Weekly Column

World-Class Views

PETROGNANO-SEMIFONTE, ITALY— Customers judge restaurants by many criteria. I once read a survey in which a majority of the people ranked service above food and […]

It’s A Tough Job But Somebody’s Got To Chew It

PETROGNANO-SEMIFONTE, TUSCANY— The first tour I ever led was seven years ago. My friend, Andy Wiest, a history professor and war historian at the University […]

A Birthday to Remember

PETROGNANO-SEMIFONTE, TUSCANY— My mother used to speak disparagingly of grown men who kept changing careers later in life. Even as a kid, I never agreed […]

Honor Your Hometown

Grab a broom and a dustpan because I am about to drop some names. My friend Marty Stuart, country music legend, multi-instrumentalist, curator, fellow Mississippian, […]

Julia

It’s been a little over a year since Julia Reed was taken from us— much too soon— after a long, sometimes public, always brave battle […]

Steak Night

“RSJ’s Andouille-Stuffed Carpetbagger Steak” Photo Credit: Joey DeLeo From the book “New South Grilling” by Robert St. John, Hyperion 2007 I had a very long, storied, […]

Friends

I am a regular. Always have been, always will be. If I am in town, I regularly eat breakfast at 7:00 AM at table number […]

Trying To Reason with Hurricane Season

For the past 22 plus years I have written this column on Monday mornings. I usually get to my office early, close my door, turn […]

The Capri

One never knows where the restaurant business will lead. Though I do know, if a restaurateur stays in the business long enough, he or she […]

Extra Table 2021

For the past 22 years I have written this weekly column, 1000 words a week, 52 weeks a year, never missing a week. Those 1,100,000+ […]

The Return of the Wienermobile

They say, “You can never go back.” I don’t know who “they” are, but last week I actually went back, and in a big way. […]

A Different Kind of History Lesson

When I am leading tours, especially in the Italian region of Tuscany, I’m always amazed at how much history we pass on a non-descript road […]