Do you go out to eat and often think, "I have to pay for this?" Or perhaps, "I could have made this at home and it would have been better." I often find myself disappointed. American restaurants have become comfortable in offering generic, bland food that looks good in pictures. I am constantly searching for those few places that make you want to hum as you eat, the places that serve the highest quality and best tasting food.

Monday, December 4, 2006

How This Came To Be

I love food. I grew up in a house filled with wonderful meals that ran the gambit from grilled cheese to homemade pasta dishes to rack of lamb. Desert in my house could be as simple as ice cream or as complicated as anything you might find on the cover of Gourmet or in the finest of restaurants. All of it was amazing because of its quality and focus on flavor. When I go out, I compare what I eat to what I know is possible in my own kitchen. It should certainly meet, if not exceed these possibilities. However, more often than not, it doesn't. Recently I went to dinner at a local restaurant with a renowned chef, fabulous location, and prices that matched. I was so horrifically disappointed that it prompted me to compare all of my meals the next couple of days to that one bad one. My hot wings at the airport the next day were better. The peanuts on my flight, better. The Thanksgiving dinner in a restaurant running out of food, better. A variety of meals at a variety of locations at a variety of costs were all better because they were prepared to their best. After having several wonderful meals in the next couple of days, I began to wish there was somewhere that I could find good restaurants to eat that had honest reviews based on real life experiences. So, here I am. It might be good, it might be bad, but it is what it is.