Rob Chirico is the author of Hair of the Dog, Cookthink's Monday morning cocktail column. (Think OSIM instead of TGIF.)

Rob began his “life behind bars” quite by accident.

After giving up a professorship in art history to become a full-time artist, he spent several years living and painting in Argentina and France. His passion for cooking prompted him to enter the Sutter Home "Build a Better Burger Contest" in 1991. He won the grand prize of $10,000 for his Lamburgers à la Greque.

He went on to become professionally involved in food and cookbooks and was signed to write the Field Guide to Cocktails (Quirk/Chronicle 2005). Rob has written articles for the scholarly food publication Gastronomica and has two other small books to his credit: "Martini Madness" and "Up in Smoke."

Rob still paints. You can find his work on the walls of the award-winning Blue Heron Restaurant in Sunderland, Massachusetts, where he creates cocktails Wednesdays through Fridays.

To contact Rob, visit his website.