As pre-arranged a gentleman named Jarald picked Janet and I up at the Atlanta airport around 1:30. We’d come in from Miami. Nice man with a soft Texas accent I would guess. He transported us to the college town of Auburn in Alabama. The ride was smooth with some gently…
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‘River of Dreams’, Billy Joel
Recently I was asked by a magazine writer to name my ‘favorite Billy Joel song’. That is a tough ask. To pick my all-time fave tune from a man that has sold out Madison Square Garden more than any other artist? I mean come on! I was struck dumb. He…
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…
SISTER JANE. MY FIRST MENTOR
Sitting on our front steps in West Shore Park With a pal at Hawthorn Mellody Farms zoo. Me between Jane and Bet, my beautiful Sisters. My Sister Jane passed away in late August. I’ve been giving it time … to think about her and what having her be my sister…
WHITE HEAT: A COOKBOOK THAT BLEW SOME MINDS
On April 28th of 1991 I received a package in the mail. I recognized the handwriting on the brown paper covering what had to be a book. It was from Charlie. I was working in a restaurant that, though short lived was one of the biggest in my career to…
Four Hero Cookbooks
I’d started cooking after being fired from a job as a hot tar roofer. Most of my jobs during the period of life from ages 19 to 21 were grunt labor. That included glass factory worker, golf course mower and carny. I was ‘between things’ mentally as well as spiritually….
Time Traveling to 1996. Oh My!
As I progress in years I have to say it is amusing to stumble across an old video like this one via the link. Maybe it is more than amusing. Maybe it is bittersweet. But thankful is also part of it. I spent years working at those wood burning behemoths…
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….
‘A TASTE OF THE FAR EAST’, MADHUR JAFFREY
Part of why I do my ‘Treasure Books” series is my deep appreciation for them and also to keep their works in the consciousness of the public who is bombarded only with the ‘hottest/hippest/latest/trending’ names and faces that are almost certainly not going to have the gifts and stamina of…
Celebrating Chef Jacques Pépin! ’90 at 90′
For Immediate Release: September 5th, 2024 The Director of Operations for the Jacques Pépin Foundation, Marissa Ain and the foundation’s Culinary Producer, Susan Wilbur have invited Chef Norman Van Aken to head up two major dinners in Florida for the program titled, “90 at 90”. The overall vison for this…
MARCELLA HAZAN
As the video will show I have a flat out crush on the cooking of Marcella Hazan. Though I’m not known at all for Italian food I believe that whomever is cooking great food is someone to learn from. She was born in 1924 in the Emilia-Romagna and earned a…
BEYOND GUMBO; MY TREASURE BOOK SERIES
A few years ago I put together a list of my ‘Treasure Cookbooks”. That list continue to grow as those of you who watch my TikTok series on them. One never stops learning if they are seriously alive. When you have the fortune to meet one of your hero authors…
COLMAN ANDREWS: FOOD WRITING LEGEND
Somehow, I came across a book titled, “Catalan Cuisine” just at the right moment of my career. I was at a point where I knew it was time to dig deeper into the mother countries of where I was living, Key West. It might seem like a curious thing to…
LOUISIANA KITCHEN: TREASURE BOOK SERIES
When his book ‘Louisiana Kitchen’ came out it was 1984. Back then very few books by an American chef had been written and published nationally. Alice Waters, “Chez Panisse Menu Cookbook” being one of them which arrived in 1982. The first cookbook I ever bought was ‘Theory and Practice of…
THE NATURAL CUISINE OF GEORGES BLANC
As the video will explain this is from my “Treasure Book” series. Chef Georges Blanc career is amazing to learn more about and I urge all you who are in cuisine to study up on him. Though the autograph and lovely inscription is dated from October of ’03 I received…
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…