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My wife and I were dining with friends and the conversation— as it often does in my world— turned to “restaurants.” The discussion was spirited. Everyone was naming favorites and giving opinions on them. Someone mentioned one particular restaurant, and the rapid-fire banter came to a halt. The table fell silent. No one knew exactlyContinue reading “Restaurant Soul”

Someone once said that the four seasons in Mississippi are: Almost summer, summer, still summer, and Christmas. Others named the four Mississippi seasons as: Dove season, deer season, duck season, and turkey season. It’s true we catch a little flack from those outside the region about our weather. We usually have a couple of belowContinue reading “Soup for the Soul”

The items we assign “value” to tend to change throughout our lives. In 1987, I was 26-years old and had just opened our first restaurant. My dream at that time was to one day own a restaurant in Aspen, Colorado and a restaurant in Destin, Florida. The idea was that the seasons are so oppositeContinue reading “Commodities”

 Every week for 17 years I have written this column, never missing a week. At the end of each of those 17 years I have compiled a list detailing my top 10 dining experiences for that year. This is always one of my favorite columns because it gives me a chance to sit and reflectContinue reading “RSJ's TOP 10 of 2016”

Someone once said, “The more things change, the more they stay the same.” I don’t necessarily agree with that. I have always believed: The more things change, the more opportunities I have to accept the fact that things are always going to keep changing. Change is inevitable. One better accept it, because nothing can beContinue reading “Christmas 2016”

Food Journal December 7th 2016       MILAN— It’s been my experience that the older I get, the more I value relationships over worldly, material things. There was a time in my life— as a younger man— that the opposite was true. The change for the better began occurring around the time my firstContinue reading “Faraway Friends”

BARBERINO VAL D’ELSA, TUSCANY— I sit in an almost empty villa on a Tuscan hillside as I type this column. San Gimignano is peeking through the mist in the distance. I am reviewing and re-living the previous week in my mind. Two days ago the 23 members of our tour group said goodbye to eachContinue reading “As One Journey Ends, Another Begins”

BARBERINO VAL D’ELSA, TUSCANY, ITALY— I don’t believe in past lives or reincarnation, but if I did I would imagine several of my former selves lived in this area of Italy. The first time I ever set a foot on the soil of this part of Tuscany I felt at home. There was an instantContinue reading “An Italian Palate Road Trip Part One”

I have written often about breakfast being my favorite meal of the day. There is something about the freshness-of-the-morning aspect to it that holds great appeal to me. Everything is new and the world as we will know it on that day is just beginning to unfold. Breakfast foods appeal to me, too. My innerContinue reading “Game Day Breakfast”