Libations for Everyone

Friend of the Podcast, superchef, and media sensation Yia Vang is back with your guys on LFE, and not a moment too soon, as he and his team at Vinai approach the final stretch of preparations for their massively anticipated restaurant opening.When Yia last joined the program, he detailed the many challenges he faced in embarking on this long journey, making this chapter of the story even more worth celebrating. He tells Charles & Ben more about how his love for his parents inspired all that Vinai represents, the attention to detail of all the various design and furnishing choices in the new space, details about the forthcoming menu (including a hidden SECRET MENU that can be found IN the restaurant), and a heck of a lot more about what's going on in his life right now, in addition to these six topics (+six shots) of the week:

Chris Montana has a full plate this summer. The co-founder of Du Nord Social Spirits, living near New Orleans, is working on multiple new projects in Minneapolis: the reimagining of the Du Nord Cocktail Room and New Orleans style restaurant Lagniappe-- both located at the newly renovated, historic Coliseum. He hops on this edition of LFE to tell Quam & Charles all about how these projects came together, how the spirit of NOLA fits into the Twin Cities dining scene, and the inventive new program at the cocktail room, while tipping back six shots in combinations with these six topics of the week:

All time great Clemson Tigers and Minnesota Vikings football player Ed McDaniel rarely does interviews, but the concept of sipping spirits and smoking cigars with Quam and Charles was enough to entice him to saddle up, head to Minneapolis, and sit down in front of mic for an afternoon of chopping it up on Libations for Everyone. Here are your topics of the week:

Time for another Chicago guest on Libations for Everyone! Derrick Tung is the owner/operator of the spectacular Paulie Gee's Pizza (Charles' fav pizza in Chicago). He joins LFE to detail future plans for more Paulie Gee's locales, a brewery food service collab, a new bar concept, smashburgers, traveling to a Shaolin monastery in Hunan province to study kung fu (SRSLY), and a heck of a lot more, in addition to these six topics of the week:

Jessi Pollak is one of the most apropos individuals to join Ben & Charles in their pursuit of sometimes-inspiring, oft-weird, libations-laden, bar-style conversations, as a one-time World Class US Bartender of the Year, Speed Rack national finalist, and the commander of all of the wonderful things you lift to your lips and sip for Soigné Hospitality (they, of the heralded Spoon & Stable, Demi, Mara, et al).Quam whipped up a lovely, light, neutral sherry based cocktail, which was shared alongside neat cordials of gin, and homogenized within a chat containing these six topics of conversation:

Friend of the Podcast, Gustavo Romero, returns to Libations for Everyone, and not a moment too soon, as his absolutely spectacular restaurant Oro was recently named a finalist for James Beard's Best New Restaurant in the US. The fellas talk about culinary accolades, the bizarre phenomena of leaving the last piece, weird things that beets and asparagus do to your body, the continuing evolution of Nixta and Oro, the versatility of peanut butter, and these six topics of the week:

Vivaaaaaaaa Wrestlemania! Viva Knievel singer extraordinaire Jake Quam, and our very-own resident Chaz, are both newly returned from having the times of their lives in Philly for all of the many festivities of Wrestlemania week.These two wrasslin dorks chat up the OTHER Quam about their adventures at the pro-grape equivalent of Disneyland, and Jake tells all about what's cooking this spring for Viva Knievel-- beginning with their annual "hot szn kickoff" spectacular for the legendary Art-a-Whirl festival in Minneapolis on May 17th at Bauhaus Brew Labs.All that, and more, in addition to your six topics of the week:

It's due time for another tag-team edition of the pod! What once was a convenient fill-in for cancellations or open dates, has become an alternative episode type unto itself, and is becoming more and more difficult to find a space for in the never-ending avalanche of spectacular guests on LFE.The boys discuss Charles' recent Japan adventures, SURPRISE MAYONNAISE, Memaw's Cheese Tiddies (yes, they are a real snack food), and all of the following topics:

