"It's the best thing that you've ever had..
the best thing that you've had .. is gone away..."
Radiohead -- High & Dry
Food snobbery is a wonderful thing. To learn to appreciate some of life's greatest pleasures. The finest sake, the freshest fish, the most tender green.
Yet, it is restricting.
Some simpler pleasures, little tastes you used to enjoy, just don't compare any more.
Not to mention the expense. The expense tends to alienate you from those who don't appreciate good food, or who just can't afford to join you.
To that, I compromise. Eating should be social. You should be enjoying your meal (and tastes of those around you). Likewise as they should for you. Why? Because there aren't enough meals around to try a restaurant's menu one meal at a time for every place worth eating. Even tasting an entire menu for a night, you still wouldn't be able to try it all.
To this end, a great meal falls on a sliding scale of food quality and good company. Carne asada fries at 3am with some good friends.. or the head chef's choice with one or two kin spirited foodies.
I leave you with one of the lasting impacts of food quality on my life.
Salmon.
One big regret in my life is not having had more fresh salmon while living in Seattle. To be fair.. I lived an hour away by bus, and I figured taking fish back on the bus would be a bit of a pain. Oh what a fool I was in my youth.
But oh, one bite of fish here or there takes me back.
I can still taste that last morning's sockeye salmon.
A little bit of butter, lemon, and dried dill.
SO F'ing GOOD.
I was not prepared for the flavor, the warmth, the aroma, the blood redness.
I was instantly filled with grief that I was only then discovering what I would be leaving and missing.
Something to be craved or to be excited for.
Something I would go back to look for on interview trips.
Something that would make salmon from most establishments just not worth it elsewhere in the country.
If you don't like fish, you've probably just been eating bad fish.
Man.. sockeye salmon sashimi was delicious. DELICIOUS.
Sometimes.. there is no substitute for quality.
Some simpler pleasures, little tastes you used to enjoy, just don't compare any more.
Not to mention the expense. The expense tends to alienate you from those who don't appreciate good food, or who just can't afford to join you.
To that, I compromise. Eating should be social. You should be enjoying your meal (and tastes of those around you). Likewise as they should for you. Why? Because there aren't enough meals around to try a restaurant's menu one meal at a time for every place worth eating. Even tasting an entire menu for a night, you still wouldn't be able to try it all.
To this end, a great meal falls on a sliding scale of food quality and good company. Carne asada fries at 3am with some good friends.. or the head chef's choice with one or two kin spirited foodies.
I leave you with one of the lasting impacts of food quality on my life.
Salmon.
One big regret in my life is not having had more fresh salmon while living in Seattle. To be fair.. I lived an hour away by bus, and I figured taking fish back on the bus would be a bit of a pain. Oh what a fool I was in my youth.
But oh, one bite of fish here or there takes me back.
I can still taste that last morning's sockeye salmon.
A little bit of butter, lemon, and dried dill.
SO F'ing GOOD.
I was not prepared for the flavor, the warmth, the aroma, the blood redness.
I was instantly filled with grief that I was only then discovering what I would be leaving and missing.
Something to be craved or to be excited for.
Something I would go back to look for on interview trips.
Something that would make salmon from most establishments just not worth it elsewhere in the country.
If you don't like fish, you've probably just been eating bad fish.
Man.. sockeye salmon sashimi was delicious. DELICIOUS.
Sometimes.. there is no substitute for quality.
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