My friend Denny and I have been talking about menu collecting as of late. I love conversing with him about food and music. It might be fun to take the titles of the almost 400 ‘A Word On Food’ shows I’ve done, put them in one of those lotto spinners, take out...

“Between the cable networks and the blogs, the Instagram accounts and the YouTube channels, the cookbooks and the magazines, food is everywhere, and there doesn’t seem to be any shortage of opportunity to become a food celebrity. All it takes is a bit of personality, a cell phone camera, access to melty...

It is the beginning of a New Year. The hopes we have for 2021 might be as wishful we’ve had for any year in our lives. I think it has been nearly universally acknowledged that last year was the toughest. And we are not out of the woods yet. But even though...

People of all faiths have woken today and know it is the day after Christmas. It is such an impactful holiday. The moments of hope for humanity touch deeply at times like these. It is a time that calls for the most magnificent celebrations and gratitude for life. As far as a...

As we now are ending the longest year of our collective lives it is time to end a number of things.  Of course there are loftier things to ditch. Discrimination, bullying, science haters and others. But one has to do with the particular field of work I chose to till in this...

The link here will take you to an article that appears in the current issue of ‘Food & Wine’ Magazine. It was written by my friend and colleague Greg Baker. He is a long time veteran of the restaurant world. Here he takes his pen to paper to assess the landscape of...

Some years ago my wife, Janet … sort of like that acting thing Peter Falk did in his memorable role as ‘Colombo’ inclines to go back just when we are leaving a place. ‘Oh …. one more thing’. Why? Who knows. It is a trait you try not to be bothered about...

We had a very nice, very small gathering for Thanksgiving 2020. I hope you did as well. Virus testing was done by all in the preceding days. We greeted with masks and face turned hugs. We had our doors open for much of the day. Luckily it was good weather for that....

She stood at a bus stop … waiting. There was no room left in the canopied area of that bus stop. She was holding … something over her head with one hand to block the direct sunlight. As our car got closer I could make out her makeshift “parasol”. It was actually...

Very recently we went to a pop up at what is usually the restaurant ‘Navé’ in Coconut Grove. As 2020 arrived the team there were just getting underway with a menu featuring seafood and pasta complete with a special pasta production room. But then the pandemic struck. They closed entirely for awhile...

I cannot say when I first had the combination of black beans and white rice often named “Moros y Cristianos”. But I can tell you where. Key West. Life changed for me on the Island I came to call home while still a very young man. The exotic nature of the Southernmost...