Hello! Thank you for being here.

This newsletter takes its name from a headline on a newspaper story I wrote 20 years ago about a remarkable Tennessee chef named Phila Hach.

Phila wrote 17 cookbooks and hosted one of the first cooking shows in the South. But I admired her most for her extraordinary hospitality, storytelling, curiosity and joie de vivre. She's one of the inspirations to this newsletter, so in that spirit, I hope to welcome you here with occasional posts about the everyday graces and delights of life followed by something good to eat.

Here we are together just a couple years before she died. Thank you for being an inspiration to so many, Phila!

I'm a writer and editor splitting time between Atlanta, Georgia, and St. Petersburg, Florida. I lived for many years in Nashville and wrote a book called Nashville Eats. I’m also co-founder of a recipe storytelling project called Dirty Pages. These days I'm also grateful to work with Wildsam, a travel publishing house, where I've edited four field guides: Route 66, Alabama, Northern Michigan and the Florida Keys. In 2024, I helped launch Wildsam magazine where I now serve as a travel and culture editor.

It means a lot to me that you’re here!