Menus by Mike is the culmination of years of thinking about how to follow my passion—good food, casual atmosphere and nice wines. My serious cooking started in college when I went through my “vegetarian stage”. To make soy burgers edible I had to figure out how to use spices and herbs. Preparing “all vege” dinners for me and my roommates forced me to understand how foods melded together and the interaction of hot, sweet, sour and salty.
After graduating from Law School I moved to the Bay Area in northern California. That was it!!!!! The food scene was unlike any I had experienced. And I was exposed to good (i.e. not Blue Nun or Mateuse) wines!!! I immediately grasped the interplay between good wines and fresh ingredient focused food. Now, with a good salary to support my new habits, I was ready to really start cooking!!!
The stores in the Bay Area offered a delicious array of fresh fruits and vegetables, top quality meats (having long since abandoned my vegetarian days), seafood and cheeses beyond my experience. Buoyed by such a cornucopia of foods, a salary to make them affordable and subscriptions to 3 cooking magazines (plus the food section of the San Francisco Chronicle) I was trying all kinds of dishes—inviting anyone who was willing to be a guinea pig to dinner.
29 years later, I still love good foods, in a comfortable, unpretentious atmosphere and good wines. I’ve cooked meals for numerous friends and family members over those 29 years and have been asked the question “when are you going to open your restaurant?” several thousand times. I’ve asked it of myself at least as many. Given the challenges of a restaurant I was probably lucky in pursuing my legal career and the follow up business ventures. But it gnawed at me every year—sometimes for weeks—sometimes for months. “What about a restaurant?” I have a folder probably 3” thick with diagrams of the kitchen—the bar –the restaurant I wanted to build. I have hundreds of hand scrawled menus I wanted to serve up.
So finally, at age 57 Menus by Mike is my way of pursuing my passion. It will allow me to do the things I like, i.e. coming up with food and wine pairings, designing the menu and preparing the 6-10 course dinners—without the daily hassles of running a full service restaurant. I hope you enjoy all facets of Menus by Mike—Dining In, Catering and Perfect Pairings.
The Journey Continues!!!!!!!!!!!
