Full color interior, premium paper - Page size: 7” x 10” - 328 pages
What if the most important thing you serve your guests has nothing to do with food?
We live in a world with beautiful kitchens, endless recipes, and perfectly staged tables—yet somehow, we’re spending less time actually sitting around them together.
An Empty Seat and a Generous Pour is an invitation to change that. Part storytelling, part recipes, and part guide to a more generous way of living, John Brubaker explores the lost art of authentic hospitality: making people feel seen, welcomed, and worth making room for.
Through 25 warm, humorous, and thought-provoking chapters, you'll discover why every good story begins with an empty seat, why coffee comes before conversation, why chili doesn't care who you voted for, why Sunday suppers can save families, why you should always pass the biscuits first, and why the people sitting around your table are the special occasion you've been waiting for.
Along the way, you'll find recipes made for sharing—from cast-iron cornbread and campfire chili to Texas brisket, buttermilk fried chicken, homemade apple pie, and bourbon bread pudding—along with Campfire Conversations, Hat Tips, bourbon pairings, and simple ideas you can put into practice immediately. But this isn't really a book about food. It's about what happens because of food.
Strangers become neighbors. Neighbors become friends. Friends become family. Stories get told. Traditions begin. And people stay a little longer than they planned.
Authentic hospitality isn't about impressing people. It's about noticing them. It's remembering how someone takes their coffee. Meeting them at the door. Listening to their story. Opening the bottle you've been saving because you finally realize the people are the special occasion.
You don't need a perfect house. You don't need fine china. You don't need to be a great cook. You just need an open door, something to share, and the willingness to make room for one more. Because someday, people probably won't remember what you served them. They'll remember that there was always a seat for them.
So don't wait until the house is cleaner. Don't wait until you're a better cook. Don't wait for a special occasion. Pull out the chair. Put something on the stove. Open the good bottle. Invite someone in.
Start tonight. Because the world doesn't need another perfectly set table. It needs more people willing to set a place for someone else.
Full color interior, premium paper - Page size: 7” x 10” - 328 pages
What if the most important thing you serve your guests has nothing to do with food?
We live in a world with beautiful kitchens, endless recipes, and perfectly staged tables—yet somehow, we’re spending less time actually sitting around them together.
An Empty Seat and a Generous Pour is an invitation to change that. Part storytelling, part recipes, and part guide to a more generous way of living, John Brubaker explores the lost art of authentic hospitality: making people feel seen, welcomed, and worth making room for.
Through 25 warm, humorous, and thought-provoking chapters, you'll discover why every good story begins with an empty seat, why coffee comes before conversation, why chili doesn't care who you voted for, why Sunday suppers can save families, why you should always pass the biscuits first, and why the people sitting around your table are the special occasion you've been waiting for.
Along the way, you'll find recipes made for sharing—from cast-iron cornbread and campfire chili to Texas brisket, buttermilk fried chicken, homemade apple pie, and bourbon bread pudding—along with Campfire Conversations, Hat Tips, bourbon pairings, and simple ideas you can put into practice immediately. But this isn't really a book about food. It's about what happens because of food.
Strangers become neighbors. Neighbors become friends. Friends become family. Stories get told. Traditions begin. And people stay a little longer than they planned.
Authentic hospitality isn't about impressing people. It's about noticing them. It's remembering how someone takes their coffee. Meeting them at the door. Listening to their story. Opening the bottle you've been saving because you finally realize the people are the special occasion.
You don't need a perfect house. You don't need fine china. You don't need to be a great cook. You just need an open door, something to share, and the willingness to make room for one more. Because someday, people probably won't remember what you served them. They'll remember that there was always a seat for them.
So don't wait until the house is cleaner. Don't wait until you're a better cook. Don't wait for a special occasion. Pull out the chair. Put something on the stove. Open the good bottle. Invite someone in.
Start tonight. Because the world doesn't need another perfectly set table. It needs more people willing to set a place for someone else.
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