I grew up in a home where food was front and center. My mother was the ultimate foodie before we even knew what that was. No TV dinners here! She could whip up paella, a masterful curry or the most delicate poached sea bass in her sleep. Holidays were an extravaganza of irresistible delicacies. Mom regularly treated us to international foods and exposed me to a great variety of flavors, textures and preparations. Every single meal was fresh, well prepared and celebrated. We ate all our meals in the dining room at a beautifully appointed table. She carefully chose simple but perfectly paired wines for dinner.

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Not that she was stuffy; rather, this was what juiced her and it was clearly an expression of her love – a gift she gave to my father and me three times a day.
 

So naturally, I learned to share her passion about food and wine and found myself carrying on her traditions, cooking elaborate meals for friends and family, exploring exotic cuisines and even studying for a while. I owned  restaurant in New York City and cooked regularly there for a year, learned charcuterie at the New York Restaurant School, and attended regular meetings of Les Amis du Vin.  I felt like a Julia Child wanna-be, spending days and days on a multi course meal – starting with Escoffier's basics - stocks and demi-glazes - fretting over the tiniest detail and nuance, and enjoying the hell out of every minute. Food preparation is beautiful to me and

I like to create little still-life paintings with my ingredients and tools. Somehow it makes everything taste even better!



​Eventually my music career got in the way of all this good fun, and

I had to find ways to condense my food-as-art approach to fit my

busy schedule. I was away from home a good deal, and so my goal

was to have delicious and healthy food at the ready whenever possible.

While I still enjoy undertaking a full-on food production from time

to time, my standard fare now is simple, fresh and put together in

minutes.  This led me to develop Sizzle & Swing.


I try to spend one day a week preparing several meals, and extras to store. Soups, curries, lasagnas and grilled foods are nutritious and freeze well, so these are my go-to foods. I also keep on hand several varieties of frozen fruits and veggies from Trader Joes – they are delicious and enable me to whip-up something healthy in a pinch. It is great when I come home exhausted to find something homemade all ready to go. And my Sizzle & Swing line of seasoning salts, preserves and dressings are just the ticket to easy, delicious food preparation.

This is not to say that I don’t also love junk food. Everybody loves junk food. Mac and cheese and fried chicken are a revelation. I haven’t had a whopper in about twenty years, but man they were good. So the trick for me is to find ways to hit the spots without actually putting this garbage in my tank.
 

I am a Gemini, and on any given day of the week you can find me doing yoga, drinking herbal tea and eating tofu, while the next day I’ll be into the mojitos, grilling shrimp tacos and dancing to a Bono concert on Palladium. And after a gig–well, I’ll have fries with that!

I hope you will explore my products and recipes and please email me if you have questions or comments, or just to say, "Hi!"