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TIFFANY MACISAAC: Kyle does not drink room-temp gin like
everybody-- he wants everybody to think he does.
GREG ENGERT: I know, but the funniest thing--
[INTERPOSING VOICES]
TIFFANY MACISAAC: He'll be like, babe, want a margarita?
And then he'll be like, do we have "Glee" recorded?
Just kidding, he never says that.
KYLE BAILEY: I've never done that in my life.
But for real, though, have you ever had
room-temperature Malibu?
GREG ENGERT: Room-temperature Malibu?
TIFFANY MACISAAC: Oh, gross.
[LAUGHTER]
TIFFANY MACISAAC: It's a lot like
doing a shot of sunscreen.
[LAUGHTER]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
KYLE BAILEY: My name is Kyle Bailey.
I'm a chef at Birch & Barley Restaurant.
Birch & Barley is a restaurant with American cuisine.
Local, seasonal, farm-to-table.
It's all the same words everybody uses.
We definitely make a big push to make everything in-house.
It's a from-scratch kitchen.
All the sausage is made from scratch.
Every dough, made from scratch.
All the pasta's made from scratch.
I just never wanted to open a bag here.
I never wanted to open a can.
I wanted it to be as challenging
to a cook as possible.
We're sort of making couscous in-house.
I've never really seen it done before.
I've never seen anybody do that.
So it takes a while to figure it out, but huge flavor.
Awesome, awesome house-made technique.
I'm super-excited about it.
Let me go get that dish.
It's a carrot puree with handmade couscous, minted fava
beans, and lamb tenderloin.
So we made our own curry blend.
It was really cool.
And then we started making our own yogurt.
So we kind of finished the sauce with that
yogurt and the curry.
Birch & Barley's definitely a beer-centric restaurant.
The pairing beer with the food is very special.
I don't know a whole lot of people doing that right now,
and I definitely wanted to jump into that one.
We have 555 beers, 50 drafts, 500 bottles.
We have five cask ales.
Greg Engert is beer director for this restaurant.
Also for the entire restaurant group that we work for.
He's the best that I've ever met at beer, and his knowledge
will astound.
It's amazing.
He was one of the top three reasons me and Tiff moved here
to work here.
My wife Tiffany.
We've been married for about three years.
Tiff's running desserts for the entire group.
She's got really great ideas, really a different way about
food than I do.
It's fun.
It's really cool.
We're just swimming with bow-legged women.
Now we're going to Radius, Chef Todd Wiss.
He's got this killer restaurant.
This wasn't super-planned.
It was like just this chef who really wanted--
TIFFANY MACISAAC: Found a space and made it happen.
KYLE BAILEY: Yeah, he's made it happen.
It was awesome.
TIFFANY MACISAAC: Remember how good the pastas were?
KYLE BAILEY: I love it.
I love everything he's doing.
TIFFANY MACISAAC: You're like, this makes me hate myself.
GREG ENGERT: He makes all that himself, right?
KYLE BAILEY: Totally does, man.
KYLE BAILEY: Uh, yeah, it sucks.
It's like we were eating--
we were eating and it was like, god, I don't know what
he's doing.
It's really good.
GREG ENGERT: How you doing?
TODD WISS: Good to see you.
KYLE BAILEY: Radius Pizza is in Mount Pleasant area,
Washington, DC.
Todd Wiss, he's the chef at Radius.
TIFFANY MACISAAC: I definitely want to get the risotto,
'cause it was so good last time we came.
KYLE BAILEY: All this stuff sounds awesome, dude.
Do you want to get-- we get some mussels?
TIFFANY MACISAAC: Yes, mussels.
TIFFANY MACISAAC: That's just how Kyle and I do
it when we go out.
We order the whole menu.
KYLE BAILEY: Todd, he's like, just the
coolest guy ever, man.
He's here to cook.
He's here to cook you good food.
And that's all, man.
And he's in his kitchen every night, man.
He's doing it himself.
TODD WISS: People are-- it's a misnomer.
Like oh, they just serve pizza.
But we do other things, as well.
We start a risotto with veg stock, some arborio rice
that's been parcooked.
We try to drive the menu with the seasons and
so forth like that.
Right now, it's just the beginning of springtime and
we're getting stuff that's fun, like asparagus and ramps
and peas and favas.
When I think of spring, I think of green.
