About Us: Gary and Hayley Cogill

About Gary and Hayley:  My sweetheart Gary and I have some key traits that we love about each other:  We both love thoughtful films, worthwhile theater, a dynamic symphony (like the one we have in Dallas), relaxing beaches, exhilarating travel, stellar wine, delicious food, and bringing new and old friends together over a meal in our home.

We love to cook for our friends and do so often, with anticipation during preparation, excitement in entertaining, laughter and joy in conversation and a pretty good balance on who does the dishes.  We live to go to Hawaii every year…and try to plan the next trip there as soon as we get home, and are devoted to helping various charities in Dallas, like Chefs for Farmers, The Stewpot, The Richardson Cancer Center, The North Texas Food Bank  and more.

We hope you will follow our experiences and take some hints, suggestions and ideas with you.

About Hayley Hamilton Cogill:  Almost ten years ago in the middle of my career as an executive with The Nielsen Company I started a not for profit organization called Dallas Uncorked  to bring unique, educational and entertaining wine events to our Dallas members.  I wanted to focus on wineries and regions that aren’t as mainstream and well known, to get the word out on up and coming varietals and boutique, small production wineries.  Now, as we are in our tenth year, we continue to grow with a driven focus on not only putting on great wine events, but making sure they have a purpose.  Though we have always given to our community through various donations; now each event will have a specific charity that will benefit from them.  In July of 2010 I left the corporate world as Vice President for The Nielsen Company to focus solely on the world of food and wine with a little travel for good measure, and writing about and enjoying the celebration of entertaining.

Currently, I write the wine and spirits column for D Magazine in Dallas, as well as Pink Memo in Los Angeles, Dallas and New York City and contribute a weekly on air wine and/or spirits segment to D:The Broadcast on KTXD-TV.  This blog is our journey through our adventures….including our most recent when Gary and I got married in what we are calling a “pop up wedding,” surprising our friends and family with our nuptials in our home.  We hope you will join us.

About Gary Cogill:  Gary is an Emmy award-winning journalist and a three-time Katie award winner, and now the managing partner and producer of Lascaux Films in Dallas, a major film production company started in October 2010.  For 24 years he served as the film critic for WFAA-TV in Dallas (ABC), reviewed more than 10,000 films and conducted more than 20,000 interviews with actors, writers, and directors. Gary sat down with the biggest names in the business including the likes of Robert DeNiro, Meryl Streep, Stephen Spielberg and Clint Eastwood.  His favorite films include “To Kill A Mockingbird”, “Schindler’s List”, and “Waiting For Guffman” (which he considers to be a comic masterpiece). Gary, along with Tim Robbins and Kate Winslet, are devoted Guffmanites.  Gary also built a solid reputation with viewers covering the rapid growth of the Texas arts scene. He produced news features about Maestro Jaap Van Zweden and the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and the opening of the Winspear Opera House & Wyly Theatre.

Gary’s voice is also familiar. He has, over the years, been the voice for hundreds of characters for radio, television and animation.  He is an avid fly fisherman, a voracious reader, considers cooking an art form and jogging a life saver. He grew up in Portland, Oregon where he sat thru “Lawrence of Arabia” four nights in a row as a ten year old. Sharing that Portland upbringing with him is childhood buddy June Jones. Jones, a former NFL football player turned college coach, revived the Hawaii football program and is in the process of doing the same thing at SMU.