Funny things happen on the way to France

If you didn’t know I was invited to cook for a opening party in Vence, France for Nall the famous artist. This was a rare and exciting opportunity. Being the event was the same date as my 15 year wedding anniversary Jodi was the clear choice for my Sous Chef. More on the trip later. On the way over we missed our connecting flight from Atlanta to Frankfurt. I was not happy about staying an extra 24 hours in Atlanta! Already worried about leaving my Kids, my restaurant and the looming VIP gig in France. Missing the flight just seemed like a bad omen to me, and I was sure the trip would be a disaster. So Jodi & I tried to make the most of it. On a recommendation from my good friend and fellow Chef, Steve Zucker we went to eat at Two Urban Licks! The food, drinks & music were all amazing. So feeling better and looking forward to France I cheered up a bit. For no real reason I text messaged my buddy (and Food Network Superstar!) Guy Fieri. Just to say hey and low and behold guess who was also in Atlanta to do a personal appearance. So Jodi & I head over to Buckhead to have some refreshments with Guy and his sidekick Kleetis. If that wasn’t enough we had VIP passed to the Metropolitan Cooking & Entertaining Expo the next day to watch Guy, Paula Dean & Tyler Florence do some cooking demos and enjoy a great trade show. Halfway through Guys’ cooking demo he brought me up on stage and introduced me to the crowd and went on about Fairhope, Panini Pete’s, the show the two of us just did in New York and my upcoming France trip. ARE YOU KIDDING ME! It was amazing and I’m so freakin lucky!. Anyway I look forward to my next missed flight! and the trip was off to an incredible start.