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Our recent vacation to Sonoma was epic – there was so much to love about the Sonoma valley, coast, and mountains. Last week I wrote about the things that made Sonoma such a great travel destination. This week, I’ll share a few of my favorite things from our visit to this beautiful wine region in California! View from Copain Winery Picking our favorite memories from our Sonoma visit was much harder than I could have imagined, but after careful thought and many conversations wi

Laurie and I recently returned from a 10-day wine tasting vacation in Sonoma, and we agree – Sonoma is our new favorite wine destination! And that’s saying something, given our frequent forays into Napa Valley, our retirement celebration trip to the Willamette Valley in Oregon, and other favorite wine destinations like Monterey/Caramel Valley, and Virginia wine country! So, what makes Sonoma so great? Read on to find out! Wine tasting at Paul Hobbs Winery Sonoma County enco

Laurie and I have now been retired for half a decade – it’s hard to believe how fast the last five years have flown by! And we have loved every minute of it, which makes me wonder what all the so-called experts and pundits are actually talking about when they opine on how horrible retirement would be, or is for those who are already experiencing it. Let’s set the record straight on retirement, once and for all!! Enjoying retirement watching the evening sunset from our lanai -

In last week’s blog I talked about my qualifications for a modern-day American hero and introduced two of my heroes – Jose Andres and my dad. This week I’ll introduce my last three modern day American heroes and why they made my list! Bruce Springsteen Bbbbrrrrrrruuuuuuuccccccceeeeee! The Boss, AKA Bruce Springsteen, makes my list of modern-day American heroes. In addition to being one of my all-time favorite musical artists, I hold great admiration for his efforts and abi

We all have our heroes – those people who we admire most and who stand out as having made a profound difference in the world. But who would you choose as your modern-day American heroes, and why? And since this is a food, wine, and spirits blog, if you had the chance to sit down with them, what drink would you share with them? As we celebrate the 4th of July, here are my modern-day American heroes along with the drinks I’d share with them if they joined me for happy hour. Whe

As far as I’m concerned, the King of salads is the Caesar Salad, while the Queen of salads is the classic Cobb Salad. Throw in the Wedge Salad with blue cheese dressing, and you have the trifecta of my three all-time favorite salads. But for today, let’s focus on Cobb! Any salad can be a side, but not every salad can be a meal! Sure, you can add protein to any salad and pretend it’s a meal, but there are some salads that are meant to be meals, like the classic Cobb Salad. Th

As I get older, I have a much greater appreciation for time spent with friends and family. Perhaps that’s because Laurie and I have much more time on our hands now since retirement to enjoy these opportunities. And there’s one common thread to each of these engagements with friends and family – the communal enjoyment of food, wine, and spirits! There are a lot of important things in life, but none more important than our health and our relationships. In my case, there might b

The classic Italian Caprese salad is one of my favorites, with fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, basil, and some good olive oil and a bit of salt to top it off. I decided to turn this salad into a main dish by basically building an updated version of a caprese salad on top of a grilled chicken breast. Here’s how to make this simple but tasty dish! Floating in our pool is a daily event for Laurie and me – it’s a great way to cool off or just enjoy the nice warm and sunny weather on

I like Greek food whenever I eat it, but I seldom make Greek dishes at home – there are too many cuisines I like better out there. All that said, I do eat Mediterranean food occasionally and I took inspiration from two recent recipes I had made and mashed them together to create a healthy and tasty vegetarian meal – Greek veggie gyros with yogurt sauce! If I had to rank order Laurie’s and my favorite cuisines, the ones at the top would be Italian, Mexican, Spanish, American,

Ready for more Sarasota-area restaurant reviews? Then this post is for you – part 2 of my spring restaurant review series! In this week’s post I’ll review two new Japanese sushi restaurants, an old school waterside fish house, a Latin bistro in a strip mall, a “kind of pop up” restaurant at Waterside in Lakewood Ranch, and a quick revisit and update of a small family-owned Italian restaurant. Zoto Zoto restaurant, pork katsudon, and the lobster roll Laurie and I have really c

