Champagne Special with the Restaurant Guys Mark Pascal and Francis Schott

Natalie MacLean
Dec25th
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Introduction

In today’s episode, I’m chatting with Mark Pascal and Francis Schott, on their excellent radio show The Restaurant Guys. They’ve been in the fine dining and wine retail business for more than 25 years, and co-own Stage Left Restaurant in New Brunswick, New Jersey, which the New York Times has ranked in their excellent category and Citysearch named among the Top 10 Restaurants in America and Worth The Drive from any Major City.

Since I’ve chatted with them, they’ve launched a second restaurant called Catherine Lombardi and their Stage Left Wine Shop is booming. Although their radio show was wildly popular, they decided to retire it and focus their time on the restaurants and wine boutique, and actually get a full night’s sleep now and then.

I wanted to share this one with you because we dig into some of my most personal and earliest wine stories as well as tips on how to choose a great festive wine, pairings for turkey dinner and navigating a big restaurant wine list. This is actually two episodes rolled into one as I’ve been a guest on their show a number of times. Enjoy the episode!

 

Highlights

  • How do you make a career switch from a high tech marketer to a wine writer?
  • What does it take to be named one of Elle’s Top Thirty Power Women?
  • How do you become a wine expert?
  • Which types of wine are produced in Canada?
  • What are the two most requested wine topics?
  • How can you tackle a daunting restaurant wine list?
  • What signs should you look for in a restaurant when assessing the wine line?
  • Should you always follow the advice of a restaurant’s resident wine “expert”?
  • Which types of wine writing give you a better picture of “what goes on around the glass”?
  • What’s my approach to choosing topics for my articles?
  • Will wine make you fat?
  • Are you able to fit wine into your weight loss diet?
  • Why is wine the perfect companion for your holiday meals?
  • Can you serve Champagne before the start of the meal?
  • Where can you look for Sparkling Wine that tastes as good as Champagne?
  • Why should you pay attention to the “méthode” on the label?
  • What’s the correct temperature for you to serve Champagne?
  • Which wines pair well with both turkey and cranberry sauce?
  • Should you treat your wines as a side dish?
  • How can your wine approach change when you’re dining family-style?
  • How do you figure out how much wine you should buy?
  • Are white or red wines more popular with the general population?
  • What can you do to make sure the wine you bring to dinner is well-received?
  • What etiquette rules should you keep in wine when bringing wine for your host?
  • How can you help your guests drink responsibly?
  • Can you pair wine with salads?

 

Resources

 

Wine Reviews

 

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Transcript & Takeaways

Welcome to episode 56!

Merry Christmas, Happy Hannakuh and joyous days off no matter what you’re celebrating! In today’s special holiday edition, I’m chatting with Mark Pascal and Francis Schott, on their excellent radio show The Restaurant Guys. They’ve been in the fine dining and wine retail business for more than 25 years, and co-own Stage Left Restaurant in New Brunswick, New Jersey, which the New York Times has ranked in their excellent category and Citysearch named among the Top 10 Restaurants in America and Worth The Drive from any Major City.

Since I’ve chatted with them, they’ve launched a second restaurant called Catherine Lombardi and their Stage Left Wine Shop is booming. Although their radio show was wildly popular, they decided to retire it and focus their time on the restaurants and wine boutique, and actually get a full night’s sleep now and then.

I wanted to share this one with you because we dig into some of my most personal and earliest wine stories as well as tips on how to choose a great festive wine, pairings for turkey dinner and navigating a big restaurant wine list. This is actually two episodes rolled into one as I’ve been a guest on their show a number of times.

I’ll put links to their website, restaurants and social media handles in the show notes at nataliemaclean.com/56.

Have you saved your spot in my new online video wine class The 5 Wine & Food Pairing Mistakes That Can Ruin Your Dinner (and how to fix them forever!)?

If not, go to nataliemaclean.com/class and choose a time and date that work for you. It’s a very merry session where we have lots of fun tasting and pairing wine together. Join me!

Okay, on with the show!

Well, there you have it! I hope you enjoyed this chat with Mark Pascal and Francis Schott. I recommend that you check out their restaurants in New Jersey.

You’ll find links to website, restaurants and social media handles in the show notes at nataliemaclean.com/56.

If you liked this episode, please tell a friend about it, especially one who’s interested in the restaurant wine tips I shared. My podcast is easy to find, whether you search Google on its name Unreserved Wine Talk, or on my name.

Finally, if you want to learn how the lemon or butter test can help you pick the perfect wine pairing, join me in a free online video class at nataliemaclean.com/class.

I can’t wait to share more wine stories with you next week.

Thank-you for taking the time to listen to this one. I hope something great is in your glass this week, perhaps a wine that triumphed for you with that lemon or butter test!

Hmmm, I wonder what she means by that… guess I’ll have to find out in that class she’s got online.

Alcohol in Wine, Alcohol Percent Wine, Aperitif Wine, Best Red Wines, Best Wines, Buy the Best Wine, Buying Wine, Corks, Cost Wine, Cranberry & Wine, Cranberry Sauce & Wine, Diet Wine, Entertaining with Wine, Food & Wine Pairing, Ham and Wine, Health and Wine, High Alcohol Wine, How to Buy Wine, Podcasts, Podcasts, Price Wine, Radio Interview, Red Wine, Sauces & Wine, Servers, Serving Wine, Sommeliers & Restaurants, Sparkling Wine, Stuffing & Wine, Taste Wine, Thanksgiving Wine, Turkey & Wine, Vegan & Wine, Vegetables & Wine, White Wine, Wine Etiquette, Wine Gifts, Wine Picks, Wine Question, Wine Temperature, Wine Trends

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