In 2006, I invited three friends to join me at The French Laundry, in Yountville, CA, for what would turn out to be the dinner of a lifetime. The French Laundry is widely considered the nation’s finest restaurant, a reputation it has earned over the course of the last 15 years. I wrote about the [...]

For over 25 years, the primary focus of my professional career has been food. In my personal life, food has played a major role, falling just behind faith, family, and friends. I create, prepare, and sell food for a living. When I’m not working, I’m traveling, eating, and writing about traveling and eating. I eat a lot. When [...]

I’m no Nostradamus, but I am about to make a bold prediction: Within a matter of days this country will witness a take-it-to-the-streets rebellion and massive, frenzied uprising like we have never seen. Be warned: These riotous insurrections will occur instantly, without notice, and will quickly spread across every town and community in this country. [...]

My wife and I dropped the kids off at summer camp in Arkansas and then spent a week eating our way through Tennessee (summer camp for adults). Here are the top ten culinary highlights from the journey. 10.) BBQ Memphis— Actually, I had planned on eating bbq in Memphis, but we arrived too late and everything [...]

Yesterday I drove a carload of kids— under the age of 12— on a seven-hour trek that ended in Arkansas’ Ouachita National Forrest so they could attend summer camp. Early on, the van was relatively calm. Most surprising, the van was quiet. I think it’s because my wife packed the snacks. The kids were munching [...]

For the last few months I have been hearing about a dish called “Praline Bacon.” It was popping up in conversations, in emails, on websites, and inmagazines. I had never heard of Praline Bacon, so I took these randomoccurrences as a Celestine suggestion, and made a decision to lookinto this strange new food product. Of [...]

My grandmother made the world’s best biscuits. She passed away 20 years ago and I have been trying to replicate them ever since. Her biscuits were small, light, and slightly salty with a hint buttermilk. She never followed a recipe, yet they were consistent every time she made them. I could eat a dozen over [...]

A couple of weeks ago The James Beard Foundation Awards ceremony was held in  New York to honor the nation’s best chefs, restaurants, cookbook authors, and food journalists. The James Beard Foundation Awards are the Academy Awards of the food business and my home state of Mississippi was  represented well. John Currence, chef/owner of City [...]

I stirred up a lot of trouble when I was a kid. Possessing an overactive imagination and a hyperactive disposition, I was responsible for a fair share of the havoc created in and around my school and neighborhood. Most of the parents in the neighborhood had, on at least one occasion, found the need to [...]

Yesterday I ordered a pizza online. I didn’t get in my car, I didn’t pick up the phone, I never even spoke to anyone. I just logged onto my laptop and 30 minutes later, I was shaking crushed red pepper flakes over my thin-crust pepperoni. The ordering of the pizza and the ingredient selection was [...]