Category Archives: Uncategorized

Some say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Others skip the early morning meal altogether. I’ll leave the right and wrong of that debate to doctors and nutritionists. Either way, breakfast is— by far— my favorite meal of the day. As a kid I ate typical breakfasts enjoyed by most peopleContinue reading “Breakfast”

  “Oh my darling, oh my darling, oh my darling, Clementine.” I spent a few months in Italy a couple of years ago and that song was stuck in my head the entire time. It came into my consciousness as quick as a verse of “Afternoon Delight” and was usually stuck there like a cheesyContinue reading “Clementino”

Food development is fluid. Many times a new dish starts as one thing and ends up being something entirely different. I was working on a baked crabmeat dish 15 years ago hoping to offer a feature that was a light take on crabmeat au gratin, except very easy on the cheese. I developed a dishContinue reading “Fluidity In Food Development”

Restaurant rollouts take coordination. Whether it’s the unveiling of an entirely new concept or the rollout of a new menu, a lot of detailed planning is involved in all departments. It took a few decades for that lesson to sink in. In the early days of my restaurant career I flew by the seat ofContinue reading “Restaurant Rollouts, Re-Concepts, & Revisions”

A slice of pizza waved at me yesterday. My family and I were driving down the road and a guy dressed up as a slice of pepperoni pizza holding a sign about discount pizza by the slice waved at us. Earlier this year, at the National Restaurant Association trade show, I met a guy dressedContinue reading “Food Characters”

Network and cable television channels are filled with reality television programs. There are shows about Alaskan truck drivers, loggers, moonshiners, alligator trappers, people who try to choose a girlfriend, people who try to choose a boyfriend, couples who race each other around the world and contestants who voluntarily strand themselves deserted islands and stab eachContinue reading “Morning Men”

Christmas is a magical time, but often, the build-up doesn’t live up to the actual day (or moment). As a kid, Christmas mornings were wonderful. My brother and I would wake up early to open gifts, but could only access our stockings until the other members of the family arrived. Then the true Christmas presentContinue reading “The Week Between”

Wyatt Waters and I have just wrapped up a book promotion tour completing our 31st book signing in 50 days. The good news is that we sold out of the first edition of “An Italian Palate.” The bad news is that many stores ran out of books early and could not get more copies untilContinue reading “Book Signings”

A friend dropped by my house last week and gave me several Meyer lemons. They were perfect. The Meyer lemon originated in China and many think it is a cross between a Mandarin orange and a lemon. I tend to agree. They are prolific in this part of the world and I know several peopleContinue reading “Christmas Citrus”