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Greetings from Carrboro, It always seems to be Lionel Richie. And I’m not particularly excited/proud with what that says about me. Personally or professionally. But if a song is going to get stuck in my head when I’m in the kitchen, it’s always one of those sepia-toned 80’s ballads that takes root. And – let’s […]

Greetings from Carrboro, It never really fit. Calling it a tomato sandwich felt as wrong as calling Kilimanjaro a hill. Yes, the description generically doesn’t lead you astray; it’s by and large factual. But names need to resonate and specify. They tell us “this thing” and not “that thing” in a way that we can all agree. […]

Greetings from Carrboro, It must have been 1974. Maybe even 1973. My brother got a job at the Ponderosa Steakhouse on South Blvd in Charlotte. He was in high school. It was a cafeteria-style set up where you’d pick your steak and then it would be cooked and brought to your table. There may have […]

Greetings from Carrboro, Her linguistic adventures in American sayings were legendary by the time I met her. They were a sort of verbal rendition of the aurora borealis; people would gather in hopes she’d drop one of her gems. “I feel like I’m between a needle and a haystack” was a classic. I’m 90% sure […]

Greetings from Carrboro, It’s an impossible question. But I learned when my daughters were young that if you’re asked what is your favorite – color, ice cream, movie – it’s best not to equivocate. The derision in both their eyes when I first trotted out “rainbow” as my favorite color was palpable. Ultimately, purple became […]

Greetings from Carrboro, We seriously bought him a pot just for this one thing. It was bright red. A classic Father’s Day gift if ever there was one. When the pot would randomly make a stovetop appearance on the weekend, everyone knew what that meant; Dad was cooking. You see, my father rarely cooked. For […]

Greetings from Carrboro, We overthink things. It’s easy to do. And that tendency among restaurant-types leads to a vast repertoire of menu items inspired by vanity with a healthy dose of copycat-ism thrown in for good measure. I like to blame the internet. Think of it as a chef’s version of one of those viral […]

Greetings from Carrboro, For the most part, I think that we’re safe. Because being a career Luddite has its advantages. Making a living in the chopping, stirring, burning business does insulate us from the oft-feared predatory creep of AI. I certainly haven’t received an application for a line cook from some well-meaning avatar. And as […]

Greetings from Carrboro, The old guy rolled up the sleeves on the blue jacket and had me try it on. The clip-on tie was red and not too oversized. But the jacket went nearly to my knees. He left the coat room and came back with three, large safety pins with light blue, plastic caps […]

Greetings from Carrboro, It wasn’t as if I thought lightning was going to strike. But I did have the sense that another shoe was about to drop. I, for one, definitely felt that we had moved into possibly rough and uncharted waters. And then, well, nothing happened. Nada. Zilch. Standing on the steps of my […]