Thanks! I Ate It

Lovable Weirdos with Skip Tognetti of Letterpress Distilling

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!

Allergic to Death with Uttam Mukherjee of Spice Waala

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!

A Thing Like That with Food Writer Mark DeJoy

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. 😄

Hurry in to Burien with Holly Robinson of Sunny Hill

This week on the pod, we're hanging out with food/beverage marketing consultant and Sunny Hill co-owner Holly Robinson. The three of us keep it real zero-kilometer this round, with topics including but not limited to PNW veggie gardens, local tinned fish purveyors, Holly's consulting biz Fathom35, whiskey distilled in barrels made from the Northwest's only native oak tree, and the culinary delights of Burien. Then, to round things out, we also cover more evergereen concepts such as Detroit-style pizza, what the underage kids are drinking these days, and the experience of opening a new restaurant at the top of the pandemic. Plus we tell y'all what we ate! P.S.: Fun fact about this episode! It was taped in early March, and after it was edited, Meg somehow managed to delete the file while trying to upload it. So Jeff has just edited it once again, from scratch. T!I8I will be slightly out of chronological order for a couple weeks here, but we'll catch up soon! 🎓

I Love When They Give You a Lot of Food with Chef Chris Cvetkovich of Nue

We're chopping it up with Chris Cvetkovich this week, owner and chef patron of Nue on Capitol Hill. We kick things off with Chef Chris's fascinating backstory, which started with a career in animation and led to extensive world travels and, eventually, a restaurant to showcase all the cool dishes he's enjoyed while roaming around the globe. Along with his colorful scrapbook of a bar-bistro, Chris also talks about his refreshing views and principles on running a business in Seattle, especally in re. what he believes his guests are looking for in this very weird economic era. Plus Meg's new besties with a Mormon stake preisdent, Jeff's turning it up to 37 at the casino, and we all have some fun, offbeat restos to plug in our T!I8I weekly roundup. Dive in!