The Barbaric Yawp and Beginning
October, 2024
I’m sitting in a small hotel cafe in Bordeaux, France with my dear friend, Dave (known to all as Dr. Dave) looking out over the old square, the fountain, the river, sipping on an Armagnac from 1975. It’s one of those moments where there’s not much to say. Life is pretty much perfect. People are moving to and fro and about around us like battery operated puzzle pieces, each with a clear picture of their destination. The square maintains a quiet bustle, just busy enough to be entertaining. Dr. Dave and I tip our glasses to each other with a nodding recognition of satisfaction. we talked about this for almost a year, sketched it out over multiple meals and late nights and Google Searches and YouTube vids. It was his dream to come back here and to make all of this happen, right down to the very moment we were sharing. Dave had a knack for planning down to the micro detail.
I gaze over at my friend, who has become my hero over the time I have known him and take in a deep breath of gratitude. For the last two years I have been Dave’s private chef - turned friend - turned close confidante and now, brother. Dave has a vicious version of cancer. The kind that makes one cringe when it gets called it out. The “oh no, not that one” cancer.
Cancer aside, we are still a modern model for symbiosis. We love to hike and explore. We love to be surrounded by good people. I’m obsessed with food and cooking and wine - and WOW, CAN HE EAT! Anything, all of it, French, Spanish, German, Thai - and always with an almost ferocious display of gratitude. The celebration of food, wine and camaraderie are our mutual lives’ catharsis and a cornerstone of the cancer defiant bubble we have created - a fantastic bubble filled with good souls, endless gatherings, days on the lake and on wooded trails, late night movies and a constant scheming for adventures and getaways (even when mobility and other hinderances interrupted) all leading up to this present escape and our current location. And here we sit, savoring. “Promise me you will keep doing this,” Dave speaks after a long pause.
“Keep doing what?” I reply.
“THIS!, Dave repeats passionately, “THIS! Doing this for people. Food and wine and, you know, all of this almost “life concierge” stuff. Look at what we have built over the last years. The people, the relationships, the memories, the meals. It’s like a small model for the way people are supposed to live, the way we should celebrate being alive, and with the realization that it doesn’t last forever, that we are just here for a short time. A really short time.”
I look away trying to disguise my eyes welling up. Fuck, I’m going to miss this guy. He has no clue of his impact on the world and on every human being that encounters him, right down to me. He is a walking model for triumphant living, blazing a trail of gratitude no matter what life’s circumstances have delivered. Only once have I seen frustration take him in almost 3 years and a continuous stream of “healing but not healed” diagnosis.
“And the thing is, you LOVE this,’ Dave continues. It’s like you were born to do this, cook, travel, bring people together, show up like Santa Claus with a big bag of goodies. It just fits you, and it brings so much happiness. I’m serious. Promise me.
I stared ahead pensively letting Dr. Dave’s words saturate. Taking a drink of my Armagnac, I felt it roll down my throat, warm, smooth and velvety with just a slight burn. I returned Dr. Dave’s glance.
“OK buddy. I will. I promise.”
Dr. Dave departed this world this last July. I miss you my friend. What a time we had!
(Present Day) - 10/27/2025
Once again I find myself here at the entrepreneurial crossroads, feeling the need to practice what I preach, to pursue bliss, to dedicate time and life to doing what I love and what brings joy to the world around me - cooking, traveling, bringing people together (sometimes bringing them with me), discovering amazing places, amazing wines and unforgettable experiences, to not let life’s everyday matters consume them. What started as a weekend hobby has become an all consuming passion.
For the last three years, I have run a mentoring program for innovators and entrepreneurs. I love it and I’ll never give it up. There’s a lot of science and operational work but at its core, I simply get to encourage and guide those who are willing to make the navigational leap to a self-propelled future. Embracing this same thing again myself feels all the more rewarding.
So, here it comes, (sound the Barbaric Yawp) JoePlates, Inc. What started as fun weekend work and occasional traveling chef commissions has become an all consuming passion, to build community, elevate life and connect people to each other with amazing food and wine and life experiences, and to have insane amounts of fun doing so..
Give us a call and a chance to delight you. Let us bring the world to your table. Meanwhile, JoePlates, Inc. Is off and running. The calendar is filling up and the travel schedule is already looking exciting.
Sometimes, you just have to make the leap. Just tell me where to meet you.
Me (left) and Dr. Dave (right), Bordeaux, France