718: How Brooks Reitz Got His Hands on the Holy Grail of Restaurant Training Manuals

Brooks Reitz writes the wonderful newsletter A Small & Simple Thing, which has become one of our favorite reads. He also runs restaurants in Charleston and New Orleans, including Leon’s Oyster Shop, Little Jack’s Tavern, Melfi’s, and the Bell. In this conversation we talk about Brook’s unique worldview, built around restaurant hospitality, tastemaking (the not annoying kind), and design. We talk about the recent British Invasion for restaurants in America, and his acquisition of the Houston’s / Hillstone training manual.

And before that we have a great conversation with Johno Morisano and chef Mashama Bailey, partners at The Grey, an acclaimed and progressive restaurant located in historic downtown Savannah, Georgia. In this interview we chat with the pair about how they think about the big picture (together) and bounce around menu ideas (sometimes, not together). It’s an enlightening and entertaining conversation about collaborating in a modern dining setting.

The views expressed in this podcast are those of the speakers – not of Resy—and do not constitute professional advice.

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If you’re a fan of smart and lively conversations about food, home cooking, and culture, this is the place. We interview the most interesting characters in the world of food, media, and cookbooks and release episodes several times a month. The program is hosted by TASTE editors Aliza Abarbanel and Matt Rodbard, and is sometimes recorded live at Rizzoli Bookstore in New York City.

Visit TASTE online: tastecooking.com