Blast From the Past: M&D Beginnings Part 2

Rebecca McKinney

I was born a foodie. My dad is a chef, baker, and restaurant owner and my mom might as well be because she owns whatever kitchen she walks into. I grew up working in my family’s restaurant and bakery in Pawling, New York – McKinney and Doyle. I started behind the bakery counter at 12 years old after begging my parents to let me start working. At 16 I worked as a hostess. By 18 I was serving tables and training behind the bar where I then worked every other weekend throughout my college career. Even now, when I am visiting my family in New York, I help out where I’m needed. To make a long story short, the food and restaurant industry has been my life for as long as I can remember.

I wanted to create this blog for a few reasons. First and foremost, to share tips, tricks, and knowledge about the food and beverage industry in general but also to help people see a different side of the restaurant world. Every restaurant has a totally unique culture and world within it. I want to help open people’s eyes to more than how fast the service is or how easy or hard it is to secure a reservation.

So, thanks for stopping by! I welcome your ideas, input, and feedback and hope you enjoy!

Eat well & travel often,

Becky McKinney

Latest posts by Rebecca McKinney (see all)

I got some really amazing feedback on our M&D history lesson post a few weeks back so I wanted to pick up where we left off. The last thing I mentioned was that my father and Brian history part 2Doyle had endless amounts of respect for all of those who helped make the restaurant possible and an undying love for the town of Pawling. Now, take yourself back to early 1992, when the new McKinney and Doyle officially opened for business.Continue Reading

A Lesson in Vermouth

Rebecca McKinney

I was born a foodie. My dad is a chef, baker, and restaurant owner and my mom might as well be because she owns whatever kitchen she walks into. I grew up working in my family’s restaurant and bakery in Pawling, New York – McKinney and Doyle. I started behind the bakery counter at 12 years old after begging my parents to let me start working. At 16 I worked as a hostess. By 18 I was serving tables and training behind the bar where I then worked every other weekend throughout my college career. Even now, when I am visiting my family in New York, I help out where I’m needed. To make a long story short, the food and restaurant industry has been my life for as long as I can remember.

I wanted to create this blog for a few reasons. First and foremost, to share tips, tricks, and knowledge about the food and beverage industry in general but also to help people see a different side of the restaurant world. Every restaurant has a totally unique culture and world within it. I want to help open people’s eyes to more than how fast the service is or how easy or hard it is to secure a reservation.

So, thanks for stopping by! I welcome your ideas, input, and feedback and hope you enjoy!

Eat well & travel often,

Becky McKinney

Latest posts by Rebecca McKinney (see all)

a lesson in vermouthI am back from an absolutely incredible vacation during which I spent two weeks tasting my way through parts of Italy, Spain, and Portugal. I spent the first week exploring the Tuscan region of Italy with my boyfriend and his wonderful family and the second week wandering the streets of Barcelona, Madrid, Seville, and Lisbon with Andrew Sarubbi, an amazing friend of mine and the beloved manager and cocktail expert of McKinney and Doyle. In Italy, we focused a lot on food and wine (naturally), and in Spain, Andrew and I focused on food and cocktails (and wine, but mostly food and cocktails). Now, I love all three of those things (food, wine, and cocktails) but most of my knowledge in the realm of food. Andrew however, thrives in the wine and liquor department so I was happy to follow his lead on our quests. We had a lot of unique concoctions and I can’t say that there was anything that I didn’t like but I was really surprised at one thing in particular that I loved: sweet vermouth.

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