When the opportunity arose to take the helm of culinary operations at The High Lonesome Ranch, I saw it as an irresistible opportunity to mold my young career. Prior to my Rocky Mountain reception I spent eight years in Houston, Texas, working my way through the ranks of a vibrant culinary scene. After graduating with a culinary degree from San Jacinto College, I finished up a four-year stint at the fundamentally sound Pappas Seafood House and moved on to work for other restaurants, including Ibiza Food and Wine Bar, The Briar Club, and Cullen’s. Ibiza, known for their extensive wine selection, enticed me to embrace a wine steward position to further my knowledge of food and wine pairings.

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When last heard from (that would be the Winter issue), photographer Frank Barnett and I had our noses in a brewer’s cut at Indie Hops. A few days later, we were being shown around the Food Sciences Pilot Plant by Professor Tom Shellhammer at Oregon State University.

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Photograph by Stephen Savage

Kiln, Mississippi, located just miles northwest of Bay St. Louis, has long been home to those that love and make beer. Known as the moonshine capital of the world, according to legend, during the bootlegging years of prohibition, moonshine was made there secretly for many years.

Today, beer is still manufactured in Kiln, referred to as “The Kill” by locals, in large quantities but in a very legal way, at the Lazy Magnolia Brewery. Lazy Magnolia is the first and only manufacturing and packaging brewery in Mississippi since prohibition and is focused on bringing a true Southern quality to all of its brews.

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Portland, Oregon, has more microbreweries per capita than any other city in the country. Living here should make writing about craft beer a snap, right? As it turns out, the plethora of breweries, brewpubs, and bottle shops can be a bit overwhelming. Where to begin? Serendipity led photographer Frank Barnett and me to follow the hops.

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See the excellent custom work by artist James Acord:

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Photography by Frank Barnett

Of course hunters and fishermen are used to getting up while it’s still pitch black outside, but those of us who can’t imagine getting out of bed before the sun is up can only
marvel at someone like Pascal Tisseur, who arrives at La Petite Provence in southeast
Portland, Oregon, each morning around 5 a.m. to start baking, among other things, the cheese brioche with which I start most mornings.

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