Author Archives: paul

VALENCIA, SPAIN— It was a tight spot. Not in the figurative sense in which one is faced with a challenging situation that needs immediate attention. Though this was a very challenging situation that needed immediate action, but it was also a literal tight spot. The word “literally” is thrown around by many these days, usuallyContinue reading “Oh, Jesse Where Art Thou? — A True Tight Spot”

MADRID— The motto of the Boy Scouts of America is to be prepared. That’s all well and good, except I got kicked out of scouting as a Webelo (the stage between Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts). I was never awarded a preparedness merit badge, and don’t even know if there is such a thing. ThoughContinue reading “Spanish Breakdown”

There are long stretches in my life when I dedicated all my culinary focus, research, development, and meals to fine dining restaurants and fine dining principles. The first restaurant I opened in 1987 was a white-tablecloth concept, The Purple Parrot Café. The Parrot had a great 33-year run in my hometown of Hattiesburg. We garneredContinue reading “Burgers I Have Known”

There are many emotions associated with parenthood. Joy and amusement come to mind immediately. The early responsibilities of parenting can bring worry and guilt. There can be irritation and disappointment as well. The unique thing about being a parent is that sometimes one can feel several of those emotions— contradicting as they may be— atContinue reading “The Best Job Ever”

In the late 1990s I was asked by my local newspaper to write a weekly food column. I politely declined citing an overloaded schedule and lack of any known writing skills. They were persistent and kept asking until one day, after the fourth or fifth ask, I gave in and agreed. Once that first columnContinue reading “Nobody’s Poet”

It took me 60 years to start eating like an adult. I am 62 so I’ve only been eating responsibly for a couple of years. It’s not that I wasn’t eating well and dining out. My family dines out a lot. It’s what we do. It’s my business. It’s just that most of my adultContinue reading “Bad Food”

Since 1999 I have written every week in this space, a thousand words a week, never missing a week. That’s over 1,300 columns and more than 1,300,000 words in print. I mostly write about food, restaurants, travel, food in the South, and growing up in the South. Over those years I have made great effortsContinue reading “Ed’s”

In the 1985 Ron Howard movie, “Cocoon,” a group of senior citizens from a retirement home break into an abandoned indoor swimming pool filled with alien pods. The energy radiated from the pods at the bottom of the pool gives the seniors bucketloads of youthful vigor and renewed energy. I haven’t been swimming in aContinue reading “I Love This Business”

The late great Ella Brennan, long-time matriarch of the New Orleans restaurant scene as head of the Brennan clan— and the perennial owner/operator of Commander’s Palace, the much-celebrated bastion of fine dining in the Garden District— once said of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, “You know why kids love peanut butter and jelly sandwiches? BecauseContinue reading “Fried Shrimp”