Skip to content

Robert St. John

Restaurateur, author, enthusiastic traveler, & world-class eater.

What’s In A Name?

…days, I am always amazed by the changes that occur in the off-season. Restaurants come and go with the seasons. Old restaurants close and new ones take their place, just…

Read more

The Best Donut in Chicago

…Bears!” The skit, titled Bill Swerski’s Superfans, featured SNL stalwarts Mike Myers and Chris Farley, also included Cheers alum George Wendt on occasion, and writer/comedian Robert Smigel. It aired in…

Read more

Peggy’s

…in buttermilk, and then frying in a combination of lard, butter, and rendered country ham fat. The key, I believe, is in the oil. Peggy’s doesn’t use lard laced with…

Read more

Good Morning, Hattiesburg

…restaurant that felt like it had been in operation since the late 1940s, a true local, community café. Back in those days that’s pretty much all that existed— small cafes…

Read more

Vacation Food

…microwave because the crispiness of the outside of the bread comes from the contact with the hot aluminum foil. The other vacation staple from when I was a child was…

Read more

Wild American Shrimp

…and started fishing commercially. I still buy a lot of seafood from one of their descendants, Todd Rosetti. Commercial fishermen and seafood retailers are almost always family-run operations. Our captain…

Read more

The World’s Best Smoked Tuna Dip

…of year, I have been known to fall into bed before the sun has completely set. Even on vacation I wake up early, this is why I currently have the…

Read more

RSJ’s Christmas Eve Dinner

…thinly sliced 1/2 cup Toasted Almond Slices Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine hot sweet potatoes, sugar, brown sugar, eggs, cream, butter, cinnamon, nutmeg and orange zest in a bowl;…

Read more

The King of All Breakfast Foods (In honor of the Queen of Pancakes)

…the amount of baking soda, or it could be the baking powder, possibly a combination of the two with the addition of buttermilk. Most pancakes are dull, flavorless and too…

Read more