Chef Charles Michael has enjoyed cooking and baking since is grandmother taught him as a child. His love for barbecue happened when he moved to Texas to go to college and then reviewed restaurants all over the world for the next 30 years. One of the biggest reasons he never became a restaurant chef was the fact he was a people person and chefs got stuck in the kitchen. Charles threw lots of events and parties and one of the hardest parts was planning the menu and drinks. He vowed if he ever wrote cookbooks they would be in the format of a blueprint for a party. Chef currently enjoys writing cookbooks, working in his vineyard, hiking waterfalls, building cedar canoes, and smoking meat for friends and family. On a good day he frequents a coffee shop, visits a winery, has a craft beer or two and hits a barbecue joint in no particular order.