Author Archives: Robert

A few weeks ago I received a call from my friend Andy Chapman, of the Eat Y’all organization. They were hosting a pastry chef competition and wanted to know if I would like to be a part of the event. My knee-jerk reaction was to say no. I am often asked to judge food competitionsContinue reading “Dessert of the Gods”

  If one reads a business book about corporate collaboration there will be many salient points made about how the collaborative process leads to various levels of success. A few years ago one of the hot business buzz phrases was “collaboration.” Those of-the-moment concepts and motivational-poster affirmations can be overwrought and overly simplified. What IContinue reading “Creative Collaboration”

  One of the most frequently asked questions I receive is, “What is the difference between Southern cooking and Northern cooking?” Actually, I should restate that opening sentence. One of the most frequently asked questions by media located outside of the South is, “What is the difference between Southern cooking and Northern cooking?” If youContinue reading “North vs South”

It’s time to come clean. It’s a known fact, and I have written often, about my first experience cooking in a professional kitchen. It wasn’t until we opened the Purple Parrot in 1987, and after firing our chef on opening night, that I began cooking in a commercial kitchen. To that point, the entirety ofContinue reading “Maw-Maw's Chicken Scam”

The devil has come to town and he’s wearing a disguise. This devil doesn’t have a red tail and horns. He doesn’t go by an evil moniker such as Lucifer. This devil is made of sugar and spice and has a cutesy name. This evil doesn’t live in a fiery pit, but dwells in aContinue reading “Edible Evil Incarnate”

Three of the most beautiful words in the English language are “jumbo lump crabmeat.” Taken on their own the words are nothing special. If one were playing an association game, the first thing that came to mind upon hearing the word “jumbo” might be an elephant or maybe something connected to a circus. There isContinue reading “Jumbo Lump Crabmeat”

Independent restaurants anchor a community. They tell the story of a town and its people much better than a slick chamber of commerce brochure. When I am traveling, I skip meals at the hotel and ask the front desk clerk, “Where’s the best place to eat? Not a chain, nothing fancy, I’m looking for theContinue reading “Hal & Mal’s”

  My love affair with cereal has lasted 54 years. These days I mostly eat oatmeal, which is considered a healthy “warm cereal,” but I have never been too old to eat kid’s cereal, and I still eat plenty of it when I’m not dieting. My children are in their late teens and have alreadyContinue reading “Cereal Killers”

I started a diet a few months ago. The two main offenders I gave up were bread and sugar. It seems to me that those two items— bread and sugar— are toxic to my system and are the primary reasons for weight gain now that my middle-aged metabolism has slowed to that of a sloth.Continue reading “Bread and Circus (and sugar)”