I think of what's coming out of the doldrums of winter into
the start of something great.
Finish it with some whipped goat cheese that's whipped
with lemon confit and olive oil in a spring pistou.
I think what's great about Radius is that we're bringing
the quality of food and a good atmosphere to
a lower price point.
And that's important to my wife and I.
Think we hit the mark.
Asparagus risotto.
Following a little theme here of green.
KYLE BAILEY: Yeah, I know what kl
TIFFANY MACISAAC: Spring.
KYLE BAILEY: Yeah.
Spring has sprung.
Thanks, Todd.
TODD WISS: Yeah, man.
TIFFANY MACISAAC: This is so *** good.
It's like rich, but there's lemon or some
kind of acid in there.
KYLE BAILEY: It's awesome.
Every time I see what he does, like man, blown away.
TIFFANY MACISAAC: Everything's really balanced.
KYLE BAILEY: Yeah, it's awesome.
Todd's food is extremely local.
It's very seasonal.
Then he's got really, really killer pizza.
But it's his pastas, man.
It's his pastas.
TIFFANY MACISAAC: That carrot sauce is so good.
KYLE BAILEY: The fettuccine with the ramps and the fava
beans, that dish was just so simple, so clean.
It was extremely fresh.
And it was real.
It tasted like real food.
I mean, this is like ramp pesto, right on the noodle.
And it's so--
it's like, it's working.
It's working in ways that I could never make work.
TIFFANY MACISAAC: It's really simple and all the flavors are
really strong.
KYLE BAILEY: It's really good.
-OK, we have the meatballs.
GREG ENGERT: Oh, ***.
-And the creamed kale.
KYLE BAILEY: We met--
we were in New York.
We were at the Bryant Park Hotel.
It was 2003.
TIFFANY MACISAAC: One day a week, they had to work the
late-night shift for room service.
So I would get them playing chef, and I'd go to the corner
store and buy beer and come back.
We'd just sit and drink beers. 'Cause no one ever ordered
food, so we were just kind of sitting there waiting.
KYLE BAILEY: Yeah, so we'd just sit there and
drink beer all night.
Sitting on the counter.
I was like, [INAUDIBLE], man, one of those things I'd never
let anybody do.
And we were just like, sitting on the counter.
GREG ENGERT: Falling in love.
TODD WISS: That's the spring pizza with house-made fresh
mozz, spring garlic puree, local kale and local chard.
TIFFANY MACISAAC: Oh my god.
I'm starting to get really full.
KYLE BAILEY: It's delicious.
It's so good.
Have a seat, bro.
It's *** awesome.
KYLE BAILEY: Everything.
It's so much more than pizza, and it was really good.
I was blown away by his food.
Hey, you clean up nice.
TODD WISS: Thanks.
KYLE BAILEY: Let's go get some drinks, dude.
So it was me, Tiff, Greg, and we grabbed Todd, and we rolled
out to Room 11.
TODD WISS: I'm not the kind of guy who goes and
has a beer, you know?
[LAUGHTER]
TODD WISS: I'm not going to have "a" beer.
So Room 11's on the next block on your right.
KYLE BAILEY: Super small little place.
They got this outdoor area with a fire pit.
How are you ever going to be beat that?
Even when it's raining out, it's awesome.
Anything on the menu is awesome.
You're never going to lose with anything you pick.
TIFFANY MACISAAC: Oh, man.
I'd cheers you, but I'm too busy drinking.
Should we rotate?
How should we do this?
KYLE BAILEY: I guess the whole cocktail thing got really big
in New York.
And me and Tiff were right up in there, man.
We were so about it.
And in DC, there's a couple of really great cocktail places.
And we're really, really into cocktails all the time, like
really all about them.
Along with beer and wine, you know.
We drink a lot.
TODD WISS: That's-- what is this one?
KYLE BAILEY: That's the one.
That's mine.
It's the Prodigal Son.
TODD WISS: It's good, man.
TIFFANY MACISAAC: That's good.
KYLE BAILEY: It's really right, dude.
I picked it.
Dude, I picked it, it was awesome.
Also, I've got this cold sore.
[LAUGHTER]
KYLE BAILEY: Now you've all got the cold sore.
[LAUGHTER]
KYLE BAILEY: Me and Tiff, we used to go to Olive Garden
once a year, just to see what it was like.
I know, right?
GREG ENGERT: I love Olive Garden.
