#81, Tim McKirdy, managing editor, VinePair, recovering chef, host of the Cocktail College podcast

Myself and Tim have been threatening each other with a podcast taping for over a year, and we finally found time to sit down, beverages to hand, and make it happen!(This is a satisfyingly lengthy episode, clocking in at over 2.5 hours, and we'll do more of such chat fests in the future, too). We talk about Tim's path into the industry as a cook and chef in some very high-profile restaurants in his native UK and then in Argentina, moving into drinks writing, the rise of spirits designed to be mixed, the delusions we must all buy in to that make hospitality pleasant, changing tides of kitchen culture, why we don't have (but probably need) reviews of bars and spirits that are critical where deserved, the sparkling repartee that legendary restaurant AA Gill exchanged with Gordon Ramsay one evening in a restaurant where Tim worked, the anonymity dilemma of modern bars, our respective roles spreading COVID in early 2020 and our shared experience of the deli-counter / conveyor-belt marriages at Manhattan City Hall. Enjoy!(Oh, and the place Tim couldn't remember the name of, when I asked him for a place outside the US that had impressed him recently? It's Radici in Italy: https://www.instagram.com/____radici____?igsh=eW45YnpteTNsaDAy )Tim on IG: https://www.instagram.com/timmckirdy/?hl=enTim on X/Twitter: https://x.com/timmckirdy?s=11&t=kTsTPMPK0kgHLvK8ldrFXQCocktail College on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5MLIRt8RnvTdfp1vFtVtI7VinePair on IG: https://www.instagram.com/vinepair/?hl=en (Get in touch with Duff!Podcast business enquiries:  [email protected] (PR friends: we’re only interested in having your client on if they can talk for a couple of hours about OTHER things besides their prepared speaking points or their new thing, whatever that is. They need to be able to hang. Oh, plus we don't edit, we won’t supply prepared or sample questions, nor listener or “reach” stats, either, and no, you can't sit in on the interview (or lurk on the Zoom.)  And our AI automatically deletes pitch emails that are clearly written using AI. Retain Philip’s consulting firm, Liquid Solutions, specialised in on-trade engagement & education, liquor brand creation and repositioning: [email protected] on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/philipsduff/ Philip on Facebook: Philip Duff Philip on X/Twitter: Philip Duff (@philipduff) / Twitter Philip on LinkedIn: linkedin.com Old Duff Genever on Instagram: Old Duff Genever (@oldduffgenever) • Instagram photos and videos Old Duff Genever on Faceboo...