Maître d’ Diaries

S4 - Episode 12 - Paz Altamirano Jun 17, 2026 00:50:57 How do you get the help and support you crave to grow in your profession, and as a person? Have you ever wished you had a mentor? Or two or three? Listen to our chat with Paz Altamirano for some great tips and inspo on how to find and activate MENTORSHIP in your life. You’ll hear about: ~ How Paz got on the track of finding mentors in her maître d’ work~ The importance of being humble and able to

S4 - Episode 11 - Arnold Rossman Jun 6, 2026 01:12:18 Is it possible to age into rather than out of the business? As we gain experience and perhaps take on leadership roles within our restaurant groups, is the concept of work life balance even viable for chefs and restaurant managers? Our guest Arnold Rossman is an industry legend and a veritable posterboy for longevity in restaurant operations. Arnold has over forty five years of experience in all f

S4 - Episode 10 - Mardee Bennett May 30, 2026 01:00:13 It’s no secret that some of the best front of the house players started out as English majors and thespians. Which comes first, a penchant for performance and storytelling, or the need for a paying gig? For sure the dining room can be a stage. The curtain rises when the door opens, and no matter how we feel or what might have happened that day, the show must go on. And like putting on a play, pitc

S4 - Episode 9 - Alexandra Tierno Payard Morris May 28, 2026 00:35:11 People get into the hospitality business from all different angles, and it's not uncommon for someone to start as a host or a bus boy to make a little extra cash and end up on a totally different career path than they expected. Our guest Alexandra Tierno Payard Morris started with a B.S. in marketing and advertising from the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT), and fairly early on moved from adv

S4 - Episode 8 - Emanuel Moosbrugger Apr 18, 2026 00:46:17 When you work in restaurants you join an extended community of colleagues, ex-colleagues, and people your colleagues used to work with. These folks all over the world are connections and networks just waiting to happen. EMANUEL MOOSBRUGGER is one of those friends I never worked with but was destined to meet. Emanuel grew up in Austria and represents the fifth generation of his family running the B

S4 - Episode 7 - Alison Arth & Kimberly Belle Apr 11, 2026 00:49:58 How do you become a better restaurant manager? THAT’S AN ISSUE! Have we lost the art of the clear? THAT’S another ISSUE, along with many others we discuss in this episode of the Maître d’ Diaries Podcast with guests ALISON ARTH & KIMBERLY BELLE.Between cultural reckonings and shifts in workforce expectations, leadership roles in hospitality have become more challenging than ever. Being an effe

S4 - Episode 6 - We're Booked with Paul Freedman Apr 4, 2026 00:44:27 Welcome to another WE’RE BOOKED episode of the podcast with scholar and professor PAUL FREEDMAN. Paul Freedman is the author of Ten Restaurants That Changed America, an essential historic tome for passionate restaurant fans as well as people fascinated by business success stories and the evolution of American society.Listen in as we discuss topics such as status and prestige access, the ways in wh

S4 - Episode 5 - Jenna Norfleet Mar 28, 2026 00:44:37 Ever wonder how someone might go from being a psych major to clearing tables, to being a Michelin-star bartender? Join us for our chat with JENNA NORFLEET, head bartender at Francie in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Jenna’s front of the house career path epitomizes how sometimes the restaurant job you have to support yourself as a student ends up being more fun–and more accessible–than the field you were

S4 - Episode 4 - Andrea Zana Mar 23, 2026 00:45:02 Welcome to our first DESTINATION HOSPITALITY episode with our guest ANDREA ZANA, the general manager of the Hotel Il San Pietro in Positano on the Amalfi Coast of Italy. Listen in to hear what it’s like to be part of the operational family that runs one of the world’s greatest resort hotels, how Tom Cruise helped inspire Andrea to get into hospitality, why Andrea loves interacting with tourists, w

S4 - Episode 3 - Ahris Kim Mar 7, 2026 00:59:36 This episode we welcome Ahris Kim, the Director of Operations for NA:EUN Hospitality, the multi-award-winning group behind Atoboy, Atomix, and NARO in New York. Ahris, born in Seoul, Korea, and chats about the opportunity to combine her career passions and her heritage, the impact of the awards and accolades, her start in luxury hotels, working for Daniel Boulud, the importance of self care, and h

