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The restaurant business is a harsh mistress. The hours are long, the work is stressful, the margins are low, the failure rate is huge, and I love every minute of it. One of the components of this business that can seem arduous is recipe testing. Those who have done it before realize that it isContinue reading “Recipe Tasting”

The independent restaurant business is the occupational embodiment of the American dream and the industry of opportunity. For hundreds of years, first generation Greek, Italian, Asian, and Hispanic immigrants traveled to this country and opened small diners and cafés. They created the backbone of the restaurant industry that we know today. Three generations later theirContinue reading “Strick's”

For the 17 years that this column has been published I have ended the year with a list of the best meals I had eaten throughout the previous 12 months. Typically, the list is filled with fine-dining restaurants and meals incorporating over-the-top presentations and exotic ingredients. This year I’m going in a different direction. InContinue reading “RSJ’s Top 10 of 2015”

Am I the only one suffering from holiday discombobulation this year? Does it feel like the Christmas season to you, or is it just me who hasn’t embraced the holidays, yet? I sat down at my desk to write a Christmas column, but I’m just not feeling it. Your columnist appears in a couple ofContinue reading “'Tis the Season”

  If one could travel back in time to 1966 in Hattiesburg, Miss., there are three likely locations one would find five-year old Robert St. John— pacing and dreaming in front of the very small and limited toy aisle of the Ben Franklin Five and Dime store, running incessantly at the playground of the KamperContinue reading “Rainbow Cookies”

During the 1970s there was a multi-year advertising campaign that promoted Reese’s peanut butter cups by showing people in various situations who— whether by pratfall, an accidental trip/slip, or an awkward stumble— fortuitously fell forward and stuck a chocolate bar into someone else’s peanut butter. The campaign copy read, “You got your chocolate in myContinue reading “Strange Pairings”

One of the oldest, most frequently used clichés in a food columnist’s lexicon is “my grandmother’s ________.” As a food writer one can fill in the blank with just about any foodstuff. In my case I have often written about my grandmother’s pancakes, fried chicken, leg of lamb, and turkey and dressing. Many of usContinue reading “Pot Roast”

Opening Caveat: Longtime readers of this column know that I typically go to great lengths not to mention my restaurants by name. I always hope to focus on other restaurants avoiding the blatant marketing and/or promotion of businesses owned by my company and me. With that being said, today’s column is 100% about the PurpleContinue reading “Holding Back the Years”

It is widely known among my family and friends that breakfast is this columnist’s favorite meal of the day. My son and I eat breakfast together at least twice a week. I meet my mother for breakfast three times each week and the other two slots are reserved for friends or business meetings. I preferContinue reading “An Homage To Breakfast”