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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”

JACKSON HOLE, WY— The wife and I have been on the road for nine days. Just two people, one truck, and way too much luggage. I am typically a very efficient packer. I’ve spent three months each year in Italy for the past several years and have become quite proficient at travel packing. All ofContinue reading “Notes from the Road: Westward Wandering Part II”

“Go west young man.” – Horace Greely ST. LOUIS— For the past several years I have spent three months each year touring guests and friends through various parts of Italy. On March 12, I was headed to Spain to tour 25 of our friends through that country— Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Seville, and Malaga. We wereContinue reading “Wandering Westward Vol. I”

“Without great solitude, no serious work is possible.” –Pablo Picasso Mornings are magical in an empty restaurant dining room. There is a different energy in a restaurant in the early morning. Everything is quiet and still. It’s a stark contrast from the hectic hustle of the pre-shift scramble and the frenzied activity of lunch andContinue reading “Restaurant Mornings”

Birdwatching seems like a strange hobby to me, but I have friends who do it, and they are fine people. The appeal of knitting, origami, and crocheting are foreign to me, but they certainly require a certain level of dexterity that I likely don’t possess. Hobbies such as woodworking, stamp collecting, gardening, photography, and rareContinue reading “A Red Revival of the First Order”

Last week was one of the most surreal, yet rewarding, weeks I have spent in my 38-year restaurant career. Tuesday through Saturday nights we said farewell to a dear friend— the first restaurant concept I ever opened, the flagship of our company, the place where so many life events have been celebrated with my family,Continue reading “Farewell. Thank you. Onward.”