Author Archives: Robert

I was talking to a friend this morning and he was lamenting the fact that he couldn’t go to a restaurant, order a margarita, and take it home with him. “I swear I won’t drink it in the car,” he said. I believe that. I know him. He wouldn’t drink a Margarita while driving. HeContinue reading “Drive Through Craziness”

BILOXI, Miss.— It’s early morning and I’m sitting in my hotel room at the Beau Rivage, 25 floors above the Mississippi Sound, about to start a day that will end with a great benefit concert for Extra Table. As I look across the water towards Horn Island I find myself thinking— not of seafood, but—Continue reading “Desporte’s Longing”

I am not a barbeque snob. There are plenty of them out there. Barbeque has grown into quite a booming industry. Years ago there were barbeque joints in most southern towns. Though big cities and large metropolitan areas outside of the south and Texas were mostly devoid of good barbeque, except for small, out-of-the-way soulContinue reading “Barbeque Snobbery”

Prom season is here. For the past three years I have served a formal dinner to large groups of my daughter’s friends in our backyard. The first year we hosted a prom dinner I was a little troubled. The restaurateur in me was wondering why these kids weren’t going out to eat— whether at myContinue reading “Prom Season”

Being the father of a teenage daughter is a challenge. Gone are the early days when she would climb onto my lap and we would watch a princess movie for the 935th time. The days when I could buckle her in the passenger seat and drive her to purchase toys and cheap costume jewelry have longContinue reading “It Goes So Fast”

If I were asked to pick a favorite season of the year it would be a tough call between spring and fall. Though if we have many more days like we did yesterday— high of 72 degrees, sunny, light wind out of the north— spring might edge its way into the lead. Springtime warms theContinue reading “Spring Has Sprung”

One would have to look long, hard, far, and wide to find a more enthusiastic proponent of local, independent restaurants than the guy typing these words. Your columnist started working in independent restaurants in 1981 and for the last 34 years has, either worked in or, owned, dozens of independent restaurants. Independent restaurants have fedContinue reading “Drive-Through Food”

There are many ways to define a person’s eating habits or style. I am a “breakfast guy.” It’s as simple as that. Above all meals, I love breakfast. There are guys who thrive in the lunch scene. They close multi-million dollar deals over a salad and a glass of wine (three-martini lunches are a thingContinue reading ““Breakfast Guys, Table for Two?””

Billy Fokakis hasn’t missed a day of work in 31 years. How many people do you know who can make that statement? The answer for me is one: Billy Fokakis. Five days a week, 52 weeks every year, for 31 years, Fokakis has opened and closed the doors to his business. It’s not some cushyContinue reading “A Gold Star For Perfect Attendance”