights against their mass-market counterparts. It's the Chicago food version of David vs. Goliath, or Jerry Maguire vs. Sports, with Tim and Danny's pallets settling the score. For our sophomore episode, we're going to Flake Town with a quintessential French Pastry: the wonderful, butter-full croissant.

Join Tim and Danny as they take a seat with Robby Haynes III of Apologue Liqueurs and Sunday's Finest. He's a world-class drink designer using the knowledge and experience he gained as one of the nomads of Chicago's cocktail renaissance to create obscure liqueurs with one-of-a-kind flavor profiles. He takes us through his creative process (it involves not writing things down, but he's getting better about that), let's us know what inspired him to start Apologue, prompts Tim to reveal his dark history of pretentious Absinthe drinking, and so much more. 

This week, we're taken to school by none other than Chef Brian Jupiter, the extremely accomplished gentleman currently helming Pioneer Tavern Group, the driving force behind spots like Frontier, Jup Soups, Ina Mae Tavern, and Lottie's. He tells about cooking with his grandmother and making food for his friends as a teenager in New Orleans, and leads us through the kitchens that compose his extensive resume. We're cooking llama and gator today, folks (amongst other things) -- and we're already thinking about part two. 

Welcome to Taste Test, a new segment where a blindfolded Tim and Danny, with the help of Tim's Sister Liz, pit local culinary delights against their mass-market counterparts. It's the Chicago food version of David vs. Goliath, or Jerry Maguire vs. Sports, with Tim and Danny's pallets settling the score. For the first episode, the guys take on an early morning staple, often attempted and rarely perfected: the eggs-laden breakfast sandwich. 

How do you get from Dua Lipa to Hibiscus Wine in three moves or less? Find out this week, when the boys crack open a few cold ones with Dan Abel, Co-Founder and CEO of Pilot Project, a brewery incubator based out of Chicago. Fittingly, it's the first episode to feature actual drinking, and it's complemented by incredible insight into the type of creativity, market savvy, and attention to detail that makes a passion project stand out, from a man who perceives the logic in music and vice-versa. 

This week, we're lucky enough to have D'Andre Carter sidle up to the booth. D'Andre is the creative force and culinary talent behind a number of celebrated projects, like Feast & Imbibe and Soul & Smoke: two Chicagoland mainstays that put the chef's attention to detail and panache front and center.  We talk about what characterizes Chicago-style BBQ, how Olive Garden is low-key a masterclass in culinary process and planning, and how D'Andre and his team successfully pivoted to provide hundreds of emergency meals every day during the dawn of Covid.

This week, we're yelling "fore!" with Soo Ahn, executive chef of Adalina, and (to Danny's fanatical delight) fantastic golfer. He tells us about his unconventional journey to the world of hospitality, the invaluable education provided by failure, and how to nail your tasting interview for a world-class restaurant. 

This week, we welcome Emma Janzen, the celebrated writer responsible for such lauded collaborations as The Way of the Cocktail and The Bartender's Manifesto, as well as her own fantastic tome on Mezcal, called Mezcal: The History, Craft & Cocktails of the World's Ultimate Artisanal Spirit. She is a certified expert on cocktails and a fantastic writer to boot, and this is a fun conversation that spans the craft of both: from the fundamental differences between writing and editing and the exciting opportunities of collaboration, to what makes a memorable cocktail bar experience (and one of the worst Negronis in recorded history.)

For lucky episode #13, renowned Urbanbelly chef, Cornerstone partner, and all around Chicago gem Bill Kim slides into the booth. He talks to us about how he ran with the chances he was given early on, the hectic coordination that characterized the salad days of farm-to-table, and what it means when you're told to "throw down or go down." 

This week, we're with our friend Wade McElroy, a man who has kind of done it all in hospitality. From working as a server, to helping open The Standard Hotel in New York, to designing bars with his creative partner Jeff Donahue, Wade has a diverse range of experience to draw from, and he's kind enough to share what he's learned along the way. We talk about making people comfortable with design, spotting good frames as a photographer, and some of our favorite Chicago bars.