Amanda Jacobson from the delightful, hilarious, spoopy Wine & Crime podcast, and the steamy, titillating, BONKBUSTERY Passages pod, is the LFE third-host o' the week! Seldom do Charles & Quam have the chance to clink glasses on-air with such a kindred spirit-- as fellow "drinking a lot while laughing hysterically into a mic" enthusiasts.Talking about pod life is just one small part of this G&T sesh, in addition to an infinite number of terrible puns, stories about broken bones on vacation, frozen pizza history 101, and these six topics:

Friend o the Pod, som, hospitality maestro, and 3.5x LFE guest Paul Hennessy pulls into the lead for all-time appearances on this edition of the show. "Paulie Three Point Five Times" doesn't really have a ring to it, so we'll just call him DOCTOR IRISH. Paul gives Charles n Ben the scoop on life at Porzana after receiving a James Beard nom, and chats about hospitality (as ever), shoeys, and all of THIS:

Club Carraway founder Derek Reed makes his second turn on the Libations for Everyone runway, with some thrilling news about the future of his true-custom clothing business. Enjoying some whiskey in The Semple Mansion after a long day is a comfortable feeling for Derek, given that the "recording studio" for LFE is where he plies his craft as an expert clothier and stylist. Only this time, he can kick back as a guest. The gentlemen talk about new comedy, timeless fashion, traveling to the same places, forthcoming adventures around the world, and more, along with these six topics:

You'd be hard pressed to find a finer dinner party host, chef, hospitalitarian (yes that's a real word!) and devoted Francophile than Brooke Faudree. Look no further than the fact that she brought a beautiful sourdough and some excellent butter to share with Quam and Charles on this edition of Libations for Everyone. Breaking bread and sipping negronis are just the starters. Brooke recants stories from her various visits to France, including a particularly memorable lunch she had with some elderly legionnaires, after which she was given a really special gift. Here are your six topics:

When Sông Cái founder Daniel Nguyen was previously in the Twin Cities, showcasing their dazzling portfolio of wildly unique distillations and fermentations, Quam and Charles insisted to him that he appear on Libations for Everyone the next time he's in town. WELL, next-time is now-time. Daniel rolled into the LFE mansion recording studio with Sông Cái's entire catalogue in tow. This heady convo spans subjects like human dopamine response, designing bitter amaro alongside a Vietnamese medicine woman, transforming cocktails in black garlic machines, regenerative farming, and these topics of the week:

Friend of the Podcast, Robb Jones, hasn't been on LFE since 2020. A great deal has changed since then, including having his wonderful bar, Meteor, receive a richly-deserved nomination for an effing James Beard Award for Outstanding Bar. Not to bury the lede-- but they also got a hot dog roller, and he's a dad! Rolling on all fronts. Robb tells the boys about processing the feels from receiving such an impactful nom, spills about HOT HOT DOG THEORY (like the titular Wizard Fingers) and dad life, and speaks on these topics of the week:

Boveda's Nathan Beck is a dear friend of the podcast, and LFE's newest THREE TIME guest, joining a very distinct group. He was so excited to reach three-peat status, that he Incredible Hulk'd his mic arm in half to mark the occasion. The aftermath is pictured in the thumbnail.

Co-host of the insanely popular Knowledge Fight podcast, and former standup comic, Jordan Holmes, joins Libations for Everyone for a total departure from what he pods about on the day-to-day (Knowledge Fight is currently almost 900 episodes running!). Drinking and quipping about Obama's beige suit, cabeza tacos and non-biological lactose intolerance are just the start. Here are your six topics of the week:

After nearly 100 eps since his last appearance on the program, friend of the pod Justin Sutherland is back in the hot seat on Libations for Everyone!What's changed since then? Not much-- he just almost died, published a beautiful new cookbook, featured on a ton of TV productions, opened a bunch of new restaurants, and uhhhh WON A DAMN EMMY.Emmy Award Winning Justin Sutherland talks to Quam & Charles about all that, in addition to these topics (alongside a bunch of shots of tequila!):

