Tales From an Urban Chef

It’s been a few years since I’ve contributed to my blog.  Life always seems to get in the way of doing things that you really enjoy. Keeping the blog current is one of them. I started to compare this site to a reoccurring dream I’ve had over the years where I have a rented an apartment that I stopped occupying. I felt guilty about not using the kitchen, the place started collecting dust and it started to feel abandoned. It bothered me. I literally forced myself to brush off my aging  laptop today and compile a few notes and stories about what’s been going on in my life since moving to Pennsylvania.

My life has not been boring to say the least. After almost two and a half years as chef at the Farmhouse Tavern, I’ve decided it is time to move on. I’ve met great folks along the way but it’s time to change direction and find a new path.

Where I live is a quirky place. The borough I live in has a population of only about eleven thousand residents. Doylestown has a small, quaint downtown but five minutes in any direction is all farmland with pockets of residential neighborhoods. Finding decent food outside of Philly is a challenge. We find ourselves frequenting the same places to the point that I am a target of ridicule from friends and family because we eat at the same sushi restaurant about every week. Hachi in Chalfont PA has some of the best sushi we’ve ever had outside of San Francisco. Their attention to detail and techniques are beyond what you’d expect from a strip mall sushi joint. We also go to the Heart of the Oaks pub which in a basement of a 1700’s building that houses an Italian restaurant called Baci. Again, for what you pay, the food is so damn good and only five minutes from our house. Oddly enough, besides breweries, that’s our culinary social life. It is a far cry from the foodie towns of San Francisco and Portland where we spent almost twenty years.

I’ve been in the restaurant industry for over thirty years. I don’t regret ever taking this direction as a career. I’ve met amazing people along the way.  I’ve enjoyed being creative, learning and teaching. I’m not sure how much longer I have left. Fifty five is just around the corner and this is ancient for a working chef. I still have the stamina to work eighteen days straight and a hundred and thirty hours without a day off but I want to be around a bit longer for my amazing wife Jude, so my next step needs to include a life balance. You only get one shot on this rock so you have to make it count. Just not for you, but the ones that love and care about you.