Fire & Barley Fire & Barley

This installment, we welcome the team behind Taquito Lindo - Andy, Nick and Sandy - in Grand Island, NY. They tell us about how their quest to provide authentic Mexican food led them to open "a meat shop that we put inside of tortillas."

We kick off a brand new format - Communing with Spirits - featuring Certified Spirits Educator Gary Pickard. Gary is, amongst many other things, an Executive Bourbon Steward from the Stave & Thief Society, and he spoke to us about the history of whiskey.

This week, we spoke with Mike Johnson, the talented, St. Louis-based chef behind Sugarfire Smoke House and Hi-Pointe Drive-in. He's worked for folks like Emeril Lagasse and Charlie Trotter, and opened a numerous restaurants over the years. He talks to us about the ups and downs of the restaurant business, and even reveals the secrets to the perfect burger, which he’s serving seven days a week at the recently opened, Hi-Pointe Drive-In.

In this episode, we talk to Eamon Rockey, founder of Rockey's Liqueur.

Eamon has worked in the kitchens and behind the bars of some of the best restaurants in the world, including Eleven Madison Park and Betony. He's designed and opened, as general manager, two restaurants that each earned two Michelin stars apiece, Aska and Atera. Today, in addition to being the driving force behind Rockey's Liqueur, he anchors the Institute of Culinary Education's new Beverage Study Program, in New York City. 

We talked about the creation of Rockey's and how years of culinary and beverage experience, allowed him to create a drink that works with any spirit.