Icy streams and digging holes under water to gently grab the gills of a trout by hand pushes the limits on local cooking but speaker John Ash master culinary teacher and renown chef learned such skills as a young boy. Can you say amazing?

Captivated by both his speaking and anecdotes from a man who met and felt mentored by such women as:

MFK Fisher, and Julia Child

Mr. Ash had me fixated on the stories of his culinary life and passion for the marriage of food and wine.

Lunch with MFK Fischer once a week became a shared moment of personal lessons for Mr. Ash as she told him "If you can't carry on a conversation, you can't be here." "Let's go fix lunch" became sitting upon on a layered boule of bread slathered in mustards and meats enclosed in plastic wrap until warmed.

Can you imagine hearing "Lunch is ready" after sitting on your sandwich for an hour?

The MFK Warm Sandwich was born.

Laughter filled the room of bloggers.

Was this the first ever smashed sandwich?

It was a pleasure to hear words of wisdom from a man who had developed himself, his cooking and his teaching through the lessons of others.

As the opening keynote speaker Mr. John Ash lifted the bar on speaking at the IFBC and what my expectations would be while attending the next few days. All in All after the three days of many speakers Mr. Ash remained my favorite as not only a talented man, dynamite speaker but a truly from the heart, storyteller.