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Two years ago my family and I were sitting next to two brothers in a small trattoria in Florence, Italy. One of the brothers owned a small clothing shop down the street and I struck up a conversation with him. He had once lived in the United States for 10 years and spoke English veryContinue reading “Mississippi Darts”

There is a French bakery across the street from my office. Six mornings a week a Frenchman named Janusz bakes fresh croissants and pastries. He also makes a mean omelet (anytime you have the opportunity to have a French chef make an omelet for you, take it). The C’est la Vie bakery seats approximately 12Continue reading “Whodunit: Bootlegger’s In the Bakery”

  “She ‘tifs’ the buns.” Those four words were one of the greatest culinary mysteries of my childhood. I’m not even sure of the actual spelling of the word “tif,” since it’s a word that I apparently made up. It might have one “f” or two. All I know is that Patty Hall tiffed herContinue reading “Bun Tiffing”

As Father’s Day approaches I am ambivalent. My apathy is both professional and personal. Mother’s Day is the busiest lunch of the year in the restaurant business. Father’s Day is only marginally busier than an average Sunday lunch. As a child, I dreaded Father’s Day. My father died when I was six-years old. They foundContinue reading “Father’s Day 2013”

“You ought to have seen what I saw on my way  To the village, through Mortenson’s pasture today:  Blueberries as big as the end of your thumb,  Real sky-blue, and heavy, and ready to drum  In the cavernous pail of the first one to come!  And all ripe together, not some of them green  AndContinue reading “Blueberries”

  I took my son fishing yesterday. While watching him cast his line into the lake I thought of the role that fresh fish has played in my five decades.  I am not a die-hard fisherman by any means, but fresh fish have been a huge part of my youth and professional career. As aContinue reading “Catch of the Day”

  CHICAGO— Once every year, around the third week in May, over 58,000 restaurateurs and chefs descend on Chicago for the National Restaurant Association’s annual trade show and convention. The show fills much of the 2,670,000 square feet of the McCormick Place convention center on the shores of Lake Michigan just a few blocks fromContinue reading “Restaurateur Heaven”

  I am fascinated by the various burdens we carry without realizing that they are there. Last week I completed my ninth book, turned it in to the book producer, who will send it to the copy editor, who will hopefully not run out of red ink, before sending it to the printer. A fewContinue reading “The Book Monkey”

  Do you remember the most stressful day of your life? I do, and I have a photograph to prove it. In 1991, I was opening my second restaurant, Crescent City Grill. Actually, I was reopening it under another name and concept and in a new space next door to the old space. The buildingContinue reading “The Most Stressful Workday”