Plays With Knives

Perfect (and simple) Summer Evening (or anytime) Drink

2011-08-19T09:33:00.000-07:00

My good friend (and wine rep...those are good friends to have) Tim Grenier recently shared a simple, delicious summer drink that he picked up from Pete Seghesio of Seghesio Family Vineyards in the Alexander Valley of Sonoma County, CA. Pour yourself (and a friend or lover preferably) a glass of a nice Zinfandel (no, not White Zinfandel...), and place four or five slices of a nice ripe peach in

My Favorite Cookbooks

2011-07-14T13:59:00.000-07:00

I've seen a few of my favorite chefs come up with a list of their favorite cookbooks recently, and it's always fun to see what they're really in to, and maybe you share an love of a particular book with them. I'm a cookbook junkie, so when I'm not physically cooking, often I'm reading cookbooks - constructing the dishes in my head, thinking about the techniques, forming new associations that I

Back in Minnesota

2011-07-07T12:25:00.000-07:00

Considering I've really only updated this blog when my career has taken a sudden change of direction, I probably sound like a human ping-pong ball. And in a way, I was. My time with Cirque du Soleil has come to an end, and I've returned to the Twin Cities. In the year or so that I was on tour with Dralion, I found myself in somewhere around 35 different cities across North America. It was

My First Interview

2011-02-16T19:07:00.000-08:00

I was recently interviewed by Rebecca Powers of Hour Detroit magazine. Nothing too exciting, but it's my first interview, so I had to share. Here it is.

Gumbo in New Orleans!

2010-10-07T20:16:00.000-07:00

As I type this, the "Dralion" catering crew and I are driving through Chattanooga, Tennessee en route to Charlottesville, Virginia. We started at 7:00am from Houston, Texas, and anticipate arriving just before 6:00am tomorrow. We timed our arrival perfectly, though unintentionally, to stop for lunch in New Orleans. We met a friend of Brian's at a little hole in the wall called the Convention

...so I ran away and joined the circus.

2010-09-24T19:46:00.000-07:00

Much has transpired since I last posted. From May through mid-August I was back up at Stout's Island Lodge, this time as Executive Chef & General Manager. It was definitely a valuable experience, but the two positions were definitely too much for one person to do and do well. My biggest lesson - don't bite off more than you can chew. Thankfully, my kitchen crew up there was fantastic and

Social Media & the Independent Restaurant

2010-05-10T17:00:00.001-07:00