S4 - Episode 2 - Ronan Duchêne Le May Mar 1, 2026 00:40:17 With passion, partnership, and maybe a soupçon of beginners’ ingenuousness Ronan Duchêne Le May and his wife chef Alexia Duchêne opened Le Chêne, a très chic, très Parisien restaurant on Carmine Street in the West Village in less than six months. Incroyable! Listen in to our chat with Ronan to hear about how his love of restaurants drew him from his family winemaking world in Bordeaux to Paris, ho

S4 - Episode 1 - Daryl Coke Feb 22, 2026 00:36:08 We are kicking off Season 4 with the iconic Daryl Coke, who runs the beloved wine programs at NYC’s Ernesto’s and Bartolo’s, and a deep dive into Spanish and Basque restaurants and wines. Daryl has been in New York for the past 16 years working at some of the city’s most beloved cult restaurants including The Beatrice Inn, The Fat Radish, Mission Chinese, Contra and Wildair.She also gives us the i

S4 - Teaser Season 4 Feb 17, 2026 00:05:51 Maître d' Diaries is back!Season 4 brings you more NYC front of the house folks, like Daryl Coke of Ernesto's and Bartolo, Ronan Le Chêne of Le Chêne, Ahris Kim of NA:EUN Hospitality, and Jenna Norfleet of Francie, along with the return of “That’s An Issue,” “We’re Booked,” and a new episode theme, “Destination Hospitality.” Listen in here for a taste of what’s to come. And check out our p

Jake Shipley - FULLY COMMITTED Dec 11, 2025 00:23:10 Back in the year 2000 the Cherry Lane Theater hosted the premier of Becky Mode's side-splitting, lightening-paced one man show, "Fully Committed", and restaurant reservationists in basements and broom closets all around town felt seen. And maybe not a little bit exposed. An updated version of the show moved to Broadway in 2016 starring the great Jesse Tyler Ferguson who won a Drama D

S3 - Episode 13 - Melba Wilson Apr 23, 2025 00:57:00 We are so happy to welcome New York Restaurant World Legend, Melba Wilson, to Maître d’ Diaries. Restaurants are all about creating community. The community that is fostered in dining rooms, across tables, in bars and lounges, AND the community we build INSIDE the restaurants where we work. One of the best things about the hospitality business is how it gives us the chance to work with and get to

S3 - Episode 12 - Tatiana Mejia Apr 18, 2025 00:45:29 You meet the best people working in restaurants! Case in point, this episode’s guest, Tatiana Mejia, maître d’ at Michelin-starred Francie in Brooklyn, and a dear friend. Folks come to restaurant work via all different paths, many of us finding the right balance of physical activity, mental engagement, social interaction, and reliable income in a place we didn’t originally imagine ourselves belon

S3 - Episode 11 - Roger Raines Apr 6, 2025 00:48:08 Ever wonder what it was like booking out a restaurant ON PAPER, before the dawn of online reservation platforms? At Maître d’ Diaries one of our raisons d’être is building a bridge between restaurant industry old guard and the vibrant, essential Next Generation populating the new post-pandemic workforce. One way we do this is by gathering and sharing stories from the trenches (or the floor, if you

S3 - Episode 10 - Olivia Salomon Apr 2, 2025 00:47:08 You meet some of the best people in the restaurant business. Folks like our guest Olivia Salomon, a server at Le Veau d’Or in New York City, who find joy and satisfaction taking care of other people and helping create memorable experiences for them. Whether it’s a warm welcome at the door or a server with a wonderful tableside manner, someone who is called to the work and does it with care can rea

S3 - Episode 9 - Tom Piscitello Mar 21, 2025 00:55:13 Tom Piscitello is a New York maître d’ legend! He ran the door at some of the city’s best Italian restaurants, including Coco Pazzo, Babbo, Beppe, A Voce, and Ci Siamo. Tom joined us from his terrazzo in Sicily, where he and his husband now live the semi-retired life of private hospitality, making beautiful memories for their guests at a 3-bedroom luxury lighthouse with a view of Mt. Etna, hosting