In this two-part spring edition of my restaurant review series, I have an eclectic mix of offerings for you! They include reviews of three new restaurants, an ice cream shop, a bourbon distillery/restaurant, an upscale bistro, an old school waterside fish house, a Latin bistro in a strip mall, a chain restaurant with over 670 restaurants nationwide, and a revisit and update of a small family-owned Italian restaurant. How’s that for variety? Let’s get started!! enRich Bistro

Once every week or so Laurie and I troll our pantry and refrigerator for leftovers that we can turn into a meal for two. This week we discovered we had (almost) all the fixings for a homemade pork stir fry, so we made a quick trip to the grocery store to buy our missing item and created a delicious dinner – for $2 a serving! Here’s how we did it! Laurie and I used to throw away a lot of food that had gone bad because we didn’t get around to eating it. Spoiled fruits and veget

I’m the first to admit that I often reach for store-bought pre-made and packaged items I could otherwise easily make, usually because I’m feeling lazy and don’t want to spend time in the kitchen doing it myself. It’s a loser move though, because it’s almost always more expensive, and it never tastes as good as the homemade version. It makes even less sense if the dish is a simple one that requires only a handful of ingredients and can be made in a few minutes – like homemade

If there is pork belly on the menu at a restaurant, there’s a 100 percent probability that I will be ordering it! When cooked correctly, there’s nothing more delicious than a tender yet crispy piece of pork belly coated in a tasty glaze. And it’s even better when served with a creamy vegetable puree! Here’s my recipe for this classic dish! There’s just something about pork belly that makes me crave it! I absolutely love all things pork, with pan-fried thick cut smoked bacon c

I look forward to a lot of events in Sarasota that occur throughout the year, but my favorite by far is the annual Forks & Corks Food and Wine Festival that takes place on the last full weekend in January every year! It’s like the planners sat down in a room and said, “What event can we plan that spans an entire weekend, and that Mark Geis would love the most?” I’m pretty sure that’s not how this event came to be, but they nailed it nonetheless! Here’s my report on the 2026 F

Last week we started my countdown of the top ten best Sarasota restaurants for burgers. Now that we've dispensed with the 10 th through 6 th place finishers, let’s countdown the best of the best – the top five places for the best burgers in the area! 3 Keys Brewing and Gastrobrew in Bradenton, Burger Fi in Lakewood Ranch, Central Café in Bradenton, Whiskey Joe’s Bar and Grill in Ellington, and Yard House at UTC – those were my first five picks for local restaurants in the

I love a great burger!! Luckily, we have plenty of options for fantastic hamburgers down here in Sarasota. While we are far from sampling anywhere close to all of the great burger joints down here, we’ve tried enough for me to feel confident sharing my top ten best Sarasota restaurants for burgers – so far! Let’s talk burgers!! Burgers are my first choice when I sit down at a casual restaurant for a good meal. They tend to be my “canary in a coal mine” to determine whether a

You can tell a good Asian restaurant by the quality of their fried rice. If they can’t do fried rice right, how on earth will they be able to deliver delicious Kung Pao Chicken or Twice Cooked Pork? But mastering fried rice isn’t easy and making a healthier version of the original is even more challenging. Here’s an easy AND healthy version of Korean fried rice that you will love! Anyone who visited Laurie and I when we lived in Alexandria, VA likely joined us for takeout a

Laurie and I just spent the past six weeks enjoying another epic holiday season! We are now winding down from the hectic pace and almost non-stop celebrations but also continuing to reflect fondly on an absolutely wonderful holiday season! Here’s a quick recap for you in case you weren’t here to enjoy it all with us! The 2025 holiday season kicked off for us on November 17 th when Laurie and I decorated the house for the season! We love getting an early start on the festivit

I never trust recipes that claim they can be made in 30 minutes or less. It usually takes me considerably longer to make these dishes than the advertised 30 minutes. But here’s a “no-kidding recipe for a delicious vegetable soup that can be made in 30 minutes, guaranteed! I’m always on the lookout for quick, easy recipes that I can make in short order – some days I just don’t feel like spending two hours in the kitchen making dinner. Turns out these recipes aren’t difficult t