A wealth of friends

Notably, a wealth of friends. A wealth of friends.

Key points

• It began in 2014 with Battlefields and Baguettes, a University of Southern Mississippi tour I co-hosted with military historian Andy Wiest.
• 83rd National Folk Festival and Mississippi Arts Commission unveil captivating program for festival's Mississippi folklife area.
• Eller, Foster work to unseat odds-on favorite Thompson in Mississippi's 2nd Congressional District.
• Social Security and Medicare: The promise America created and the bills we postponed.
• Struggling Texas QB Arch Manning notes he'll be 'letting it rip' against No.

Notably, a wealth of friends. A wealth of friends. By: Robert St. John – October 26, 2026.

Robert St. John notes food has always been his business, but what happens when residents sit down and eat together might be why he's stayed in it.

I thought I was finished making lifelong friends. At 65, I figured the roster was pretty much set. I wasn't looking for new ones, and I certainly didn't expect to create some of the most meaningful friendships of my life at this age. These days, most things in my life are either planned or predictable. But over the past decade, I've been surprised by how plenty of new friends I've produced, and even more by how I created them.

It began in 2014 with Battlefields and Baguettes, a University of Southern Mississippi tour I co-hosted with military historian Andy Wiest. We traveled through England, Belgium, Normandy, and France. Andy led the group through World War I and World War II battlefields and cemeteries during the day. I handled lunch and dinner. He knew where the battles were fought. I knew where to eat afterward. It was a good arrangement.

Individuals had additionally been asking me to take them to Tuscany, to the places I'd written regarding after an extended stay overseas. I kept telling the university, "If y'all put a trip together, I'll host it." Nothing happened for two years, so one Sunday afternoon I confirmed a Tuscany trip on Facebook. It filled almost immediately. A waiting list formed, and we traveled again. And again. Before long, the waiting list had its own waiting list, and individuals wanted to know where we were going next. And that's how Yonderlust Travel began. It was supposed to be a fun side project, not a business. Somewhere around 60 trips and 1, 500 guests, I decided I'd better start running it like one. After more than 72 trips and roughly 1, 800 travelers, the greatest reward has nothing to do with business, today.

I've always valued friends. After faith and family, they're the most significant thing in my life. I still have friends from elementary school. We can go years without seeing each other and pick up right where we left off. Those individuals knew me before I knew what I was going to be. They additionally remember the bad haircuts and terrible decisions I'd prefer to forget. I assumed friendships that deep were created early in life. I was wrong.

On those first few trips, I noticed how rapidly strangers became friends. Individuals who hadn't known each other a week earlier were leaving with friendships that would last for years. A couple of years ago, I walked into one of my restaurants and spotted eight ladies having lunch together. I recognized every one of them from trips I'd hosted. They lived in different parts of Mississippi and neighboring states, but there they were, laughing, swapping stories, and carrying on like they'd known each other all their lives.

I asked, "How many of y'all knew each other before you started traveling with me?" None. Some were married, some widowed, some divorced. They'd met on trips and had become close enough to obtain together on their own. I took a great accord of pride in having played a small part in that. Two other ladies met on their first trip with me and have since traveled together more than ten times, sharing rooms and planning adventures. Neither knew the other existed before that first trip. I've seen friendships like those form on every tour we've hosted. And I've created close friends of my own along the way.

For years, I couldn't understand why it happened so consistently. My wife and I aren't group-travel individuals. We like to go where we want, eat where we want, and stop when something interests us. Being herded onto a bus behind a fellow waving a little flag isn't my idea of a vacation. We don't do that, by the way. Yet here I am, taking groups around Europe for a living. Our trips have never felt like group travel to me. It took me almost ten years to understand why.

There are 25 of us, and most days we share breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Individuals change seats. They talk regarding children, grandchildren, childhood, work, marriages, successes, and disappointments. By midweek, individuals who were strangers at the airport have inside jokes. By the end, they're making intends to see each other again. Nobody intends any of that. It just happens.