Chef Gerard Klass is riding high on a wave of momentum. Soul Bowl is kicking out beautiful, hip-hop inspired soul food at multiple locations in MPLS (including Target Center!), The Camden Social and C.R.E.A.M. Cafe are full-steam ahead, and Klassics Kitchen + Cocktails is soon to join the fray.Gerard found some time amidst all that activity to sit down, fireside, with the Libations for Everyone duo, for some bourbon, laughter, introspection and prognostication. Six shots, accompanied by these six topics:

You'd be hard pressed to find anyone in the hospitality scene doing something more ground-breaking in 2024 than what Jillian Hiscock and co are doing right now with A Bar of Their Own. This first-of-its-type sports bar outside of the PNW, targeting a March open, is all about women's sports-- which they'll exclusively air in-house. Jillian drinks with Quam & Charles and talks about the road that brought her to this remarkable endeavor, the trials and tribulations of bringing it to life, where the hell the term "devils on horseback" came from, Sisqó's fudgery, and ridiculous things to say in various accents, in addition to these six topics (in accordance with six toasts):

The Ice Man, Erik Eastman, is back as Libation for Everyone's first three-peat guest. More like Erik THREESTMAN, amirite? Easy is a longtime listener favorite. His appearances on the program are never short on insightfulness, deep dives, or hot quotes ("it's your mouth" is perhaps LFE's most frequently referenced guest quote), and this convo is no exception. Erik shared highballs with the boys, featuring several select Beam Suntory whiskeys, and tells all about what's icy this winter, including new info on the world's largest ice bar in Minneapolis, and a heck of a lot more, including these topics:

It's been a min since LFE has hosted a coffee industry guest! Sam Kjellberg insures that 2023 won't pass without one, and like a proper pour over, it's worth the wait. Sam had a truly fascinating "past life" as a musician and academic, but decided to slide over from his drum set to a drum roaster seven years ago, and the spectacular, bleeding edge SK Coffee is the result. Charles & Ben served up a spicy, chocolatey, exclusive barrel-pick bourbon for this conversation about Sam's musical background, the past, present & future of the coffee industry, and these Qs of the week:☯️ Who is your OTHER other half?

It's the RETURN OF THE BEAK. The orchestrator of LFE's soundtrack, Mr. Lazerbeak, dropped in to the Semple Mansion to experience the upgrade from the "polish basketball court" he recorded in the first go-around. Libations for Everyone is all grown up!The boys put back six (plus) shots of tequila, and discussed Beak's newest drops from Lady Midnight (new track at the end of the ep!) and Dessa, Tiger Woods for some reason, and the following shot-complimenting topics of the week:

Chef Ed Porter is a storyteller of many mediums. A man of myriad arts, Chef moved to Minneapolis from NY in 98 to open Marcus Samuelsson's second location of the legendary Aquavit. His love of food is equalled only by his love of music, as heard on his brand-new album "de zéro", for which he has been scheming up a multi-course meal to pair with each track. Wild, right??Chef gives Quam and Charles the scoop on that ambitious creative pursuit, and gets in the weeds about spicy food, New York food culture, embracing life in the Twin Cities all these years after moving from NY, and a bundle more, in addition to these topics of the week:❄️ It's the little things-- what seemingly innocuous activity makes you very happy?

Stephanie Meyer and the boys have been shuffling schedules for some time hoping to connect on an episode of your favorite podcast, and it happened exactly as it was meant to. This wonderful human, coach, personal chef, instructor, author, caterer and actual beam of light (scientifically confirmed), brought Ben and Charles SNACKS!!!-- including the titular tunabutter-- to share alongside a whole lotta beverages, and a truly wide ranging talk about life, in the library at Semple Mansion. LFE is still learning some new tricks, as one of the topics of the week comes courtesy of Friend of the Podcast™ Stephanie March (the shorter Steph in this tall/short crime fighting duo). Without further ado:

PIIIIIIIP! LFE's second set of hundreds kicks off at our new recording location in a literal mansion. Pip Hanson is perhaps the Twin Cities' best know bar person. He's been thrice nominated by James Beard, launched the legendary Marvel Bar (RIP

