Category Archives: Uncategorized

All food is regional. Whether it is an entrée such as deep-dish pizza from Chicago, a lobster roll from Maine, or a plate of jambalaya from Louisiana. Soups are also regional— clam chowder, gumbo, cioppino, and Frogmore stew. There are also many regional condiments in America. Vermont lays claim to maple syrup, and it hasContinue reading “Comeback”

The corporate vision statement of the New South Restaurant Group states, “We exist to support our co-workers, delight our guests, and serve our community.” That is the vein that runs through the core of our business. All of the decisions we make are based within that context. Will it be beneficial to our team members,Continue reading “The Community Council”

My Twitter bio reads, “dad, husband, citizen, restaurateur, 70% water (10% gravy), enthusiastic traveler, world-class eater, and a lover of movies, music, football, and food.” That sums me up rather accurately. Though it should because I wrote it. For the past 23 years, I have felt that— no matter what the title, acclaim, or accolade—Continue reading “A Match Made in the Restaurant”

There was a comical saying that made the rounds with my mother’s generation, “Life’s short, eat dessert first.” As a kid, I used to see it on t-shirts, notepads, and posters. No one knew what a meme or a GIF was back then, but had they existed, the “Life’s short, eat dessert first” saying wouldContinue reading “Life’s Short”

On March 12th of this year, I was scheduled to fly to Spain with my wife, best friend, his wife, a television production crew, and 25 travel guests. We were going to lead our guests on a 10-day trek that was to start in Madrid and end in Malaga with Barcelona, Valencia, and Seville— amongContinue reading “Friends”

There are several stages in the life of a restaurant. The earliest stage is the research and development stage. Research and development involve recipe research, a lot of travelling around eating at similar concepts in search of ideas and inspiration and spending a lot of time online looking at similar concepts in that particular genre.Continue reading “It’s A Tough Job but Somebody’s Got to Chew It”

A wise person once said, “The past is in your head. The future is in your hands.” If that’s the case, I’ve been spending a lot of time living in my head over the last several days as we have moved my mother into a new apartment. The new apartment is smaller which means aContinue reading “Muz’s Pancakes”

To be in the restaurant business and to live only 115 miles from one of the top three restaurant cities in America (#1 in my book) has been an embarrassment of good fortune for 58 years. Even before I got into this line of work, I benefitted from living just a few miles north ofContinue reading “Rosedale”

Life on the road is all about attitude. I have never minded road travel. I was raised by a single mom who funded our very limited— but wonderful— lifestyle on an art teacher’s salary. We didn’t have a lot, but I felt like I never missed a thing. If we traveled somewhere it was byContinue reading “Wandering Westward Vol. III”