I've spent 46 years in the restaurant business, watching birthdays, weddings, reunions, and ordinary Tuesday dinners bring individuals together. I should have recognized sooner what three shared meals a day for a week or ten days could do. Food has always been my business, but what happens when individuals sit down and eat together might be why I've stayed in it.

My grandfather applied to say, "A rich man has his first dollar. A wealthy man has his first friend." He additionally stated you could judge a man's wealth by the depth and breadth of his friendships, not his bank account. I heard that growing up. It means more now.

My wife asked what I wanted for my birthday. I informed her the same thing I tell her every year: I wanted my friends in one room, sharing a meal. I didn't need anything else.

Last year, a lady on her third trip pulled me aside. She'd been through a couple of terrible tragedies over the years and informed me she'd reached a point when she wasn't sure she wanted to go on. Then she remarked, "Robert, I went on that Tuscany trip, and I realized I still had so much to live for." I didn't know what to say.

Notably, a few weeks ago in Greece, another lady pulled me aside to thank me. She remarked, "I feel so alive." I've been in the restaurant business for 46 years, and no one has ever stated anything quite like that to me. I've received plenty of compliments regarding food and service over the years, but these two women were talking concerning something altogether different.

In practice, a trip to Italy doesn't erase grief or fix life's challenges. You still come home to the same world. But a change of scenery, some laughter, good meals, new experiences, and individuals who enjoy your business can remind you there's still a lot of living left to do. I can't take credit for what happened in those ladies' lives. I'm just grateful I had a small part in it.

I began taking residents overseas since I wanted to share the places I'd come to love. What I never projected was how much the residents I took would come to mean to me. At 65, I'm still making new friends, and some have become as close as individuals I've known all my life. And after almost half a century in the restaurant business, I find myself doing the same thing I've always loved doing-bringing individuals together around a table.

My grandfather was right. I've spent most of my life trying to create a living. Somewhere along the way, I was making a fortune. This Week's Recipe: Italian Cheesecake.

If you are a fan of American-style cream cheese cheesecake, this might not be your dessert. Though if you like something lighter and less sweet, this is the dessert for you.

5 each Sizeable egg yolks 1 ¼ cups Sugar ½ tsp Kosher salt 2 cups Ricotta cheese, drained, at room temperature 2 cups Mascarpone cheese, at room temperature Zest of 1 lemon Zest of 1 orange 2 TB Unsalted butter ¾ cup Crumbled biscotti. Preheat oven to 275.

Combine egg yolks, sugar and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on high speed until foamy and the sugar dissolves, regarding 2 minutes.

Add the ricotta, mascarpone, lemon zest and orange zest and beat on medium speed for 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides and the bottom of the bowl and continue beating on medium speed for an extra 3 minutes. The batter should be smooth and have no lumps.

Using the butter, grease the bottom and the sides of a 9″ spring form pan and sprinkle with the biscotti crumbs. Pour the batter into the spring form pan, using a spatula to smooth the top. Bake for 40-50 minutes, until set. It will commence to firm as it cooks but should still jiggle slightly when shaken. Allow the cheesecake to set in the refrigerator overnight. Slice with a knife dipped in hot water to create smooth edges along each slice. Regarding the Author(s).

Robert St. John is a chef, restaurateur, author, enthusiastic traveler, and world-class eater. He has spent four decades in the restaurant business, thirty-three of those as the owner of Crescent City Grill, Mahogany Bar, Tabella, Ed's Burger Joint, The Midtowner, and Loblolly Bakery in Hattiesburg and The Downtowner in Gulfport. He has written fifteen books, including An Italian Palate, written in Europe while traveling through 72 cities in 17 countries in six months with his wife and two children. Robert has written his syndicated newspaper column for over twenty-six years. Regarding Robert at robertstjohn.com.

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Taken together, the developments around a wealth of friends point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.