TODD WISS: I've never been, man.
TIFFANY MACISAAC: Oh, man.
TODD WISS: I'm not saying it 'cause I'm a snot.
TIFFANY MACISAAC: You haven't lived.
You haven't lived.
One year we went in, and we went in, and we sat down.
It was like a Monday night at 6:30.
There was a 45-minute wait.
We're like, what the ***?
So finally, we finally get a table.
They had 30 wines by the glass.
They were out of a giant jug.
They had one bottle that was only by
the bottle, the chianti.
So we ordered it, and they were like, oh, wow.
What?
TODD WISS: They thought you guys were like ballers.
TIFFANY MACISAAC: They were like--
TODD WISS: They ring a bell.
KYLE BAILEY: So we're eating this food, and I was just
like, I don't know why my stomach hurts so bad already.
I'm getting a headache.
I'm like--
[GROAN].
But all these preservatives give me such a headache, dude.
TODD WISS: That's--
I'm telling you, I want to go to ***'-- you know where I
want to go?
Red Lobster.
KYLE BAILEY: Yum, cheddar biscuits, bro.
TODD WISS: Dude, they're so good.
KYLE BAILEY: The best.
TODD WISS: They're so good.
KYLE BAILEY: Cheddar biscuits.
JESS WOODS: Thanks very much.
KYLE BAILEY: Uh, gonna make some hot pockets.
Gonna make some pasta.
And some egg dish.
When it's late night and you've had a few drinks,
what's better than, like, omelet?
GREG ENGERT: Let's get some beers, guys.
KYLE BAILEY: After Room 11, we came back to Birch & Barley,
hung out with all my cooks, and cooked up some grub.
The pasta is based off a sandwich made famous by Tony
Luke's in Philly.
Supposed to be porchetta, or pork loin, broccoli rabe,
toasted pine nuts, and fresh red chili flake.
We turned it into a pasta with ricotta cavatelli.
And that's what we're serving to these guys tonight.
Another dish we made was the giant
ham-and-cheese hot pocket.
I had Tiff do that, 'cause I trust her the most with dough.
She's got that kind of figured out.
So I bought this is Himalayan salt block.
You heat it slowly through.
That's the biggest hot pocket you've ever seen.
And it's like cooking on a flat-top, on a
griddle, you know?
But it's made out of salt, so it's also seasoning the food.
TIFFANY MACISAAC: It's good.
I did good.
KYLE BAILEY: Yeah, it's great.
It looks like a pastry person made this.
One thing that we made was the foie-melet.
And I had a couple of foie gras scraps laying around, so
I kind of browned them up in the pan a little bit, added
the egg, asparagus.
All right, grab something, Tiff.
KYLE BAILEY: Ha-ha, *** you, man.
Anyway.
Our kitchen dynamic is--
I think it's fun, man.
I really like it.
I don't know anybody who fights more than we do.
But I don't anyone who gets along better
than us either, so.
Hey, we do this all the time.
It's great, dude.
-Mamma mia!
[LAUGHTER]
KYLE BAILEY: That's great.
-Yeah, this omelet's all weird and ***.
-Yeah, I bet it sucks.
KYLE BAILEY: Hey, *** you guys, man.
You don't know what it's like trying to make an omelet when
you're all *** up, man.
Tiff makes cookies for every event ever.
Is there anything that will ever beat
a fresh-baked cookie?
I don't think so, man.
TIFFANY MACISAAC: Cookies.
-Oh, what?
[CROWD GOES WILD]
-Oh, man.
Are you kidding me, dude?
This is awesome.
15 years before that were all nothing but pain, man, cooking
six, seven days a week, 14-hour days, just trying to
get some experience, trying to understand food.
And I loved it.
It was fun, but it was rough.
I never thought that I would ever be given this chance.
I never thought that I would be in charge and
that I would be happy.
And it's awesome.
Cheers to you, guys.
Thank you very much, man.
Here's to--
here's to drinking.
Also, eating.
I don't know where it came from, but it was so--
I think I saw it on "Night Court." I love that ***--
it's my favorite cheers.
Are you ready?
She offered, Your Honor, so I honored her offer, and all
night long, I was on her and off her.
-That is not from "Night Court," dude.
KYLE BAILEY: Are you sure?
It sounds like--
TIFFANY MACISAAC: And now, a quote from "Night Court."