Written by Andy Fisher and Anna-Fiona Cooke.
Michael Ruhlman loves his family. It’s evident in everything he does, everything he says and everything he cooks. While he’s traveled the world, written numerous books and rubbed elbows with the world’s culinary leaders, Michael is most comfortable alongside his family in his own kitchen. “Life is richer when you live in your home,” Ruhlman says.
Born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, Ruhlman attended an all-boys school and developed a strong connection to his hometown Cleveland Browns. The son of an advertising executive and a retailer, he spent much of his youth home alone. In the winter of 1972, Ruhlman remembers watching Julia Child prepare an apple pie one afternoon on her PBS television show. He remembers thinking “she made you feel like you could do anything.”
Ruhlman’s first cut into the world of culinary creation was not his finest, but it ignited a love affair that still exists today. “I found a pan of pears and syrup and made a pear pie,” he recalls. “It was terrible, but I realized I loved cooking.”
Michael describes his life’s work as getting carried away, “best things in life happen when you get carried away. I went into a cooking school to write about what it means to be a chef, and instead I became a cook, got a job line cooking, lucked into one of the great restaurants of the world to work with the chef on his book, and I kept on writing about food. I got carried away, and it’s made all the difference.”
One man’s love for family and cooking has become an authentic voice and brand. Through his published books, appearances on cooking themed television programs and most recently an ever-expanding blog, Ruhlman is taking the knowledge of the professional kitchen to the home kitchen, translating the chef’s craft to the everyday individual.
A typical workday for Ruhlman starts and ends with family. Up at 6:30 AM to prepare breakfast for his ten-year-old son and fourteen-year-old daughter, this father cherishes time with his children. A day full of writing is usually capped by another home cooked meal and quality time with his wife Donna. “It’s a wonderfully boring, but heavenly schedule,” Ruhlman says.
When it comes to the current state of shopping and society, OpenSky and Michael Ruhlman share similar sentiment. “We’ve lost a sense of community in the way we shop for goods,” Ruhlman says. “We’ve gained a great deal of efficiency, but we’ve lost that ability to get what’s right for us.”
While OpenSky aims to provide individuals like Michael Ruhlman with a new platform for offering quality consumer goods, it is up to each and every Shopkeeper to determine how and when to sell. “I would never recommend something I don’t actually have in my own kitchen,” Ruhlman says.
A master of many styles of cuisine and a true expert in the kitchen, Ruhlman does have an all time favorite food. “There’s nothing that doesn’t taste a little better when you add bacon to it,” Ruhlman asserts.
Michael Ruhlman currently offers an array of quality cooking products for making not only great bacon, but living a happy and healthy life with family. Visit The Michael Ruhlman OpenSky Shop.
