The first time we tried to check out the place that inspired me to write this show it was closed. But that made sense in that it was New Year’s Day. I was prepared for that possibility. Heartbroken but prepared. I’ve long been a proponent of ‘word of mouth’ recommendations…
Posts
A Word On Food: Curry
Several years ago. Okay… Many … we were sitting on the verandah of a hotel overlooking Waikiki beach resting. The mighty Pacific Ocean purred like a Lamborghini in the shimmering distance. Earlier my wife, Janet and I had spent hours walking in Honolulu’s incredible Chinatown. A keen hunger was rising….
A Word On Food: Menus
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,…
Cigar Snob Magazine: “If Hemingway Were a Chef”
“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…
A Word On Food: Birthday Cakes
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…
A Word On Food: Champagne
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…
A Word On Food: Dégustation Menus
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…
FOOD & WINE MAGAZINE ON THE STATE OF THINGS
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…
A Word On Food: Tropical Fruits
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…
A Word On Food: Pumpkins
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…
A Word On Food: Guavas
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…
A Word On Food: Blackened Seafood
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…
“Forward to the Future” by Joseph Hayes
The highly talented and ever curious journalist Joseph Hayes writing for @edibleorlando peers into what is possibly coming our way as we make ourselves bravely (like it or not) into 2021. Please hit the link to read his words and see the fine photography. Wishing you all a safe, healthy…
A Word On Food: Moros y Cristianos
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…
A Word On Food: Halloween
We already know that this Halloween will be different than it has ever been. This time the scary is real and it is not reserved for just one day. But … we have customs and traditions to keep. We can’t erase the things that give childhood it’s magic! And oh…
“CHAIR THE LOVE”. Orlando Sentinel Feature
Orlando based journalist Amy Drew Thompson and I were talking about life in these challenging times. She asked me if I was doing much cooking. I had to laugh because our home kitchen looks like it would be the test kitchen for a cooking school meets a TV production studio…