Gil's Thrilling (And Filling) Blog

Thousands of unique, undocumented family nicknames are born every day. However, dozens of the most common, traditional English first names used today exist entirely because of historical childhood speech limits or toddler mispronunciations. That’s because when children learn to talk, their mouths struggle with hard consonant clusters. This leads to a linguistic process called...

As peurile punks at Peñasco junior high, many of us acquired our first exposure to “VD,” the corporeal corruptor of unprotected men and women of all ages.  Being immature teens, the boys guffawed at the dramatic instructional filmstrips that relied heavily on fear tactics, clinical diagrams, and stern warnings about morality and hygiene.  Plotlines (if you can call them that)...

Mangia e stai zitto.” That’s what you’ll read on the back of staff shirts at Andreoli Italian Grocer along with the restaurant logo on the sleeve. From Italian it translates to “Eat and Shut Up!” One server told us that phrase is common in the Italian home where discussing the day’s happenings is secondary to enjoying the meal. We also heard that the saying matches the signat...

My travels throughout the fruited plain have taught me that there are attitudinal differences between residents of different states. Most people have significant pride in their homestate and don’t necessarily think that highly of neighboring states. More than any state, the Lone Star state will broach no claims of superiority by any other state. The saying that “everything is...

Culinary history is rich with examples of proteges who surpassed their mentors.   Gordon Ramsay, for example, has become a restaurant impresario with nearly 100 restaurants bearing his brand. He was mentored by legendary English Chef Marco Pierre White, an intense and volatile personality who helped shape Ramsay’s approach to leading a kitchen. Chef Grant Achatz, perhaps more...