Author Archives: Robert

  Someone once told me, “You have to be a masochist to be in the restaurant business.” The guy who said it owned a small cafe for a brief stint and was holding a fire sale of his furniture, fixtures, and equipment before heading into his next, more stable, career— logging in the Great NorthwestContinue reading “Milestones”

  “My grandmother was the best cook, ever.” That is a testimonial I hear all of the time. It’s usually delivered as a cold, out-of-the-blue opening statement.  Someone will approach me at a book signing or after a speech and the conversation typically goes something like this: “I read your column, and it reminds meContinue reading “Birthday Meal”

  The most popular interview question I encounter is “What is your favorite dish or meal?” I was asked that question in an interview last week and I did what I usually do, which is divert the question to, “What is your favorite ingredient?” I try to avoid the “favorite dish or meal” question becauseContinue reading “Rarified Air In the Steak Universe”

    While at a cocktail party a few weeks ago I mentally checked out of the conversation I was a part of and started listening to a conversation between two couples standing behind me. Eavesdropping isn’t standard operational procedure for me but one of the couples was speaking negatively of Mississippi and my earsContinue reading “Hunger and Obesity”

  This is going to be a hard one to write. Sometimes I sit at my computer before the sun rises on Monday morning and the words flow freely and easily for this 750-word column. As a matter of fact, most mornings I am eager to put down on paper a topic I’ve been thinkingContinue reading “Leatha Jackson”

  Over the course of a 30-year career in the restaurant business I have met a lot of caring, generous, and talented people. One of the great opportunities the restaurant business affords is the privilege of meeting, greeting, and fostering relationships with a diverse group of customers in the dining room or bar of one’sContinue reading “The Age of the Servant Restaurateur”

  People travel thousands of miles to visit Europe’s massive cathedrals. The American Southwest draws people from all over the world to view landscapes carved by Mother Nature’s natural wear and tear. Families will endure two day’s worth of noisy backseat car rides to visit an amusement park. Trillions of dollars worth of condominiums haveContinue reading “Peggy’s”

  I was a mischievous kid. It’s not that I was necessarily “bad” or misbehaved, I liked to have fun and I liked to laugh. I laughed when playing practical jokes on someone and I laughed just as hard, maybe even harder, when they were played on me. Life at my house in the earlyContinue reading “High Jinks”

  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. ThereContinue reading “Jumbo Lump Crabmeat”