We're diving deep into the local bartending industry this week!

The articulate and very affable Skip Tognetti joins us for this episode, and we're kicking things off with the origin story behind Letterpress Distilling—including the genesis of his Genziana Fernanda, Amaro Amorino, limoncello, nocino, and other craft Italian liqueurs. In the process, Skip tells us about his background in art and design, the inspiration he took from living in Rome, Boston, San Francisco, and Seattle, and the cool PNW botanicals he's using in his newest amaro.

It's a pretty sporty episode as well, possibly owing to Letterpress's location alongside the SoDo stadia. We all have opinions on the food stalls inside of them, unsurprisingly! We're also philosophizing on gin, pizza, and (pizza) influencers, and we even find time to cover some news. (Spoiler alert: Even more Seattle restaurant owners are stealing wages, again, still.)

Plus Jeff loves gentian, Meg apparently doesn't know the difference between Lumen and T-Mobile Fields, and we all tell ya our go-to cocktails—as well as what we ate this week! Cheers!

We've got one of Meg's favorite podcast guests of all time doing a reprise on Thanks! I Ate It this week. The brilliant and eloquent Uttam Mukherjee and his wife, Aakanksha Sinha, own Spice Waala, serving Delhi- and Kolkata-style street food out of three Seattle locations. Uttam is doing what he does best: talking math and analyzing restaurant data on topics such as why people are dining out less in Seattle, whether influencers help or hurt restaurants, and what restaurant owners can do to potentially boost their numbers.

We also talk about rising theft and vandalism in bars and restaurants throughout the city, the geography of poverty in Seattle, how certain bits of local legislation hurt small business owners, and why the city council turns a blind eye to these issues. Despite the grim subject matter, it turned out to be a pretty fun conversation!

Plus Jeff is doped up on allergy meds, Meg's droppin' history on grunge-era Seattle bars, and we all tell you about the things we ate! Thanks!

This week on the pod, we're joined by local food writer, restaurant pundit, and perennial cohost Mark DeJoy, and it's wall-to-wall local restaurant news this episode.

Mark applies his gimlet eye and journaliist POV to current events in the city's restaurant-scape, beginning with Wayward Vegan's newly announced plan to start serving animal products. We also unpack our tender Seattle-born grunge-kid feelings about the new Raising Cane's location on the Ave, and we accidentally coin a new slang term for "brick and mortar."

Plus Jeff is a Yasuaki Saito fanboy, Mark prefers to take his lamb sandwiches in metalhead bars, and Meg is on a search for the Fig King of Lake City. Jump in!

P.S.: Mark does not have a lisp in real life! It's just the data connection! We stg. 😄