Happy New Year!

The year's 2008 --- it's time to lay it down straight.

This blog will be an outlet for me to communicate what exactly is going on in my neck of the woods.

I'd like to start it off with a list (and possibly explanations) of those that have influenced me...sort of like covering my ass for everything I'm about to do, because it's all about "protect(ing) ya neck". I'd like to give credit to where it's due...and things that I like (and even dislike) surely will influence my output.

As Daniel Boulud writes in "Letters to a Young Chef (Art of Mentoring)": In any art, to connect with the great chain of masters stretching back through history is both humbling and exhilarating." It also gives me a chance to drop some names that you may have never heard of and hopefully introduce you to some new things. Finally, it gives you an idea of where my brain is coming from...of what my sponge has retained.

Enjoy!