S3 - Episode 8 - "We're Booked" with Andrew Friedman Mar 17, 2025 00:59:19 Welcome to our 3rd “We’re Booked” episode. Our guest is author, cookbook collaborator, and podcast host, Andrew Friedman.Andrew has made a career chronicling the life and work of some of our best chefs, and is currently collaborating on a memoir with Daniel Boulud, to be published by Grand Central Publishing in 2027.Andrew is the author of Chefs, Drugs and Rock & Roll: How Food Lovers, Free Sp

S3 - Episode 7 - Sarah Morrissey Mar 12, 2025 00:41:10 Fasten your seat belts for a spirit-driven ride through NYC modern cocktail culture with the beloved, legendary, Sarah Morrissey who worked on the front lines of the cocktail revolution in New York from almost the beginning. Recorded one Saturday over bagels pre-service at Le Veau d’Or, where Sarah’s the AGM and Bar Manager, if you don’t already have the pleasure of knowing Sarah, you’ll feel like

S3 - Episode 6 - Bradley Knebel Feb 19, 2025 00:58:02 A “We Can Transfer That” episode happens at least once a season on Maître d’ Diaries. These episodes are designed to highlight the many transferable skills one can hone working the door and floor of a restaurant. It's sort of a "how did you get from there to here" interview that showcases the incredibly satisfying and multi-faceted careers that sometimes get their start when someone becomes a serv

S3 - Episode 5 - Sabrina Marte Feb 17, 2025 00:44:28 Maître d’ Diaries is a front of the house industry podcast designed to build community with other dining room professionals, foster pride in the art of hospitality, share stories from the front lines, facilitate conversation among OG restaurant folks and the Next Gen, and address the very real challenges that are facing the industry we love. We are delighted to introduce you to Sabrina Marte, an u

S3 - Episode 4 - Raj Vaidya Feb 16, 2025 00:47:49 Join us this episode as we step away from the welcome and into the wine cellar for our chat with Raj Vaidya, whose career trajectory has taken him from a bagel shop in New Jersey all the way to being Chef Daniel Boulud’s International Wine Director, and now collaborating with Daniel Johnnes, as the Director of Operations for Pressoir, the organization behind wine festivals La Paulée, La Fête du Ch

S3 - Episode 3 - Paris Pryor Feb 8, 2025 00:49:01 Paris Pryor has been hearing about Maître d’ Diaries since long before we launched. In fact, her passion for the business and for hearing stories about restaurants past and present helped inspire our inception. Erica and Paris met while opening the Michelin-starred Francie in Williamsburg, Brooklyn during the pandemic and became fast friends. (Although some have asked if they are really mother and

S3 - Episode 2 - Tizzy Beck Feb 4, 2025 00:51:26 Welcome to our chat with Tizzy Beck, maître d’/manager at the Waverly Inn in the West Village. Tizzy is one of those people you meet and say, where have you been all my life? She’s a personality powerhouse, a native New Yorker and a born host. She's been featured in the New York Times for helping to kick off a New York style burger trend in Milan. Clearly she’s quite a badass. Listen in as w

S3 - Dante & Erica - Season 3 Opener Feb 3, 2025 00:19:47 Dante and Erica look back at 2024 and the holiday season in NYC. We talk about our aspirations for 2025, the physical challenges of doing a job that has us on our feet most of the day, what it’s like to do a restaurant brand refresh in a popular 15 year old restaurant, and what it means to have a purge party. Listen in for Dante’s reaction to the news that Maître d’ Diaries has a YouTube chann

When POTUS Comes to Dinner - ELECTION WEEK Bonus Episode Oct 28, 2024 00:15:49 Maître d’s have a lot of great stories, and sometimes we get to meet really interesting people while just doing our jobs. In honor of ELECTION WEEK we’re offering up a wholly positive, but still dishy behind-the-scenes story of what happened when President and Mrs. Obama came to dinner at Maialino in New York City. Listen in to hear how Roger Raines graced telling a private party that they cou

