As a Chef, satisfying people by feeding them is as raw of a narrative as I can give you. Over the last 30 years, my career has evolved by doing what I love. If it were not for the farmers and growing numbers of artisan food producers I am lucky to work with each day, then I am sure, long ago, I would have taken that MIT path everyone thought I should have. Creating a dish with my hands using the humbly cared for ingredients grown by our local food producers keep my thoughts gratifying and abundant. They have inspired me to teach kids about purple carrots, practice sustainability, meet my fish monger on his boat, develop recipes based on seasonal harvest and even try my hand at my own chef's garden. The closer I worked with the farmers, the more respect I gained for how hard they toil and how much pride they take in what they produce. Their simple aspirations to feed people real food made me want to be a better chef and strive harder to share their beautiful bounty front and forward on your palate.
I can list all the accolades, awards and high profile foodie events I have experienced throughout my career, but you can just Google it.
What you really need to know about me is this: at 16 I worked at Burger King, I didn’t go to a fancy culinary school, I love my wife’s spaghetti with meatballs and I can still remember as a youngster in Indiana stopping by the farm stand for corn on a hot summer day.
The rest I’ll feed to you, one bite at a time.
#5 Top 20 Food & Wine Resorts
World Wide
Andrew Harper 2012 Readers Choice
#1 Hotel Restaurant
in California 2006
Zagat Top Hotel Restaurants
USA Today
#1 Top Eclectic Cusine
#3 Top Food
Zagat 2013 Guide for 2012
4-Star Award Restaurant 2012
Forbes Travel Guide
Grand Award 2012
Wine Spectator
America's Best-Top 10
Food Destinations
Food Network 2010
4-Star Award Restaurant
2006, 2009
Mobile Travel Guide
Best Meal with a view
Sierra Mar
Food Network 2010