I didn't go to Culinary School. I didn't move to Paris when I was seventeen to be the understudy of one of the great classical French chefs, and I sure's hell haven't worked in restaurant kitchens for much of my life. I did, however, at a young age know what I wanted to do with my life. Growing up, my siblings and I would make each other various meals that we could order from our own "menus" in our childhood home. We would scribble items with their attached prices in barely legible English and pretend we were, well, a restaurant. These menus often consisted of Grilled Cheeses with Campbell's Tomato Soup, Cheesy Scrambled Eggs with Buttered Toast and Bacon, or Cinnamon Rolls – the Pillsbury kind that are locked in cylindrical,vault-like canisters until the label is peeled back enough to release the dough. My short finger nails were never long enough to adequately open these damn things…..Fast forward two or three years to when I traveled to Orlando with my family for the Spring Break of my 5th grade year - that is when I knew I wanted to be a restaurant owner. I was more focused on the incredible, at the time all corporate restaurant giants (the kind I have come to despise now) , than I was the magical wonders of Walt Disney World and Mickey Mouse. I remember saying to myself on that trip, "I want to own one of these."
Like many of you I went through college, and then even grad school. Afterwards I was in advertising consulting for a while – sitting behind a desk for eight hours a day, and in a creativity stifling environment, obviously was not for me. All the while, my brother and I, though it was only for a brief amount of time spent our weekends doing high end catering - we catered cocktail parties for our parents and family friends, until one day, on a whim, I quit my job and decided to move to Virginia, where my cousin Baxter had a job waiting for me at one of his restaurants. I thought this would be a three month, or at most six month move, since I had restaurant plans in the works back in Atlanta, which eventually fell through. Nevertheless here I am. Just about all of my food knowledge has been gained through my interest and desire to continually learn and be a part of the culinary world. I screwed up hollandaise probably a dozen times before mastering it, and it is now something I will be able to do with my eyes closed until I am eighty-five years old, or at least until I don't have the arm strength, whenever that day might come. I have overcooked tons of fish, many of which were at The Atlanta Fish Market where I first learned how restaurant works, but this was okay, because overcooked fish equated to dinner for me. I have ruined a trillion martinis and gotten too many girls drunk on poorly made shots, but for me, it is all about learning, and having fun in the process. While doing consulting, I literally walked out the office door towards the elevator, untucked my shirt, ripped the blazer off of my back and scurried into the gym where I spent enough time on the elliptical to where you might think I was training for a half marathon. Nope, this was just my stress release – well, this and the Kitchen.
All I need is the kitchen, with a glass of wine, and some music in the background and life is good. Add family to that sentence, and life is great. I hope that you enjoy what I have for you in the following pages, and know that I, am in many ways, just like many of you, you corporate America types, I just hated my job more than you. Also, remember that cooking is fun, especially when you are doing it with someone you care about, or for people you care about. It is more fun with a glass of wine, a cold beer, or some good Kentucky Whiskey. Every now and then pour some of that wine into your pasta sauce, or your beer into the soup or some whiskey into your dessert – it will only add flavor, and when you get frustrated from nearly burning the house down, laugh it off, or take a shot, both have been successful rebound tools for me, and at the end of the day, it really is never that serious.
Thank you for spending your time with me. This has been a hell of a journey for me and the ride is just beginning.
