Cheers to Bruce Julian

Bruce Julian is hosting his second annual Father's Day Gospel Brunch at 10 a.m. June 16 at his namesake men's clothing store at the Arboretum shopping center.

He came up with the idea a few years ago after a big night in New Orleans. "I was hungover and I needed a Bloody Mary and some religion, so I went to a Gospel Brunch at the House of Blues."

Bruce decided to recreate the experience in his store for customers and it was such a hit he's doing it again this year. He'll be serving his signature dish, Shrimp and Grits, along with his signature drink made with his new artisan Bloody Mary mix that he now sells in the store.

"Everyone needs to have a signature dish and a signature drink," he says. "How else are you going to be remembered?"

If you haven't put it together by now, Bruce's terrific sense of humor is as keen as his sense of style.

Gospel singer Lionel Cornelius - who performs all over the East Coast - will lend his glorious voice. "I've been making Lionel's stage clothes for a long time," says Bruce. "He's really good."

If you want to shop for your pop while you're there, Bruce has a recommendation based on his longtime career in retail: "A men's shirt is a sure fire hit," he says.

His favorites are a rough cotton V-neck polo without buttons that comes in five colors; a line of polo shirts with tractor insignia on them by Moods of Norway; an Artisan Deluxe shirt that comes in interesting fabrics; and for the cutting edge Dad, a fashion forward line in Batik and Southwest prints by Arnold Zimberg.

Now back to those Bloody Marys. Bruce also made pickled vegetable garnishes to go with them. As a generous guy who's full of fun and life, he loves to spread the joy, so his drink and food recipes are on his web site at www.brucejulian.com.

Cheers to you, Bruce!