Music Writing | Film Writing | Art Writing | Travel Writing

My first significant break as a writer came when I interrupted Joie Davidow, then editor-in-chief of LA Style, during an editorial meeting at Le Mondrian, where I worked as a waiter. (I really never interrupt people, but I broached decorum because I sensed it was my only chance to pitch an idea for their annual food issue.) Remarkably, she and the entire staff listened politely to my pitch. There was an uncomfortable pause – I think the others were waiting for Joie to respond – until managing editor Michael LaSalle nodded and asked for my phone number, indicating possible interest. He called me two days later, saying they would buy my story (“Waiting for the Dough”), a chronicle of strange stories from all my waiter friends in L.A. I suspect I shared a similar euphoria as Arthur Conan Doyle after selling his first big story to The Strand, or as Raymond Chandler to Black Mask. The joy redoubled at a newsstand a couple months later, when I opened the enormous magazine to see my piece superbly illustrated. I’m very grateful to Michael for that leap of faith. It’s been a good lesson about how daring, sometimes unreasonable action taken in pursuit on one’s dreams often yields great rewards.

In the last year, I began focusing primarily on food and travel writing, and I currently review restaurants for Where San Francisco, SFStation.com, and SushiFinder.com. I recently interviewed chef Joe Jack for Travel Savvy and the proprietor of True Sake for Where, and will be writing more on wines (including sake) and spirits in the future.