I Think Many Cooks Are Afraid Of

My Inspiration Was My Mom. She's A Great Cook, And She Still Cooks, And We Still Banter Back And Forth About Cooking. Growing Up In A Mostly Portuguese Community, Food Was Important And The Family Table Was Extremely Important. At A Very Young Age I Understood That.

I Moved To Louisiana To Become The Executive Chef At Commander's Place. And I Must Say I Had Some Encouragement From Friends Such As Ella Brennan, The Queen Of The New Orleans's Culinary Set, And Others. This Was Very Flattering To A Young Man With A Dream. I Was Only 26 Years Old.

Scatter Soaked Hardwood Chunks Over Your Coals For A Quick And Easy Way To Add A Smoky Nuance To Your Grilled Foods.

Life Just Doesn't Hand You Things. You Have To Get Out There And Make Things Happen. That's The Exciting Part.

You Know, For 300 Years It's Been Kind Of The Same. There Are Restaurants In New Orleans That The Menu Hasn't Changed In 125 Years, So How Is One Going To Change Or Evolve The Food?