This NJ food podcast is chatting with the biggest names in the culinary world

What would you give to sit next to Anthony Bourdain at a bar for 45 minutes, listening to the things he would only tell fellow restaurant experts?

How about Tom Colicchio, “Top Chef” judge and co-founder of the Gramercy Tavern?

Or Charlie Trotter, the culinary legend who was one of the first celebrity chefs?

A podcast hosted by Francis Schott and Mark Pascal, co-owners of Catherine Lombardi and Stage Left restaurants in New Brunswick, allows foodies to do just that − no bar stool or late night required.

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“We’re calling the coolest food, wine and cocktail people in the world, and having the conversation that we would have as insiders with them at the bar over a beer at the end of the Tuesday shift,” said Schott. “It’s the kind of things most civilians don’t get to partake in, and with our show, you’re invited to that.”

The Restaurant Guys Podcast, which returned to the air in July, was one of the first podcasts to hit iTunes in 2005 after it originally launched as a radio show on WCTC 1450.

Nine years later, Schott and Pascal put the podcast on hiatus, but now, it’s back on platforms like Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music, with new episodes every Tuesday. Shows from the early 2000s, which the Restaurant Guys call “vintage selections,” are reposted Thursdays.

And it’s speaking to listeners. The podcast has been streamed in 57 countries, and was one of the top 10 food podcasts in the United States its first week back.

Just like they did for nearly a decade, the restaurateurs are still chatting with the most important people in the food world, asking them questions that go far beyond, “What’s your favorite meal?”

“Five minutes in, they realize they’re talking to two fellow restaurant people,” said Schott. “They know we are going to get up from that table and run a restaurant that night.”

“And it’s a different kind of interview,” continued Pascal. “It’s not the same stock questions. We ask questions as fellow restaurant operators.”

For Pascal and Schott, it’s a dream come true to pick the brains of some of the biggest people in their business for 45 minutes, talking with culinary legends like Curtis Duffy, the inspiration behind “The Bear”; and Thomas Keller, owner and chef of The French Laundry.

It’s just as enriching for those food icons. After Trotter was interviewed on the podcast for the first time in 2005, he played the recording for his employees during staff meal.

“That’s the greatest compliment we’ve ever been paid,” said Schott. “Family meal is what’s happening on the show.”

It’s friendly and fun, too, which makes sense since Schott and Pascal have been friends for nearly 40 years since meeting at Rutgers University in 1985.

“At heart, we are the same two bartenders who we were when we started in the business,” Schott said.

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But now, their podcast has a bigger team of six people. When they started the podcast in 2005, it was just the two of them, doing all of the research, booking and audio themselves.

“It was a lot of work,” said Pascal. “And in 2013, there was no way to make a lot of money on a podcast, and we were tired and needed a break. But I think the break was really good for us because we have come back to this reinvigorated. We have people who were on the podcast 18 years ago coming back as guests.”

Although the podcast is still a lot of work − especially for two men who own two restaurants, an online wine store, and host a robust calendar of food and wine events − it doesn’t feel that way to Pascal and Schott.

“Last week we went to Jacques Pepin’s birthday party at Tom Colicchio’s restaurant Craft and experienced a forever night — it’s one of those nights you keep with you forever,” Pascal said. “And at the same time, we’re working and gathering information for our show. It’s always been doing the things we love and talking about it.”

Listen: restaurantguyspodcast.com; airs Tuesdays and Thursdays on streaming services such as Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music; bit.ly/3Vjq8sm.

Contact: JIntersimone@MyCentralJersey.com

Jenna Intersimone has been a staff member at the USA TODAY NETWORK New Jersey since 2014, although she’s a lifetime Jersey girl who considers herself an expert in everything from the Jersey Shore to the Garden State’s buzzing downtowns. To get unlimited access to her stories about food, drink and fun, please subscribe or activate your digital account today. You can also follow her on Instagram at @seejennaeat and on Twitter at @JIntersimone.

This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Restaurant Guys Podcast, based in NJ, is top food podcast in U.S.