Weekly Column

Eat Local

Whenever I am visiting a new town, for business or pleasure, I always go down to the front desk of the hotel in the early […]

Soft Openings

In my 40-year restaurant career I have been a part of 22 new-restaurant openings. Three of those were at the beginning of my career and […]

Extra Table, What A Year It Was

In a year in which it seems the headlines are filled with endless negative and controversial news stories, I thought it might be a nice […]

Goodbye 2020

Around this time of year newspapers are filled with end-of-the-year wrap-up stories about what has happened over the past 12 months. This year there seems […]

RSJ’s Top 10 for 2020

For the past 20-plus years, my final column of the year is always a list of the top dining experiences I enjoyed throughout the previous […]

Time Is Running Out for Independent Restaurants

In a few days, I will enter my 40th year in the restaurant business. Just over 33 of those years have been as a restaurant […]

Easy-Bake Oven 2020

Two days ago, a friend made a Facebook post that referenced the Christmas section of the old Sears Catalogue that used to come out once […]

Recipe Testing

Over the course of my 38-year restaurant career I have been a part of 21 restaurant/bar openings. Three of those openings— the first three— were […]

Extra Table 2020

This is the season of giving. We give gifts, we give of our time, and we give food. For decades, when Thanksgiving rolled around, I […]

Thanksgiving 2020

It’s the season of gratitude. Despite all of the problems and challenges the year 2020 has thrown in our paths, there are so many things […]

Lunch With Jill

“A man can eat his dinner without understanding exactly how it nourishes him.” – C.S. Lewis Despite the pandemic, there are many reasons why I […]

Comeback

All food is regional. Whether it is an entrée such as deep-dish pizza from Chicago, a lobster roll from Maine, or a plate of jambalaya […]