Shows, Documentaries, Podcasts and More

Need something to listen to on your commute into the office? Want to feel as though you’re in the know within the food and drink industry, or sound smart on the next date night when ordering a bottle of wine? Us too!

If you’re like us, but don’t know where to start here a a few great options.

Netflix

Chef’s Table: the well known series paints an incredible picture of world-renowned chefs (some well known and some lesser known) and their journey to where they are while highlighting their craft along the way with stunning videography.

Somm: follows a handful of individuals as they prepare for the master sommelier exam, one of the hardest examinations in the world, and get exposed to what it really takes to be the best.

Ugly Delicious: chef David Chang explores various countries, regions, cuisines and doesn’t hold back in offering his opinion on anything while giving historical context and insight along the way.

Cookbooks

Kristin Kish Cooking: Incredible detail and background info on techniques, basics and more in combination with high-class recipes ranging from seafood to hand-made pastas.

F*ck That’s Delicious by Action Bronson: The chef turned rapper turned media personality’s first cookbook with easy recipes, inside stories, and secrets to making the best butchers sandwich you’ll ever have.

Cocktail / Bar Books

Check our running list of books here

Podcasts

Starving for Attention with Richard Blaise

Guild of Sommeliers

Milwaukee Eats

While Chicago remains our favorite dining city (San Francisco / Napa and London are putting up a good fight for #2 and #3 spots respectively), we've adjusted to the smaller midwestern city of Milwaukee over the past few years - finding the hidden gems amongst the many beer, brat, burger and pizza establishments that rule the city. Not a bad thing by any means, but once and a while its good to get some greens or diversify a bit.

View MKE Crabcake - View replaced Wolf Peach in the Beerline Neighborhood not too long ago, worth checking out.

Cucumber dish @ Ardent paired with Teutonic Wine Co. Pinot Gris from Willamette Valley (definitely try the wine if you get a chance).

We’ve become frequent visitors at the places below and have met some awesome people who work there along the way. We’re here for another couple years so will keep the list updated as we go.

Let us know if you have any other favorites.

• Ardent: James Beard nominated Chef Justin leads the kitchen at our favorite special occasion spot. Local seasonal produce drives the inspiration for the tasting menu only spot, Spotted Cow as a drink pairing, some of the best steak we’ve had. All around winner.

• Laughing Taco: From Ardent & Red Light Ramen team, good tacos in Walkers Point with their fancier version of a cheesy gordita crunch. Not quite California or Chicago (Big Star) tacos, but still very good.

• Merriment Social: Our favorite burger and fries in town - also peanut butter boozy milkshakes anyone? Everything here is great. Try the “cheese curds” more of a dip than curds, but still great.

• Bavette la Boucherie: Our go-to for a top-notch sandwich and bag of kettle cooked chips. Chef Karen Bell was nominated as a semi-finalist for James Beard Best Chef, Midwest region, in 2017 and a finalist in 2018. Try our favorites - the BBQ pork sandwich (messy but worth it) or the Cuban.

• Comet Cafe: Hipster diner food done right. Mint hot chocolate is incredible in the winter. Commuter breakfast sandwich is a go-to.

• Pizzeria San Giorgio: Chef Ryan straight from Naples (Italy, not Florida) makes a mean Za and is certified by the Vera Pizza Napolenta.

• DanDan: American-Chinese cuisine great for groups or UberEats delivery. General Tso’s Cauliflower, Singapore Noodles and Orange Chicken are all great.

• Morel: New American, “rustic” if you will. Always order the ham biscuits. Order multiple. Ralph is the man, he’ll hook you up and make you feel at home every time you visit. Solid wine and cocktail list. Haven’t had a dish we didn’t like. Steak special is always very good.

• View MKE: View recently took over the space formerly occupied by Wolf Peach in the Beerline .area They’ve kept the wood burning oven and small plate style of Wolf Peach but put their own twist on the dishes. Crab cake and beet salads stood out both in presentation and flavor.

• Stubby's: Our go-to beer and wing spot as well as Tuesday Trivia hangout. Best wings in town (Point’s East also has very good wings) along with 53 beers on draft, a large set of TV’s, Pop-a-Shot, Darts, etc.

• The Diplomat: Newer spot on Brady street delivering small plates and craft cocktails. Small plates and larger plates mix on the menu. Positive: Duck entree, pastas, and the Peanut Butter dessert. Not so positive: the carrot dish ($11) for 2 very small carrots and an overly artistic plate that didn’t deliver too much.

• Apollo: Fast and very solid Greek food at a great price. An easy go-to during the week.

• Five o’Clock Steakhouse: Old school. Dimly lit. Supper club style. Sit at the bar, get a drink, the wait staff will come take your order there and let you know when you’re table is set and ready to go. Relish tray, breads, etc. Great food. Prepared on extremely hot grill that come out extremely tender (almost prime rib like) with shareable sides.

• Bryant’s: Can’t get enough of Bryant’s. Old school vibe. Classic cocktails, new cocktails, ice cream & tiki drinks - you name it they have it, just not on a menu. Inventors of the infamous Pink Squirrel in addition to over 400 recipes that the bartender will craft to your taste. Amongst some of the best bars we’ve been too in the world, Bryant’s of Milwaukee stands up to the test.