S2 - Episode 12 - Leslie Brenner Sep 30, 2024 00:52:52 Welcome to the 2nd “We’re Booked” episode of Maître d’ Diaries, a front of the house restaurant industry podcast. On our “We’re Booked” episodes we chat with authors who write about restaurants and restaurant life, and the specialty book sellers who collect and curate the books we long to own and read. This episode we welcome food writer, author, and entrepreneur Leslie Brenner. Leslie has w

S2 - Episode 11 - Preston Lee Sep 30, 2024 00:44:21 Thanks for joining us at Maître d’ Diaries, and welcome to our first “That’s an Issue!” episode. At Maître d’ Diaries we spend a lot of time thinking about the management of dining room operations and how we could do it better. While we are well past Covid–knock on wood–our industry is still very much in a culture correcting moment. It seems like every six months there is a new Major Issue. To

S2 - Episode 10 - Shari Bayer Sep 25, 2024 00:50:00 “We Can Transfer That.” If you’ve spent much time in restaurants, you’ve no doubt heard or used the phrase “We can transfer that,” which refers to transferring a drink tab from the bar to a table. Do you ever look at people with really cool restaurant-adjacent jobs they seem to have crafted to perfectly suit them and wonder how they got there? Many of us feel that the world would be a kinder,

S2 - Episode 9 - Barry Wine Sep 24, 2024 01:00:26 Get ready for a serious OG Alert. You’re about to spend some time with restaurant legend Barry Wine of the famed Quilted Giraffe. American cuisine and fine dining–along with the concept of signature dishes going viral–can be traced to the Quilted Giraffe, which opened almost 50 years ago in 1975. The Quilted Giraffe epitomized the excess and extravagance of the 80’s in New York City. It’s be

S2 - Episode 8 - Tina Vaughn Sep 22, 2024 00:50:24 Get ready for a guest and a restaurant that are unapologetically analog. Building community among our FOH colleagues is the primary reason we started Maitre d’ Diaries, so it’s fitting that wine & spirit OG and self-proclaimed connection artist, Ryan Looper, launched us on the trail to meet the bewitchingly romantic restaurateur, Tina Vaughn, co-owner of Eulalie, in Tribeca. Tina and her h

S2 - Episode 7 - Cherif Mbodji Sep 17, 2024 00:50:12 Cherif Mbodji’s passion for hospitality is deeply rooted in his upbringing in Senegal. When he came to America in 2000 to attend the University of Michigan, he had no way of knowing that homesickness for the liveliness and generosity of his big family in Senegal would lead him to a career in hospitality. When Cherif stumbled into Rain, a Thai restaurant on the Upper East Side, he got a summer jo

S2 - Episode 6 - Andrea Needell Sep 12, 2024 00:58:27 Meeting a kindred spirit like Andrea Needell is exactly why we started this podcast. Andrea is the bar director and general manager of Clay, an American farm to table restaurant located in the space once occupied by the historic Perks Jazz Club in Harlem. Clay is a neighborhood restaurant that people travel for, known for its wine and beverage program as well as its tasty local ingredient driv

S2 - Episode 5 - Luis Terreros Sep 11, 2024 00:47:51 This summer we were lucky to catch up with Luis Terreros while he was on a break between his position as opening AGM of Cafe Carmellini and taking on the new role of General Manager at Chef Michael White’s soon to open, much anticipated restaurant, Santi. Luis hails from Cuenca, Ecuador, and has been working in New York City fine dining for the past 24 years. During that time he’s worked with so

S2 - Episode 4 - Traceena Lynch Sep 4, 2024 00:31:45 Tomorrow, September 5, 2024, New York City public school students head back to the classroom, so what better date to drop our episode with the multi-talented Traceena Lynch? Traceena is a senior at Food & Finance High School in NYC, and thanks to the professional training programs run by the non-profit Food Education Fund, she already has a ton of experience in the hospitality and culinary fi

