“Braised Pork Belly courtesy Chef Colicchio”

As the plate was set in front of me I was stunned.  Pork belly?  Really?  For Pete’s sake I was at the Gramercy Tavern, in New York City for an appearance on Sara Moulton’s Primetime and this Colicchio guy is sending me out a piece of pork belly?  Gee, thanks Tom.  Got any sweet tea […]

The Bacon Cake

As a young apprentice at the Culinary Arts program in New Orleans, I was fortunate enough to be hired by Chef Daniel (pronounced Dan Yell) Bonnot at the Restaurant de la Tour Eiffel.  This was the original restaurant from the Eiffel Tower, the one in Paris, the restaurant was removed by French engineers because it […]

It’s Like Frosting a Cake, Right?

“It’s like spreading frosting on a cake then, right?”  I heard myself thinking.  I’m standing in the middle of I385 on a chilly, grey day as Mike Haynes, the operator of this enormous Guntert & Zimmerman S-850 describes how critical the mix of the concrete is to the finished product, which in this case is […]

The Work Space

I have a new job.  It’s part-time, only three or four days a week and I’m cooking, actually cooking at a friend’s restaurant here in the burbs of Greenville. Even if I wasn’t working there I would tell you it’s my favorite restaurant in town; it’s Stella’s Bistro.  Stella’s is very Southern, upscale Southern or […]

Patience Please

In my lifetime I have been fortunate enough to save the lives of two little girls.  One of those little girls was my daughter Holly that my wife Amy and I adopted from Social Services when she was one month shy of her sixth birthday.  The other was a stranger, a charming little brunette maybe […]

Who’s really a hero?

From April, 2007 This past Saturday my son Tudor and I along with a friend of Tudor’s & his dad took off for Beaufort so we could take in the Beaufort Air Show at the Marine Corps Air Station.  Tudor & I had been planning this trip for several months because the Blue Angels were performing […]

Put Down That Popcorn!

 My Dad loved the underdog.  Dad watched a lot of sports and he always rooted for the smaller or shorter team.  He loved reading about cops that performed heroic deeds, pilots that happened to be amputees and flew with a prosthetic leg or small town attorneys that won big cases.    My Dad’s love of the […]

Seeing Ghosts

When I was much younger I fought and was wounded in several wars, worked in one of the most important aircraft factories in the country, travelled into outer space, won a world championship in cycling, and rescued not one but two beautiful brunettes from hardened criminals.  I still have their lipstick stains on my collar […]

Christmas Wishes

Yesterday we visited a dear friend of ours. He’s a really good guy, a successful business man, maybe in his mid ‘40’s. He has a beautiful wife, several good kids, a great house and more cool toys than he knows what to do with. A month ago he asked me if I would prepare their […]