This week, veteran Seattle bartender and booze rep Kayleigh Blome reunites with her old pal and coworker Jeff to chat with us about nonalcoholic and alcoholic drinks, along with the core functions of each, both obvious and obscure. Kayleigh recently switched from the bartender life to being a rep for spirits of all types, so they also tell us about their favorite ingredients for slingin' and then dig into their origins in the coffee world. They also really like to make fancy Jell-O shots.

Plus Meg and Kayleigh are big karaoke dorks, Kayleigh and Jeff reminisce about their Stampede Cocktail Club days and the Wild West of N/A drinks, and we all hate the word mocktail. Along with the rest of the world. It's some high-level cocktail wonkery this round—cheers! 🍸

It's a Dinnernet Podcast reunion! Meg's old pod cohost, Seattle-based food writer Mark DeJoy, joins us this week to sesh it out like olden times (that is, last summer). Among other erudite topics, we cover his recent work at Eater and what the company's 2026 reorg means for Seattle restaurants, as well as the diff between a writer and a critic (and an influencer) and where we think food journalism is going next. We also pick apart the ethics around writing about fine dining while the world falls apart.

Then Jeff and Mark weeb out on the Super Bowl, while Meg pleads the fifth on football. Apparently, we won??

Plus Meg accidentally runs into her holy grail Samoan food truck, Jeff's terribly grateful for pork fried rice, and we all riff at length on the spiciest wings in Seattle. The band's back together again! Kinda! 🍗🏈

It's a very scientific episode of T!I8I, with local coffeemeister James Lim as this week's guest. Since shuttering his Upper Ballard cafe, Watson's Counter, in late 2024, he's been selling beans and canned coffee, teaching coffee workshops, and basking in new dad-hood. We catch up with James, as he car-lectures us on how there's no such thing as a burnt shot and explains the science behind making a good cup of java—even if all you have to work with is a Mr. Coffee machine.

Plus Meg is willing to travel for birthday Georgian food, Jeff goes to the (Downtown Seattle) library for the first time ever, and we all talk about what we ate this week. For you, we do this. <3