The Approach to Food

I’ve paid over a hundred dollars for a meal that felt soulless. I’ve paid nine dollars for a burger, fry and drink that left me speechless. I’ve tasted or experienced all the buzz words: Creme Fraiche,mole(the sauce not the animal) Confit, Sous vide, reductions of this and demi-glazes of that, duck, buffalo, bacon wrapped around every species legal to cook in a kitchen.

Some of that was good, some of that had all the heart of a can of Beeferoni.

Food can be good and most of the time it is. Good food gets the job done. Fills you up and your tongue doesn’t regret the date you took it on.

Food can be great too. Great food is harder to find. Great food comes from artists. Artists put their soul into their work. You can taste soul. It’s the little unexpected twist, the purposeful divergence from the expected and the flavor that lingers not in your mouth but in your mind days after the meal. You crave great food like you crave a second date with a beautiful woman, like you thirst for your next sky diving jump, like you yearn for the company of an old friend. Great food does what we all hope to do, makes it’s mark and leaves the crowd wanting more.

Not every day is a great food day. Not every week is a great food week nor is every month a greet food month. But when you do have the chance, be it planned or be it by surprise, grab it. Remember it. And tell the story. Because it’s not just a meal. It’s an art. The only art you enjoy with all your senses. You savor the smells, take in the appearance, feel its textures on your tongue, revel in the flavors and share great conversation with your company.

Short of sex, nothing offers you so many different stimulants at once. The difference between good meals and great meals is all in the approach.