It's the LFE centennial! Get ready for the shiggles (TM 2023 LFE Enterprisez) in historic edition ONE HUNDO, with the immensely talented Jesse Valenciana of Nashville's Secret Bodega. Jesse has been styling on the US food and bev scene for over a decade, as a marketing G at Goose Island and Against the Grain, co-author of cookbooks like Eat Street and ManBQue, frequent TV and radio guest in the Chicagoland area, and current Nashvillian foodzilla. This man has even cooked in the James Beard house. Holy heck. After spending the weekend running amok on Nashville with the boys, Jesse sat down for this sprawling episode, including six shots and six topics:

99 eps of LFE on the wall! The endlessly talented Kate Nelson joins Libations for Everyone this week. Editor in Chief of Artful Living, with features published in Esquire, ELLE, BBC, The Daily Beast, Condé Nast, W Magazine, Architectural Digest, and so many more, while advising for Calling All Horse Girls magazine. She is also a James Beard Foundation Media Award nominee and a Native American Journalists Association member. Kate is out here doing it all! And she still managed to find the time for this thought provoking and hilarious conversation with Quam and Charles. Hers is a voice worth listening to, as she discusses the cultural impact of Reservation Dogs, Chef Sean Sherman's broad influence, her journey through the world of journalism, and so much more, including these topics of the week:

A trip to NYC with LFE wouldn't be complete without a deep dive into Charles and Quam's incredible week in the big city. In this newest "just the boys" ep, the fellas expound on the chaotic fluidity of their adventures in Manhattan, tell you all about their video shoot and what's to come, announce some news about the future of the podcast's recording location, and a heck of a lot more. Here, have some topics:

As you may know, the boys of Libations for Everyone just returned from a wild work trip to NYC, where they pounded out a bunch of audio and video magic (...and food and beverages), in the name of HIGH QUALITY CONTENT for your discerning ears and eyes. The maestro of the video crew for LFE's forthcoming video adventures was fast rising director Conor Champley, writer of myriad ads that you have seen thousands of times, and writer, director and/or producer of multiple films, including the award winning Sick Boy and A Day Out.Conor and the fellas kick back six shots of spectacular spirits, provided by LFE sponsor Beam Suntory, for each of the six topics, plus some bonus shots and bonus talking points, like Conor talking about how he thought the all-day video shoot went with the boys at a variety of spots in NYC, with various personalities including Dessa. Your topics:

Kyle Hopkins endeared himself to a worldwide audience from his very first appearance on this season of Masterchef on FOX (Srsly, you should watch his audition, it is truly wonderful). His love of the Minnesota State Fair and having family that lives in the Twin Cities brought him to LFE's doorstep for Maker's Mark horsefeathers, Patisserie 46 pastries paired with lambic, and a tremendous conversation about his experiences on Masterchef, making Gordon Ramsay laugh so hard he chortled, his career as a Cicerone and beer professional for Surly Brewing, and all of these topics:

People might say "finally" too often about a thing they've done, but this is an instance that certifiably qualifies. It took LFE 95 damn episodes to get Charles' illegitimate brother Sameh Wadi on the show. Better known for: being the third Iron Chef contestant to grace LFE (and the second winner!), being an absolute legend in the Twin Cities culinary stratosphere-- having helmed the spectacular (and sorely missed) Saffron, the wildly craveable World Street Kitchen, and the elite scoops of Milkjam, among others-- in addition to being a published author of The New Mediterranean Table (which deserves placement on every culinary bookshelf). Sameh discusses how he came up through the food world as a young boy observing his family putting together a cooking tome, his adoration/obsession with Panda Express, and a great deal more, in addition to these here topics o' the week:

Devin T. Adams, proprietor of Mala Mia Mezcal in Oaxaca, and co-owner of Elsewhere Brewing Company in ATL, teased flying into the Twin Cities to record with Libations for Everyone a couple of months back on a call with Charles. He made good on that offer this week, touching down at MSP from NYC with a plethora of mezcal in tow. Devin is a fellow Eagle Scout to Charles, went to West Point, became an Army Ranger, studied law at Vandy, is a fellow DJ to Quam, and is now fully immersed in the beverage world. As I'm sure you can gather from the above details, the fellas had a great deal to discuss in this episode! Here's a taste:

