SUSAN BRUSTMAN; A FORCE OF JOY

Many people will be familiar with the work Susan Brustman did in our South Florida hospitality community via the company she founded, “Brustman Carrino Public Relations”. And for most her success would be awe inspiring enough for two lifetimes. I was one of the lucky ones that got to know…

Traveling in Europe and a Lunch with Lulu

1998 April 1st: Janet, Justin and I flew to Paris. We met with Proal, Connie and the children Rebecca and Matthew. A Family Vacation!! The first night we dined at ‘L’ Ami Louis’ on the 2nd. It was coming down in sheets when we arrived and knocked on the locked door….

THE MIDGET BAR; KEY WEST

The excerpts below are from my memoir, “No Experience Necessary”. The title of this post and the photo that accompanies it refer to “The Midget Bar” where I worked in 1973. There is an entire chapter from those days. The Midget was my second cooking job. I worked the ‘graveyard…

BOQUERIA MARKET, BARCELONA MEMORY 2005

BOQUERIA MARKET: BARCELONA Saturday, September 10, 2005 Saturdays in markets all over the world bustle with energy. At Barcelona’s famed Boqueria market on a sun drenched September morning Janet and I felt as alive and excited as we might have walking into Woodstock in 1969. Magazine pictures can only give…

DR. JOHN, THE NIGHT TRIPPER

I was a fan of this legendary New Orleans artist from his breakout albums ‘Gris Gris’ in 1968. I likely was turned onto it by a guy I came to identify as my chosen older brother. He preceded me in birth by four critical years. When he turned me on…

MICKEY ROURKE

I have begun a new series I’ve titled ‘Folks’. They include the myriad people I’ve met, cooked for, hung out with and more over the life. For other entries see that area of my site. It is under, “Writings”. You never know who you will bump into. MICKEY ROURKE The…

Captain Tony

Boats are launched. So perhaps it is by some unconscious pull like a tide in the Gulf of Mexico I have selected the one and only ‘Captain Tony’ to start my first in what will hopefully be a surprising list of what I call ‘folks’ here that I’ve come to…

Norman Van Aken remembers Jimmy Buffett

Greetings from Key West! Or at least a trip down Memory Lane. Amy Drew Thompson can follow a winding road as you will see when you read this story about me and ‘The Eternal Honorary Mayor of Margaritaville’! The chef & the rock star: Norman Van Aken remembers Jimmy Buffett…

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