Now, the thing I had avoided for 35 years had happened; I was being forced to learn how to bake bread. 

Roux was a great adventure, and I am proud of my first baby. It was a critical success, and a financial disaster.

It occurred to me that learning to cook, learning an instrument and becoming fluent in a foreign language were all very similar.

You may have heard that I am taking time off to work on my writing. Which raises the question: writing what? 

Take for instance my first substack post, in it I barely mentioned the restaurant, almost exclusively talking about myself. The ironic part is that if it weren’t for the restaurant there would be no reason for me to be writing this at all. So selfish Pat. Sooo selfish.

While our restaurant has been put to bed until St. Patrick’s Day, we are enjoying some family time, and projects are being planned, new visions are being refined, and we are looking forward to a great 2026 and beyond.