Fall is upon us, most restaurants have reopened, and after a long pandemic-induced break from dining out, Joanne and I have visited several fantastic restaurants in the last few months. These include, Joi Cafe and Pure Vita in L.A., Sestina Pasta Bar in NYC, Spirit Elephant in Winnetka, IL., and Kale My Name in Chicago. I’ll be posting about all of these soon and checking in and updating my “go-to” local favorites, which are listed below. For now, please check out my newest e

Last updated on January 6, 2020. Originally published on March 13, 2017. In May of 2015, my friend Amy, a fellow pianist and running enthusiast, introduced me to the plant-based ultra-endurance athlete Rich Roll, and his podcast, aptly titled, The Rich Roll Podcast. At that time, at the age of 42 and with a few Chicago Marathons under my belt, I was becoming increasingly passionate about long distance running, and questioning my diet as my gym workouts grew more and more inte

Last updated on January 4, 2020. Originally published on January 3, 2017. I started doing pull-ups seriously in 2012 as I was approaching my 40th birthday. I had created a personal challenge that included 25 consecutive pull-ups, and after achieving that, I just kept on going. For the last couple of years, my standard pull-up routine has consisted of about 10 sets, generally 10-15 repetitions per set. I start each set every 3 minutes, meaning I usually have approximately a 2:

As far as health, fitness, and nutrition are concerned, 2016 was a great year. I happily adopted a vegan diet, completed several crazy pull-up adventures (including a 10x15 workout and a separate bit of insanity: 1,800 pull-ups in 5 hours), set a personal best time at The Philadelphia Marathon, and read, listened, studied, and experienced enough with regards to fitness and plant-based nutrition to feel good and responsible about reporting on it all here. Here's hoping that so