S2 - Episode 3 - Jorge Escudero Sep 4, 2024 00:57:11 These days restaurant gatekeepers come in all shapes, sizes, and sartorial styles, but our guest Jorge Escudero is cut from the fine cloth of what many of us might consider a classic maître d. Jorge has welcomed guests at iconic establishments over the years, including The Beatrice Inn, The 21 Club, and Sérêvène in Miami Beach. Now he’s at the door of chef Angie Mar’s deeply personal, glamorous,

S2 - Episode 2 - Caprice Benedetti Sep 1, 2024 00:50:00 Welcome to our energized interview with Caprice Benedetti, a woman of a certain age who’s in the middle of her first foray into hospitality. At an incredibly high level. We started Maître d’ Diaries because we wanted to build community, connect with more FOH folks, and bridge the OG / Next Gen gap in the industry. It’s no secret that being part of the Dinex Diaspora ourselves, many of the folks w

S2 - Episode 1 - John Winterman Sep 1, 2024 00:58:51 It’s the Grand Opening of Maître d’ Diaries, Season Two, and we are kicking off the season with the man, the legend, the Brad Pitt of Cheese, John Winterman. Long before the restaurant Ever in The Bear there was Charlie Trotter’s in Chicago, where a pre-Silver Fox John Winterman cut his fine dining teeth. John’s illustrious career path took him to San Francisco to work with great Gary Danko, New

Season Two - Trailer Sep 1, 2024 00:04:09 Welcome to Season Two of Maître d’ Diaries! We are a Front of the House Industry podcast that takes you behind the podium, between the tables, and inside the heads of the people who run your favorite restaurants. Take a listen to our trailer for a taste of what’s to come in Season Two, including interviews with: ~ Barry Wine of the legendary Quilted Giraffe ~ Andrea Needell of Clay in Harlem

BONUS EPISODE - Cherif Mbodji on Hurricane Beryl Aug 21, 2024 00:22:50 Four years ago in the great unknown landscape of 2020 Aaron and Victoria Bludorn, Cherif Mbodji, and their team–many imported colleagues from New York City and the Dinex (Daniel Boulud) Diaspora–opened the much celebrated Bludorn restaurant in Houston, Texas. A little less than four years and two more restaurants later, on July 8th, 2024, Hurricane Beryl hit the Houston area and many homes and

Episode 12 - Dante & Erica Interview Each Other Jul 10, 2024 00:51:33 Welcome to the final episode of Season One of Maître d’ Diaries. Like most restaurants, the podcast has taken much longer to get up and running than we could have imagined, with lots of starts and stops, largely out of our control. To wrap up Season One we figured it would be a good time for you to get to know us better. Dante and Erica are old friends who met at the Four Seasons Hotel Boston i

Episode 11 - Pop Up with Robynne Maii in Honolulu Jul 4, 2024 00:52:15 Aloha and welcome to our first Pop-Up episode of Maitre d’ Diaries the Podcast, where we record interviews from our visits to colleagues in restaurants around the country and the world. On Dante’s most recent visit home he had lunch at Fete in Honolulu with his dear friend and sustainability proponent, Natalie Aczon, after which we had the pleasure to interview the co-owner of Fete, James Beard A

Episode 10 - Aspen Maye May 22, 2024 00:40:15 Aspen Maye, Food & Beverage Manager at the Arlo Hotel in Williamsburg, is relatively new to the hospitality business, but she’s a quick study and has already put a lot of thought into how to run a door, make people feel welcome, and add some silliness into training her front of the house team. Listen in as we learn about the 10 to 5 rule, what a Sasha Bar is, and why Aspen thinks everyone sho

Episode 9 - Drew Nieporent Apr 12, 2024 00:47:39 We are so honored to welcome Drew Nieporent to MaÎtre d’ Diaries! Drew is one of America's great restaurateurs. He has been an integral player in the NYC food world landscape for decades, supporting the community, making connections, and always bringing the good time and warm welcome. Drew has played a significant role in shaping the dining scene in this country into one of our premier cul

