I am always amazed by what creative and interesting things are going on in the food world and appalled by others. I can not believe that we eat such garbage sometimes and then complain that we can not find the freshest ingredients in the next breath. When I was at college in Bethany WV the food service featured Belly Bombers made with mystery meat. On the other hand Cookie, the ex-navy cook taught me about Cream of Mushroom soup which was served to hundreds of hungry students in a very limited time. I worked with my fraternity brothers and we had fun. Cookie’s food was filling but certainly not gourmet. The three restaurants of my own in Baltimore taught me how to dance with the food. When you are the personality of the property the pressure can overwhelm you but we had great fun. Being creative everyday is what makes the business soar. We used Portobello Mushrooms, duck and venison in ways that were new for Baltimore. I did some really cool catering. It ranged from small social events like dinner for two at Valentine’s day to major sporting venues including the PGA; where lobster was on the menu to NASCAR where the staple was pulled pork for 50,000 (which I never want to see again) At US OPEN Tennis people paid 8 dollars for a pound of M&Ms. When you feed 60,000 people in one day you have to have your ducks in a row. 15,000 burgers and butter poached lobster were de rigor and had to be done equally well. I had moved up the chain of kitchen command. My restaurants received 3 and 4 stars; I had been on TV and in a book.