So today i sat with my design company, Alamini Design and went through 105 ads to verify all design and layouts were OK before we go to press this Friday. Its very exciting and nerve racking at the same time. For the past 8 years we've been publishing the Great Places venue directory and the 2010-2011 edition is finally coming out next week. A bit delayed but they say...better late than never. It was a rough year but with a lot of perseverance and tenacity and not to mention creativity (wow i really had to work magic in so many cases) we made a strong run and this could be our best edition to date. Not based on size and volume but overall quality, venue selections, and design. We even have a killer Dom Perignon ad with Andy Warhol as the ads face. The cover will be silver with black letters and it will have a very classy and elegant look and feel. I am sure the event and meeting planner industry will love it and appreciate all the work that's gone into it. It will be available on news stands in a few weeks and for anyone in the event industry that's not yet on our mailing list, free copies are available on line at www.greatplacesdirectory.com

Just stopped by Hill Country Chicken for take out for dinner tonight for my son and I. I have heard so many wonderful thinks about it. As soon as i walked in I smelled the amazing aromas of the various flavors and spices. Who was sitting there, eating away with his hands covered with yummy chicken grease..Chef Todd English. He seemed very happy and said he was really diggin it. I ordered the sample, 2 of each style so my son and i can do some taste testing. got some mashed taters, slaw and some spices pickles. The dark crusts on all the chickens looked perfect. I'm really lookin forward to doing some serious fried chicken tasting tonight.

This is very exciting. My very own blog and my very 1st post. pretty pretty cool. I'm going to try to post often about some of the things that interest me and that may be of interest to you; Foods I'm eating, restaurants I'm trying, things I'm cooking, new venues to have events at, private dining rooms, and other food, chef and restaurant related news, and live music I get to experience. I'm also working on some ideas for a new cooking series and will keep you posted on progress. Beyond the Dish is in reruns on Chanel 25/22 on NYC Life. My tweets are also part of the blog and will keep you posted on some of the things I'm up to. Stay Tune...