think outside the box

September 7, 2010

It has been a while. Again. In fact it has been so long since I’ve posted that I was unsure whether my fingers could find their way around the keyboard. The truth of it is, I’ve been swamped. Family, work, other work, foraging from farm to farm, more family, playing with meat, and that whole [...]

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market inspiration

July 1, 2010

Each Saturday morning, my wife and I hold a special ritual. Some families wake up to a long breakfast, some cartoons with the kids, others just sleep in for a couple additional precious hours of rest. For us it’s an early morning at the markets. We wake up before the sun comes up and visit [...]

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the artist and the technician

May 20, 2010

A couple of weeks ago my team, consisting of my wife- the event planner, a good friend- the mixologist, and a handful of loyal volunteers hosted an underground dinner party. One of seven thus far. The dinners go by the name of blue dinner underground. Each one has a different theme, setting, and likewise different [...]

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old school vs. new school

April 22, 2010

I have been engaged in a lot of soul searching lately. Actually, soul searching sounds depressing. It’s been more like self defining.  The question I’ve been asking is- what sets today’s chef apart from its prototype?  In my profession, there is a tragic scene. The chefs of years past, now burnt out, fat and for [...]

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biscotti

March 12, 2010

I try to be a good son, stopping what I am doing from time to time and visit mom. This happens about once a month and by the time the trip is over, I return home with so much food that I feel as if I were still a starving college student on a cheap [...]

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did you taste it?

March 9, 2010

So I screwed up, and as the people who work along side me will tell you, I don’t like to screw up- it gets messy. I planned on posting a blog weeks ago until the back burner threw up on me with everything I set on it. It is by way of guilty conscience that [...]

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lottie’s relish

February 11, 2010

Almost a year ago we decided to hire an intern named Lottie, a former lawyer from Honduras who set out to follow her life long dream in the kitchen. A graduate of Le Cordon Bleu of Orlando, Lottie came to us with one request – teach me!  It was not long after we took her [...]

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the importance of mayonnaise

January 27, 2010

Everyone has that one moment. That perfect place in time when everything seems to align in perfect harmony. That jump start to all reason. The “ohh, I get it!” I couldn’t have been any older than 9 years old when I experienced this nearly orgasmic sense of conquest. Standing nearly at eye level with the [...]

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revival of the home cook

January 14, 2010

There is a heightened level of appreciation when you’ve made something yourself. I don’t mean out of the box- add moisture. Stir. Bake. Consume. I am referring to finding the raw materials and evolving them into something that is a reminder of an earlier time. A simpler time.  I remember growing up, in a household of chefs, [...]

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Delicious Mistake

November 18, 2009

Continuing on the previous subject of Hunt 2 Table, it is time to explore the more delicate perhaps more intricate side of Charcuterie – condiments. This is the much less testosterone frenzied side of the platter and in my opinion includes everything that is not meat. I have this consuming obsession (one of many) when [...]

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