Communal Table Podcast: Dale DeGroff and Julie Reiner

The veteran bartenders talk about what it takes to stick around for the long haul.

September 18, 2020

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Credit: Daniel Krieger

Chefs and restaurant workers take great care of everyone else, but often they need a little help themselves. Each week, Food & Wine senior editor Kat Kinsman talks with hospitality pros about they manage their business, brain, and body for the long haul. Is there a topic you'd like to know more about or a guest you'd love to hear from? Tell us at fwpro@foodandwine.com or tweet to Kat @kittenwithawhip, and subscribe to the weekly Food & Wine Pro newsletter so you never miss an episode. Catch up on previous episodes here.

Episode 80: Dale DeGroff and Julie Reiner

In July 2019, which seems like a lifetime ago, beverage pros from around the world converged on New Orleans for the annual Tales of the Cocktail conference—an event highlighting and celebrating the best of bar culture past, present, and future. Veteran bartenders Dale DeGroff and Julie Reiner have had something to do with every step of that, and together are a walking library of modern bar culture. As DeGroff's classic book is being reissued some 18 years after its original publishing date, it seemed like a perfect time to revisit Food & Wine's conversation with these two cocktail icons—recorded in a room at the Royal Sonesta—on the topic of the late '90s and early '00s cocktail boom, what it truly means to be in hospitality, and how bartenders can stick around for the long haul.