A year after Moonshine Ink published a piece featuring North Shore resident Eugene “Geno” Duggan, Kim Boucher of Massachusetts came across the story online and sought to reconnect with an old friend. We wanted to share this delightful interchange that reacquainted friends across the continent.
Oct. 9, 2015: Eugene Duggan: Award-Winning Chef and Backcountry Trailblazer published
Oct. 17, 2016, posted to moonshineink.com: “I enjoyed reading this article about chef Eugene Duggan. He is an old friend that I haven’t spoken to in years. I would love contact information if possible. My name is Kim Richards. Please advise.”
Nov. 4: Editor Ally Gravina wrote to the writer of the piece, Marianne Porter: “Did you see this note on your Eugene Duggan piece?”
That same day, Marianne Porter sent it to Duggan’s wife, Tee May: “FYI to pass along to Gino!”
Still on that same day, Tee May wrote to Kim: “Here’s how you can reach Geno … he doesn’t have his own email … he’s a bit behind the tech world … but you can email me and I will see he gets it. Geno’s doing GREAT, retired and living the good life, traveling, eating good food and enjoying his passion for sports on TV! He’s got his own sports bar with two TVs in the living room, so Geno!!”
Even later that day, Kim replied: “Thank you for responding! Nice to hear that Gene is well. I am assuming you are his wife? So when I was a high school graduate my best friend and I worked for him at a restaurant chain called Princess Parlor. We stayed friends with him until he moved away. Periodically, while reminiscing, he comes into the conversation.
“I will tell Maureen that I heard back from you and that we can connect with him through email. I think she would like to be a part of composing.
“In the meantime, Maureen and Kim say hello. Thanks so much!!”
Nov. 11: “Hey Kim, Okay, now I can relate … didn’t know your association with Gene … he said, ‘of course I remember them!’
“Yes, I am his wife. We’ve been married since 1984. He’s the love of my life, we met at Captain Jon’s on July 14, 1977. He was the new cute chef, I was in charge of breakfast and lunch on the deck overlooking beautiful Lake Tahoe. Somewhere in between my lunch duties and his dinner service we met and fell in love. It was love at first sight! We were surrounded by 15 or so teenagers who were my waiters and waitresses and his bus boys and pantry staff. Many of them are still part of our lives, now grown into professionals with families of their own.
“Gene spent 18 years at Captain Jon’s and Le Petit Pier, both fine dining houses. He’s gathered awards and publicity for high quality food and service. When you ask locals if they know either place, the answer is usually something like ‘oh yes, I had the best meal of my life at Le Petit Pier,’ ‘we celebrated every holiday at Captain Jon’s,’ ‘CJ’s is a very special place for our family,’ or ‘so romantic.’
“His recipes have appeared in Bon Appétit, both the magazine and book, local and regional papers.
“Gene retired about 4 years ago and he’s now MY chef! And he’s branched out from fancy-schmancy French food to vegetarian and vegan and all manners of Asian, Fusion, Mexican, Moroccan. You name it, he’s tried it! He’s quite the internet explorer, checking out recipes and trying out the best.
“We’ve traveled all over the world, dozens of times to French Polynesia where he mastered the tropical French cuisine working with Tahitian Vanilla. His coco glace is out of this world and what he does with ginger is extraordinaire. Since our trip to Ireland, it seems he only wants to use Kerry butter and Irish cheddar. We both were delighted to share our roots in County Cork and County Kerry, meeting people who were so much like us!
“Can you tell I’m proud? You betcha! And still madly in love …
“Hope you’ll share an old Gene story …“