• The Outsider: Best rooftop spot in Milwaukee for the short outdoor seasons we have. Comfortable seating, fire pits, bags and shuffle board outside as well as very nice bar area open late in the Kimpton Journeyman hotel.

• Third Coast Provisions: Another restaurant from our friends behind Merriment Social delivering great seafood options in a more upscale environment for Milwaukee. Haven’t had anything we didn’t like here. All of the fish has been prepared perfectly, the crudos have all been great (feel like the hype behind crudo has died out a bit recently but 3rd coast does a great job) lobster potholes (lump crab, garlic, herb butter) and chargrilled oysters are great here as well.

Vibe: Milwaukee is super laid back, basically anything goes (especially on Sunday during football season, Packers gear accepted everywhere).

Vibe [Her]: Sandals, sneakers, boots - whatever you want basically (Ardent worth dressing up for (i.e. heels), not required though as they make it very approachable and comfortable).

Vibe [Him]: Sneakers, boat shoes, boots accepted basically everywhere (if you’re going to Ardent nicer sneakers work but worth dressing up as it might be the only spot in town other than Sanford to do so).

Cali

West Coast might just be the best coast - don't think the "Third Coast" is being brought into this long-standing battle any time soon (Great Lakes region for those who don't know already). 2 Michelin Star Dinner @ Atelier Crenn, incredible wines including one of our new favorites in Failla (fay-lah),  a new found love of beets, and a visit to the classic Bouchon Bistro (no TFL for us this time around). 

Geoduck, citrus & more @ Atelier Crenn

Mini dessert cones @ Atelier Crenn

Forgotten, high-quality drinks @ The Snug

Bouchon Bistro steak frites, - frites and + too much wine

Beet salad @ Redd Wood

Zero Zero pizza always a must for us. Not pictured: soft-serve and donuts...

• Atelier Crenn: Has to be addressed first. Yes it was expensive. Yes it was as much of an art show as a meal. But it was 1000% worth it. The fact that Dominique Crenn and her flagship were left of the World's 50 Best is a problem (in addition to the glaring lack of gender diversity in the list...). The food was exceptional, the staff worked as if they were in a lean / six sigma factory with the precision in which they operated, wines were expertly paired, and we left completely in awe of what can be done with food at the hand of the artists in the kitchen.

• Failla Winery: Absolute winner. Tasting room feels like grandma's living room, team was extremely knowledgeable, wines were high quality and affordable. Great reds and surprisingly a chardonnay we took home with us (we're not big white drinkers, but we're coming around to it). Likely will lose some $$$ to their allotment emails that will undoubtedly come soon. 10/10 would recommend to a friend.

• Zero Zero: Our longstanding go-to for pizza in the city didn't disappoint. Castro pizza is always our favorite, could have had 2 but held back due to our reservation at Atelier Crenn later that evening. Vanilla soft serve and donuts also were a reason for not ordering the second pizza.

• The Snug: Great cocktails. Cool vibe. Crowded post-work. Fairly expensive but everyone already likely anticipated that before showing up to a Pac-Heights hotspot.

• Paraduxx Winery: Awesome patio and hangout spot, good wines, learned about they hype behind Howell Mountain, paid for 6 glasses got about 12. Overall great spot to spend the afternoon.

• Redd Wood: More casual sister restaurant to Redd, the beet salad and pizza was the perfect mid-day food we needed to level us back out after a morning full of tastings starting at 10am. Have used the inspiration of the beet salad we had here to make our own variation at home. Stay tuned for our version and recipe coming soon.

• Smitten Ice Cream: Another staple. Liquid nitrogen made ice cream. We bought the hype 5 years ago and make a stop every time we go back. Fresh mint and peach were flavors of choice this time around.

• Souvla: Hip, casual, tasty, quick Greek food. Split a chicken "sandwich" aka gyro before our lengthy dinner @ Atelier Crenn. Would be a go-to lunch spot if I worked in the area. Navel orange in the wrap was a surprise but ended up working well in combination with the other flavors.

Vancouver

Our neighbors to the North have quite a culinary gem on their hands. Aburi sushi, fresh oysters, hipster cocktail bars (and great dive bars) along with neighborhood coffee and breakfast spots with fancy avocado toast.

Agnolotti, pan-seared salmon, fresh vegetables and garlic emulsion @ The Botanist 

Super basic (but great) avocado toast @ The Birds & The Beets

Aburi Salmon Sushi @ Miku 

Unknown cocktail @ The Diamond

• Aburi Sushi: never heard of it before visiting and seeing it all across Eater and other sources.  Highly, highly recommend. Almost went back to back nights at Miku. 
• Great West Coast Oysters: mandatory but not disappointed. Rodney's Oyster House in Gastown was the perfect spot to get our fix. 
• Michelin Caliber Dining: while Canada is often left off of top lists (Michelin, World's 50 Best, etc.) the quality of food and attention to detail is not lost at the Botanist in the Fairmont Hotel (I know, I know,  I often doubt hotel restaurants too but this was a great restaurant that happened to be in a hotel). Great service and hospitality along with refined and well executed dishes in a clean and aesthetic dining room made for an incredible dinner. Would highly recommend.