AfterShift

This week I am joined by Duane Rider from Engine House 25 Wines and Chef Claudy Pierre from Eminent Hospitality and the EAT Initiative.  We enjoy drinking the "Best Wine in the House" talking about how Chef Claudy helped the community during the pandemic.  We then learn how Duane got into the wine business, how Kelly Fry saved the Roberto Clemente Museum through a news story, why athletes from all over the country visit the only museum with a winery in the basement, and why everyone should be buying his wine.  It is a great story about a true treasure in Lower Lawrenceville...

This week we have a fun visit with Kara Haspel Lind from Kara's Cupcakes and Bar Lucia in San Francisco and Napa Valley.  Kara and I went to High School together and she happened to be visiting her family here in Pittsburgh.  So we spent an afternoon on my patio drinking wine talking about her mission of "Creating Celebratory Moments" through sweets and wine.  We learn about how she started up a wildly successful bakery chain after a career in media sales, her passion of featuring women wine-makers in Bar Lucia, and her joy of owning an Airstream trailer.  We also talk about fires that threatened her home last year, how Covid made her rethink her priorities, and even have some thunder in the background and there's an accident in the kitchen.  A very enjoyable episode for sure!

This week for episode 2 we are joined by Chad Townsend from Millie's Homemade Ice Cream.  We learn about Chad's road from being fired from his first job, through learning culinary skills in France, to finally starting up the highly successful ice cream company we know today.  We talk about how he and his wife Lauren started up by maxing out a credit card, then investing millions into a new "Ice Cream Works" just before a worldwide pandemic.  We almost crash in the weeds talking about the ice cream and dairy business (where you will learn some good lingo for your next visit to the grocery store) but pull it out at the end to chat about his kids culinary habits.

On our first episode, we chat with Don Mahaney from Scratch and Co.  We talk with Don about how he pivoted during the pandemic, changing dramatically into a whole new business model.  We also learn about his love of karaoke, playing chess with his son, and his passion about local food production.  It's a great conversation starting from his first job of selling sodas and hot dogs at a bingo hall to rolling out his own retail brand of local foods, Scratch Made.  Enjoy!

Welcome to AfterShift!  Each week we will be chatting with the food leaders in the Pittsburgh area that make our City great.  It could be a chef, owner, bartender, farmer, anyone that has an impact on the food scene.  It won't always be local, we will be on the road occasionally talking with folks that make the entire food system thrive.  We'll be meeting in person, over whatever drink they like to have After their Shift!