Yes, it’s back! After a two-month respite and a chance to assess how Harvest Cues can be of service to those who choose to read the articles offered, my blog will return in August 2025. The look will be different and the content will be driven by a few different environmental factors: How to engage, excite, and retain a new generation of cooks, chefs, and restaurateurs; how restaurants can find their place in an ever-changing marketplace; why what we do as cooks is so important; and how to regain the sizzle of becoming a cook that was so prevalent for three exciting decades. Whenever possible, the articles will be told as stories that connect with those who are currently engaged in the business, the diehards who have spent a lifetime doing so, and those who sense that standing in front of a range might float their boat.
I hope you will reconnect after my time away from the pages of Harvest America Cues. I did, for some tech reason beyond my understanding, lose about a year’s worth of archived articles. I will continue to try and salvage them, but there are still more than 900 intact if you have a few months to dedicate to reading.
Over the next few weeks, I will be lining up topics, sharpening my pencil, testing my vocabulary, and continuing to connect with the greatest people on the planet: cooks and chefs. In the meantime, (a little self-promotion here) I hope that you will RUSH OUT to purchase a copy of my latest novel: A Cook on the Run. The reviews have been great and much of my time is now spent with book signings, lectures, and good old fashioned face-to-face marketing. The book is available through:
www.iuniverse.com (my publisher and where I make the best return)
or ordered through your local indie bookstore.
Here is a little teaser about the story:
A COOK ON THE RUN
Steve Wilson was the youngest executive chef in New York City. Standing at the helm of one of the country’s most exclusive private clubs, he was making his mark as a James Beard Foundation “Rising Star” on the Big Apple culinary scene. With the support of an exceptional team of cooks and service staff, Chef Wilson’s cuisine was the talk of the town.
The son of a single mom who passed away, Steve was left to fend for himself in the big city. This aspiring cook was street wise, living on the edge of a life of respect or one of a Brooklyn quasi street criminal. He chose the right path and now faces each day in the power starched whites of a polished chef making menu decisions for the movers and shakers in the city that never sleeps.
Finding himself in the wrong place and the wrong time, Steve overhears a conversation among an elite group of club members, a conversation of drugs and human trafficking. Wrestling with his career and moral obligation to do the right thing, Steve becomes an informant and part-time spy for the FBI, eventually taking down a major crime organization in New York, Chef Steve finds himself in witness protection – a situation that changes his life direction. Located initially France, the story follows the Chef Steve testing his skills in professional kitchens and vineyards throughout Europe, traveling through some of the most beautiful and inspirational food-centric countries and villages in the world – paradise for any chef. Along the way he meets the love of his life, while constantly looking over his shoulder for drug lords seeking revenge.
If you are a fan of Peter Mayle’s travel journals, Anthony Bourdain’s “life behind the range” stories, and the intrigue of a Patterson spy adventure, then A Cook on the Run will surely whet your appetite.
TESTIMONIAL:
“Bravo! Paul Sorgule has created a suspenseful novel like no other. If you LOVE amazing food, great wine, and the smell of fresh baked bread; if you relish the opportunity to travel and adore little villages in Europe and seek out a passionate love story, and if you crave the action of a suspenseful novel with lots of twists and turns, this book is for you. The attention to detail in the kitchen allows readers to feel like they are standing next to the chef. The references to the process of growing grapes and creating wine make you want to raise a glass in celebration, and the suspense surrounding the main characters lives make it impossible to put the book down. Furthermore, the message about the runaway problems with drug abuse and the organized crime behind it is significant and engaging. This is a book that is important, a book you will love whether a professional cook or chef, student of culinary arts, or simply someone who loves everything about food. I am a fan.”
Chef Charles Carroll, Certified Executive Chef
– River Oaks Country Club, Culinary Olympian, author of: “The Recipe”
PLAN BETTER – WORK HARDER
Keep trying to do the right thing.
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