Welcome to "A Chef's Notes"

I was fourteen, living in London and in desperate need of something to supplement my meager allowance, when I walked into my first restaurant kitchen in 1973. The Hard Rock Café was just in the infancy stages of what would later become icon status in the industry. The chef led me into the dish washing room, showed me how to work the machines and left me to my baptism of hot water and chemicals. Somehow I made it through the night, much to the surprise of the staff. For me it was love at first site and thus began my journey towards becoming a chef.

For the past thirty five years I have been working in kitchens of one form or another, day in and day out. I was fortunate to train with many of the top industry leaders in both the restaurant and catering industries. Its been a long, hard, sweaty ride and now to my great honor, I have a chance to not only share my experience and knowledge with all of you, but hopefully all of  us chefs and kitchen junkies will be able to begin a dialog on how to improve what it is that we do.

There will always be a bit of grease under my finger nails, but I am excited to step away from the stove for awhile and plop myself down in front of the computer. Food is my life and I want to share that passion with all of you. Once again we are at a crossroads of major changes in the food industry, from the interest in Slow Foods and sustainable practices to incredible innovations in the very science of the way we cook. I want this to be a forum for all of us to live, learn and share together.