So, It's been a month already since our friend has left. And you know what I am still looking for him. i hear his laugh I see his friends, and I hear the stories one tells about Richard Cottance(aka. ODB!). Whenever there are two or more gathered at the bar or in a setting of drinking and conversing, You will hear the folk-stories of one Old Dirty. I too miss Richard and with time I will feel better, but as for right now I will drink this pint of belgium love for him, and say thanks for the memories friend! You truly left too early! Peace Deano Much more stories to come at memorial service sometime in May for Rchard. Addmission= 1 good bottle of wine and a story about Rich. To Nona I wish you peace and Love. To Neil I feel your void. Some one has taken our Drunken Master!

I worked with Richard at the Westin Hotel when he was the chef and I was the manager of the night kitchen cleaners. I remember long ago when we were both turning 30, and joking about the same thing his wife talked about --being lucky if he'd live to be 50. Because I am a tea-totaler I never had the opportunity to drink with him but he told a fine story even to his co-workers and passing friends even without the bottle of wine in front of him. My condolences to Nona notAA nota.squarepoet@yahoo.com

If you every worked for Richard, you worked for a saint of a boss -- to a fault even. If you ever partied with Richard, you partied with the King. Neil is right when he says Richard packed a life time or two into what is nearly half a life for most. Richard, I miss you, but I also know it's all good. Love and peace my brother. Benjamin

I worked for Richard (King Cotttance) a short while before he abruptly walked out as the chef! In the time I spent working for him, I got to know one of the hippest and most down to earth chefs on the planet. He told it like it was, and he did'nt "pour gravy all over it". He had a way in the kitchen that just made you feel comfortable. I think the only time I saw him upset was when he had to leave the line and rest. He was an amazing person and will continue to live in the hearts, and tease the palletes of many people.

The first thing I think of about Richard is the food. A perfectly prepared scallop in a light broth. Or a pastry that paired perfectly with muscat. Or his cassoulet. But as great as the food was--the stories are better. Here are two. I met Richard after dinner at Panache shortly after it opened. On Neil's advice we ate late so we could hang out with Richard afterwards. We opened up another bottle of wine and told jokes and stories until late. The best story was about Richard's vacation in Jamaica that involved his lost eye-glasses, lots of ganja, prosthetic limbs, and the jerk goat cook-off that he lost to the beechside bartender. That bartender must have cooked a damn good goat. The other memory is the extreme cooking he did at my wedding. We had more than 200 people packed into the gym at the Atheneaum on an unseasonalby hot day in early May. There was no kitchen and the only water available was from a garden hose he rigged up from the locker rooms in the basement. It was hot and he was the hardest working man in town with the sweat to prove it. The food was great. Richard could cook anything, anywhere. No one ate finer than we that night. Thanks Richard--Jan and I will always remember you.