Episode 8 - Maddy Maldonado Feb 13, 2024 00:31:33 Maître d's may be the gatekeepers, but here at Maître d' Diaries we will frequently step away from the door and talk to front of the house hospitality professionals who play all different roles in executing the service in restaurant operations. Join us this episode for our chat with Maddy Maldonado, the beverage director of Jose Andres' Mercado Little Spain at Hudson Yards on the West

Episode 7 - We're Booked! with Matt Sartwell of Kitchen Arts & Letters Feb 13, 2024 00:40:06 Welcome to the first episode of We're Booked! where each season we will chat with people who write books about restaurants! Where better to kick off this deliciously decadent series than at the venerable Kitchen Arts & Letters, the world renowned bookstore opened in 1983 by the legendary Nach Waxman? For almost four decades Waxman was a veritable biblio-maître d' whose by-hand sales an

Episode 6 - David Viana & Neilly Robinson of Lita & Heirloom Kitchen Feb 13, 2024 00:56:49 It's been quite a year for Chef David Viana and Managing Director Neilly Robinson, partners in New Jersey's Heirloom Kitchen, Heirloom at the St. Laurent Social Club, and the systemically innovative, vibrantly delicious, Lita. Last summer we visited David and Neilly six weeks after Lita, their Modern Iberian Restaurant in Aberdeen Township, NJ, opened. Since then, Esquire Magazine and the

Episode 5 - Bonus Episode with Sal Lamboglia Jan 1, 2024 00:19:03 One fine August afternoon Dante & Erica met up at Cafe Spaghetti and had the fortuitous pleasure of running into chef/owner Sal Lamboglia, who gave us a preview of their new venture, Swoony's. Of course we pulled out the microphone to record the impromptu visit! Listen in to hear about Sal and Dante's meeting at Andrew Carmellini's A Voce and the inspiration behind the newly open

Episode 4 - Giovanna Cucolo Dec 30, 2023 00:51:52 Giovanna Cucolo is the managing partner and wine buyer of Brooklyn’s Cafe Spaghetti and the recently opened Swoony’s, two of Carroll Garden’s most comfortable, fun, popular restaurants. She's worked in many of the city's top dining establishments with some of the country's great restaurateurs, and brings all that experience home to Brooklyn and the Columbia Waterfront district. Giova

9 Dinex Maître d's Celebrate 30 Years of Daniel Dec 2, 2023 00:57:27 It was a maître d' reunion! One of the many things chef Daniel Boulud taught those of us lucky enough to have worked with him is the importance of recognizing and celebrating milestone moments. In that spirit, to partake in the @30atdaniel celebration in the spring of 2023, Dante and Erica invited seven former Daniel maître d's to talk about what their time working the door for Daniel me

Daniel Boulud at Restaurant Daniel Nov 22, 2023 00:24:31 Join Erica and Dante as they chat with mentor, inspiration and former boss, chef Daniel Boulud, during an epic dinner at Restaurant Daniel in April 2023. Daniel shares his thoughts about the fine dining scene in NYC when he arrived in 1983, who were the maitre d's who held the power, how the role has changed, and the gastronomic history behind his award-winning restaurant Le Pavillon.

Episode 1 - Michael Cecchi-Azzolina Nov 10, 2023 00:51:20 Who better to have as our first guest on Maître d’ Diaries than maître d’ extraordinaire, Michael Cecchi-Azzolina? Michael has had two huge hits in a row this past year. His memoir, Your Table is Ready: Tales of a New York City Maître d’, is a best seller that's being touted as a front of the house Kitchen Confidential; and his Greenwich Village boite, Cecchi's, opened this summer to great

Maître d’ Diaries - Welcome Episode Nov 6, 2023 00:25:20 Join Erica and Dante as they talk about their new Front of the House industry podcast and what you can expect to hear in Season One. Set in part at Jean-Georges Vongerichten's Fulton at the South Street Seaport in New York City, you'll experience dining out with two OG maître d’s, and hear what it was like when the New York Times food critics showed up at the door circa 2000's.

Teaser Nov 6, 2023 00:04:40 Welcome to Maître d’ Diaries! Thank you for joining us! Please come in and have a taste of what you can expect in Season One of our much anticipated front of the house restaurant podcast.

Episodes

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