On this weeks episode of The Speakeasy, Katie Parla, Rome-based food and beverage educator and journalist, joins host Damon Boelte to talk about the cocktail scene abroad in Rome! Katie has an art history degree from Yale, a masters degree in Italian Gastronomic Culture from the Università degli Studi di Roma Tor Vergata, a sommelier certificate from the Federazione Italiana Sommelier Albergatori Ristoratori, and an archeological speleology certification from the city of Rome. She has also written and edited more than 20 books, and her food criticism and travel writing have appeared in The New York Times, Condé Nast Traveler, Saveur, Travel + Leisure, The Guardian and The Sunday Times. Todays episode focuses on the cocktail industry in Rome, and throughout the world today. Katie also updates us with her latest projects, such as her Italian pizza and craft beer event, which you can follow and learn more about at her website, Parla Food. This program has been sponsored by MOOD Magazine. The customer is the most important element. You could make the best drinks in the world, but if you mistreat the people who are drinking them, they probably wont come back, and then you have to close, and you cant do your awesome things anymore. [9:06] -- Katie Parla on The Speakeasy