Program Highlight:
New Voices of the South
The three debut Southern novelists will read from and discuss their work: Stockett's "The Help," Whi... Read more
Hans Rueffert
Festival Appearance(s):
- Eat Like There’s No Tomorrow, Sunday, 2:00
Hans Rueffert writes:
"I am a restaurant boy. Every childhood memory I have took place in a restaurant or above a restaurant or on the way to a restaurant or returning from a restaurant. And those memories, either good or bad, are forever linked to not only the restaurants, but to the food itself, be it bad or good. So I guess I’m not just a restaurant boy, . . . I’m a food boy. Food has defined me. Some people have soundtracks to their lives and some have screenplays, . . . I have a menu. Every smell and texture and taste evokes a strong connection with the first or worst or best experience I had with that food. When I eat gravlax, it’s 1982 and I’m with my Uncle Wolfgang in Trondheim, Norway; banana pudding and fried okra and I’m back in my grandmother’s kitchen in Atlanta. These collected eating experiences are the common threads that hold my timeline together.
My family purchased the Woodbridge Inn restaurant in 1976 when I was four years old. The Inn, originally called the Lenning Hotel, was build in the mid-1800’s and had once been popular vacation spot for Floridians wanting to escape the summer heat. It was all but derelict when my parents purchased it. We moved into the upstairs portion where the guests once slept and before we knew it, my sister Sonja and I were restaurant children. Living twelve and a half steps above one of North Georgia’s landmark restaurants ensured that our lives would never be boring. It was frustrating and exhausting and exciting and ridiculously stressful all at the same time. If we needed help with our math homework, we’d take the books to the kitchen and ask Dad questions between pickups. If we wanted a snack we’d go downstairs and order off the menu. And if the restaurant got slammed, we’d run down the stairs to work. I’ve washed dishes and shucked oysters in my pajamas more times than I care to admit.
I was raised in a house of food, and to this day, food permeates my every thought. I plan my day around what I’m going to eat and when. When we go on vacation, I’m more concerned about where we’re going to eat than what we’re going to do when we get there. I am obsessed with food. And so I feel obligated to make a disclaimer: I am not the world’s leading authority on anything (except maybe okra). I’m just a simple chef that wants to share some damn good food with you and hopefully help you to create some food memories of your own."
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