Adam Witherspoon-- one of the three amigos in Minneapolis fermentation collective 3Leche, and notorious barman and bar program curator about town-- ended his hot summer day kiddy pool soak, and polished off his G&T for this. What a guy!LFE sponsor Beam Suntory made the transition a bit easier with some summery beverages (at bottom of full description!) for Adam to share with Ben and Charles, and they used their reprieve from the hot hot heat to discuss:

The boys are back in town, and they're celebrating THREE YEARS OF LFE! Ben and Charles are newly returned from their first out of town adventure together (yes, ever-ever), and they made it count with a wildly memorable trip to Europe for LFE summer break. Hear our guys tell you all about dining at legendary places like Noma (and Ben's agonizing story about that meal), Geranium and Jordnær, making lots of new friends and more deeply bonding with existing ones, sunrise bridge beers and late night shawarma (and a HOT SAUCE SLUSHY MACHINE), the alley with the mysterious neon finch, and continuing their respective journeys in Sweden and France, respectively. PLUS: a big huge announcement about the pod. Here's the context for the conquest (feel welcome to contextualize these to any trip you may have taken, if yer playing along!):

Where do we begin with Mr. Philip Duff? Phil is a Grade A multipotentialite. Commander of Old Duff Genever, educator, marketer and consultant for Liquid Solutions, founder of Door 74 in Holland, and former academy chair for the US for the World's 50 Best Bars... and that's barely skimming the pot. Phil rolled into Club Carraway with a historical lineup of Genever-to-gin-to-rye-whiskey-- purely for educational purposes, of course-- and gave Ben and Charles a rousing, spiritous mini seminar on the history of these distillations. Commingled with the customary hijinx you've come to expect from your boys at LFE:

Chef Thomas Boehmer loves quality cigars, spirits and banter, so it was due time that he joined Libations for Everyone for a VERY healthy serving of each.Learn about Thomas' southern roots and how they lent themselves to what would eventually become Revival, the ebbs and flows of the creative process, his experience as a luthier, his fondest memories of his classic restaurants Corner Table and In Bloom, hunger inducing stories about barbecuing whole-hog porchetta and whole quarters of beef, and all of this:

When Peder Schweigert recently judged Iron Bartender alongside Charles, he remarked "it can't be Libations for Everyone until you have a guest that doesn't drink alcohol". Truer words. The winding road of this wonderful conversation bears that out, and proves that the type of bread broken on LFE is inconsequential to the experience that transpires behind it. Peder tells Ben & Charles about his days working on Top Chef in NYC, cooking at Alinea in Chicago, the halcyon days of Marvel Bar in Minneapolis, and his delightful, new, non-alcoholic wine brand, Dry Wit, which he shared as the beverage for the episode. Here's some of what's discussed:

Hey, LFE is gettin the hang of this remote recording thing! Emmy award winner, writer & producer of Bob's Burgers and The Great North, writer on The People We Hate at the Wedding, and total virtuosa, Lizzie Molyneux-Logelin, connects with the boys from her home in LA on this fresh new episode. Lizzie kicked back with some drinks while on strike as a writer, expounding on her thoughts about the current state of matters, and informing listeners about what it's like to be a writer in modern Hollywood. That alone is worthy of your consideration, but it wouldn't be LFE without "six shots and six topics of conversation", such as:

Agaves have been a hot distillate on Libations for Everyone of late, so it felt like the appropriate time to invite an expert in the arena of all things agave onto the program. Todd Mulhair is the maestro of spirits at the spectacular Escondido at Centro in Minneapolis-- recently named a top 15 agave bar in the US by Food & Wine. Todd was accompanied by Ian and Nick (his left and right hand men in the wondrously intimate Escondido tasting room), and came heavily armed with so many bottles of agave that it started to feel like they were pulling them out of Ben and Charles' ears. These were some very special bottles, so prepare for a masterclass on agave, and some beautiful storytelling about the origins of some of their selections.Here are your topics o' the week:

It's hard to believe that it's been SEVENTY NINE episodes since Mizz Smarch crashed the party at Libations for Everyone. That was before proper LFE cover art! This delightful conversation is evidence that hiatus was far too long. It should come as no surprise that Stephanie is still tearing up the scene, and she had plenty to discuss with the boys, including the following "six shots, six topics of conversation":

It's going downnnnnn. SURPRISE: LFE's newest sponsor is the mighty Plift. Now Quam can discuss his business, passion and career without a character cap! Co-founder Todd Harris flew in from KC to join the boys to harken this new relationship on the airwaves. Get to know Plift a little better, and get to know Todd-- the super cool, accomplished, well-traveled human being-- via these topics of conversation:

The last time Libations for Everyone was graced with standup comic MJ Matheson's presence, a portion of the ep was sadly lost to a power outage. It stands as one of LFE's funniest episodes to date, though portions of it lack context. To make up for that unfortunate faux pas, MJ returned to the scene of the crime, and sat down for a sprawling, rollicking, ridiculous 3.5 hour party with Ben & Charles. There's no great place to start with explaining this conversation, so check these topics for starters:

Megan Luedtke, bar director for Daniel Del Prado's empire of restaurants and bars in the Twin Cities (deep breath-- Martina, Colita, Rosalia, Cardamom, Café Cerés, Sanjusan, Bar Rufus, Miaou Miaou, Blondette WHEW), and all around super talented human, wanted DAIQUIRIS for her debut on LFE. She, Ben and Charles each made their own riff on a Daiq, and went in on the following:

Jeff & Breezy, from the spectacular (and growing!) Detroit style pizza monster Wrecktangle, brought Grape Apes and pickle roll ups to the classy confines of Club Carraway, for an agave fueled conversation with Ben n' Charles. You already know pizza talk was on deck, including and in addition to:

You may know him from multiple award winning biopic Rise: The Story Of Augustines, the titular band Augustines, Pela, his modern solo stylings, or perhaps even from his podcast Onward with William McCarthy, but LFE knows him simply as "Billy". Join Ben & Charles as they welcome their very first overseas, drunk-dial, phone-in episode with Billy, as he makes himself at home in his new headquarters of Geneva, Switzerland. They twist phone cords in their fingers and gossip about:

Madly talented photographer and world gallivanter Roy Son sits in LFE's third chair this week! He speaks with Ben & Charles about what it was like flying Tomoiki Sekine to the US from Kyoto's mind-bending Nokishita for a series of exclusive cocktail events, traveling around the world to shoot rad stuff like olive oil docs, and a variety of topics like:

Stephen Agyei has had roles on shows like BoJack Horseman and Abbott Elementary, wrote and starred in the short film Swish (that is currently on the film festival circuit and an award nom), is a touring stand up comic, and so much more. He was bold enough to land in the Twin Cities from LA, and head directly to the studio to record with LFE on an empty stomach. That's a spoiler! This wild conversation touches on:

Are you an HGTV, interior design or home furnishing bobo? LFE's got you on this one. The fantastically talented Becca Schwartzbauer-- owner of Grey Duck Staging, and from the cast of HGTV's Renovation 911-- requested agave spirits AND palomas, so she came ready to play. Here are some topics that furnish this episode:#️⃣Modern social media pet peeves

It's a two-man battle royale this week, with Ben and Charles libating without a guest, but drinking for 3-4, nonetheless. At least until a wild Pok-e-man appears later on in the episode! You'll discover who it is when you listen in. FUN RIGHT? These are your LFE topics du jour:

HEY! It's Brett Splinter!! The owner operator of Nova Bar in Hudson Wisconsin, and burger smashing madman of Private Sector Provisions, is back on LFE. He, along with Ben & Charles, had no shortage of quips and commentary on the litany of topics conveniently listed out for you below: