The perfect holiday dinner.

My wife and I have been married 30 years now. During that time I’ve cooked at least 20 Thanksgiving dinners, 15 or more Passover Seders and countless other holiday meals.

After all this time we are finally invited to a holiday dinner prepared by one of my kids.

We are very excited and I’m sure my daughter is more than a little nervous. So, I figured I would give her the benefit of my many years of preparing meals for groups from 3 to hundreds.

Three months after we were married we invited one of my best friends to celebrate New Year’s with us. I think it was probably the first time we used the ‘good’ dishes and it was just the three of us with a bottle of wine. I remember how nice it was just to share a good meal with a friend. I wish I remembered what we made, but I can tell you, we enjoyed the evening.

So the perfect Holiday dinner….. I wish. During different holidays our dishwasher broke, our garbage disposal failed. One Thanksgiving my wife and I were so sick, we sent my son with my parents to a relative’s house. My brother took pity and came over to our house and we had swordfish for dinner. Or, how about the time we set a perfect dinner table for 15 people, but we miscounted and actually had 17

I think the holiday dinner I remember the most was a Chanukah dinner we shared with our neighbors. I was almost finished cooking and the power went out…. No electricity and I still hadn’t cooked the vegetables. Luckily, we had already cranked up the wood stove earlier in the evening and I was able to heat up a can of veggies there. We ate by candle light in the living room. As soon as we all finished eating, the kids left the table.  The adults, sat, had tea (water boiled on the wood stove) and dessert by candle light and laughed about it. When the power came back on, we turned the lights off in the living room and continued talking

So, back to the perfect dinner….  First, relax, there is no such animal.

The perfect dinner is when you blend traditions from both sides of the family

The perfect dinner is when you enjoy sitting at the table with the people around you.

The perfect dinner is when you enjoy the warmth of the room more than the temperature of the food.

My father was a man who never stood on ceremony. I learned a lot from my dad. He taught me I don’t need to worry about impressing people with fancy things. What he was always impressed by, was family and friends being together.

So… the perfect dinner. Forget about it. Family, friends sharing a meal together… that’s perfect, Happy Thanksgiving to all.

Victoria Epstein, Franchise Partner for Gecko Hospitality rocked away with Philadelphia’s The Culinary Rock Show with Chris Michaels this past week. The live broadcast includes information on how hospitality management candidates can apply with Gecko Hospitality and an overview of the interviewing process with several clients Gecko Hospitality serves.

To listen to the interview via podcast, please click on player below.

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The Culinary Rock Show is hosted by Chris Michaels and can be heard on WIFI 1460am in Philadelphia and South Jersey. Please check out their website at http://www.theculinaryrockshow.com for more schedules and times.

You wanted a Culinary Rock Star? Well, you got it! Let us introduce to you the host of our exciting new program, the Culinary Rock show, Chris Michaels.

Chris’ love for food began at the age of 8. As an ambitious young boy living  in Northeast Philadelphia, he began his career in the food business by selling soft pretzels at the local shopping plaza. While standing outside selling pretzels all day, Chris would periodically go into the Italian restaurant close by to purchase soft drinks. It was at that local Italian restaurant that he was able to land a part time job folding pizza boxes and delivering flyers. While working at the restaurant Chris had an opportunity to interact with some of the patrons, one patron was the owner of the local bar close by. Again, Chris was able to persuade the owner into giving him a part time job one day a week cleaning a bar kitchen. So by the age of 10, Chris was holding down three jobs, and still managed to find time to teach himself how to play the “Dukes of Hazzard” theme song on his Mom’s guitar.

Over the next 14 years Chris continued to hold front line jobs in the food business while simultaneously continuing to play music. Recognized by most as an advanced guitar player with above average skills, it was with the bass guitar that Chris experienced most of his success in music. He was able to land a job for one of the busiest and most recognized cover bands of the mid nineties, playing throughout PA and NJ. During his mid twenties, while Chris was enjoying a lot of success playing music, his love and passion for food continued as before. Many exciting opportunities in the Culinary field began to present themselves, and Chris chose to take advantage of them. In doing so, Chris stepped away from actively playing on the local music circuit.

His decision to pursue the opportunities in the food business has proven to be a wise one. Chris went on to continually hold positions of increasing responsibility including Catering Manager; Chef; Executive Chef;  Director of Dining Services; Food & Beverage Director and General Manager. From there, Chris earned a promotion to a Senior Level Food Executive position in charge of the west coast dining operations for a large international upscale senior living corporation. The position was based out of San Francisco, which is one of the most renown culinary areas in the world, and competition was fierce. During his four years in the position Chris grew the region from 14 communities in two states (CA & WA), to 38 communities in four states including North Dakota and Minnesota.

In 2007, Chris returned to the east coast and took a position as a Dining Service Director in a high end senior living community. After slightly more than a year in that role, Chris again was promoted to the senior level position of Executive Director.

In addition to his vast and extensive work experience, Chris is also a graduate of the prestigious California Culinary Academy in San Francisco, California where he earned a degree in Hospitality & Restaurant Management. Chris holds numerous industry certifications, including being recognized by the International Food Service Executives Association in the April 2004 issue of Hotline magazine as one of only 17 food service professionals world wide to have earned the prestigious Master Food Executive Certification.

In addition to hosting the Culinary Rock show, Chris also serves as President of the Philadelphia Dietary Managers Association. Viewed as a recognized authority in the food business, Chris is a highly sought out consultant and speaker on many different food and wine related topics.

When you add up all of Chris’ accomplishments and experiences, combined with his cool California attitude and outlook, you have all the ingredients for a true Culinary Rock Star. There’s little wonder as to why WIFI 1460am was so eager to give him his own show.

Tune in to the Culinary Rock show and you’ll soon find that your not just listening to a radio program, but rather hanging out with friends talking about good food, wine and music.

Spring is a time for renewal and rebirth. The daffodils are blooming, in Washington DC they are getting ready for the Cherry Blossoms.  The last frost has left most of the country and its time to get back outside.

It is also time to help others. By donating blood to the American Red Cross you are able to help save the lives of three people. Please think about supporting your local blood drive. The Red Cross needs yours help.

I donate blood every two months (over 40 pints to date) and I hope you will join me in setting some time aside fro this good deed.

As a restaurant GM I regularly sponsored all the blood drives in my immediate area. We brought platters of appetizers for the blood drive workers and had a coupon to give to every person who donated.  It was great to see some of the donors come in, that evening, for dinner.

This is a great way to get your name out in the community, but more so a great way to support a great cause.  Please sign up to donate blood today!

www.pleasegiveblood.org