Tommy Hensel
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Tommy Hensel

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In October 1984, a sophomore at Florida State University showed up to a restaurant to meet friends who never arrived. He waited, wandered Spencer's Gifts for longer than he'd care to admit, and finally walked back in and asked for a table for one. Nobody looked up. Nobody cared. And something, quietly, shifted.

That was Tommy Hensel. He didn't know yet that the moment would take forty years to become a book.

In the time between, he collected degrees—a BA in communication, a BA in music, an MA in theater—and then careers, the way some people collect magnets from places they've visited. Singer. Actor. Director. Dramaturg. Floral designer. Life coach. Tarot reader. Feng Shui consultant. Restaurant critic. Cabaret artist. WSET diploma-certified wine professional. Arts presenter. He has lived in South Carolina; Florida; North Carolina; Washington, DC, Pennsylvania; New Hampshire; and—for the past eighteen years—the Chicago area.

People who meet him in professional contexts—usually related to his work in the performing arts—tend to look at the rest of the list and ask the same question: “Is there anything you haven't done?”

He's still thinking about it.

Eating Adverbs grew out of a lifetime of doing things solo—dining, traveling, surfing (once, in Costa Rica, on Christmas morning—a story illustrated in this book)—and a belief that most people arrive at independence accidentally. This book makes the case for doing it on purpose.

Tommy lives just west of Chicago in Berwyn, Illinois, which has better restaurants than people expect.
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  • Eating Adverbs cover art
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    • Eating Adverbs

    • A Recipe for Living Fully, Boldly, and Unapologetically
    • By: Tommy Hensel
    • Narrated by: Tommy Hensel
    • Length: 4 hrs and 39 mins
    • Release date: 12-11-2026
    • Language: English
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    $19.43 or free with 30-day trial

  • Eating Adverbs: A Recipe for Living Fully, Boldly, and Unapologetically cover art
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    $18.10 or free with 30-day trial