For those who are curious…

AJ Feeney-Ruiz is a recovering politician and an international adventurer. After managing a particularly grueling campaign in 2014, he realized 20 years was enough to give to politics, and moved to China to study Shaolin Kung Fu in the mountains of the Henan province and meditate for six months.

Shortly before his 35th birthday, and while practicing his forms with a Chinese broadsword, AJ realized he had potentially lived half of his life and could design what the next act would look like. He could live anywhere in the world and do anything with a little effort and determination.

So, AJ decided he would move to Paris, France — a dream since primary school. Before deciding on politics as a career at the young age of 13, AJ had always dreamed of attending culinary school. And that is exactly what he set out to do in Paris. In 2016, he began three years of classes at the flagship campus of Le Cordon Bleu, the premier international institution responsible for educating chefs from around the world for more than 120 years.

AJ’s first year centered on classic and modern French cuisine and pastries. He received the school’s elite ‘Grand Diplôme’ in both disciplines, joining one of his idols, the late Julia Child, as an American alumni of the storied institution. The second year focused on all things bread, and he became a certified French boulanger. Capping his culinary training, AJ dedicated his third and final year to the study of French wine through his school’s Wine and Management program, where he finished second in his class.

While living and studying in the City of Lights, AJ had the opportunity to work with some of the hottest kitchens and bakeries in Paris, preparing modern gastronomical cuisine, pastries and bread. AJ worked the harvest and dove into winemaking in Bordeaux, assisted a beloved wine cave in the heart of Paris’s 6th arrondissement, and worked with the sommelier team at the legendary Ritz Paris.

Calling Paris’s Left Bank home for three years, AJ lived steps away from the century-old English language bookstore, Shakespeare & Company - once the meeting place of Ernest Hemingway, James Joyce and Ezra Pound amongst countless others. AJ found inspiration in the long-standing traditions of the bookstore: the cultivation of talent of all ages and providing sleeping accommodations amongst the stacks of books for tens of thousands of aspiring writers and artists.

Today, AJ’s focus is on combining his culinary passions with his desire to help cultivate artists, and to live — by example — a life of adventure. Books Bourbon and Bacon is the culmination of AJ’s passion and desire to both inspire and be inspired by ordinary and extraordinary individuals, institutions and aspirations. And, of course, have fun along the way.

Follow AJ on Instagram at @AJFeeneyRuiz and Twitter at @AJFeeneyRuiz.

Facebook at Joseph Adamje AJ Feeney-Ruiz.

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For more, follow @AJFeeney-Ruiz on Instagram.