First, let me confess, I don’t get to say the above very much. The why of this is a whole other blog, so mek we nuh worry bout dat part just yet. Dining out happens mostly with work peeps or with the Miami family. Shout out to Andy who is one of my favorite dining companions. He is steadily introducing me to all the places worth eating at, in and around Columbia, Missouri. Most notable are dinners and drinks at Sycamore , sushi at Osaka , and fried chicken at Heuers Country Store and Cafe, the place that had the pick-up truck with a dead dear in the flatbed parked out front. There is the goat jerky, and one of my students also shared deer jerky – they had cured themselves. Forthcoming post “A Year of Eating in MidMo.” But I digress, on the rare occasion that I am asked out to dine one on one, I believe people call this a date, where and who decides where we eat is crucial.
Couple things, we nuh really do chain restaurants more dan so (tek note seh mi neva seh neva. Good). It might be a little bit of snootiness, but it’s also an aversion to eating something that comes off of a mass production-esque assembly line. Fine it is snooty. I’ll accept that. I like to eat at places that are independent in their ownership and in their concept. No, upscale isn’t a criterion (though if you takin me to Smith and Wollensky me nah seh no). I like places with linens (preferably white) and silverware. Since watching Food Inc. , a documentary on the industrialization of food in America, I am making more of an effort than ever to be a locavore in my purchasing and eating habits. I’m not exclusively this way, but where I can, I do want to support local industry, know where my food is coming from, and have asked on occasion. Growing up in Jamaica, it wasn’t ever really difficult to know where what you were eating came from. We knew di man dem whe grow di chicken, cow, goat, and pig, the butchers who processed the meat, the farmers who grew the produce, and the fishermen who caught the sea stuff. In many ways I began to take not needing to think about this for granted. It was an unsettling moment to realize I had become ignorant of where the food I was buying for my home came from and actually didn’t seem to care to know.
After seeing Food Inc. though, this knowledge is becoming critical. I want to know if my meat comes from places that rear and process animals humanely and ethically. This is easy in Mid Missouri because of places like Show Me Farms and seasonal farmers markets. Counterparts in South Florida would be Bee Heaven Farms or Redlands Organics who operate on a pre-reserved share basis (another future post perhaps?). One thing I now make very few exceptions to is actively refusing to buy particular brands of chicken. I also will not buy beef that is solely corn fed. Cows eat grass people; being herbivores doesn’t mean will eat anything that grows – they aren’t goats. They should graze in pastures and have some GRASS in their diets. I want to know which farms are responsible for my produce and what their cultivation practices are. Where I can afford it, I try to buy organic for my home consumption. Dining out is a whole other ball game, but it does make it easier to find out who supplies when it’s a small independent establishment. Food Inc. comes out in a theatre near you in June so, go see it. But I’ve strayed again don’t it?
So back to the date argument, the selection of non-major chain establishment is a plus and if it is supplied by local producers, even better. If I am given the power to chose, and I choose say, Sushi Rock Cafe on Miami Beach, which he might have never tried, cuz ‘im nuh really touch di raw fish bizniz, another way to impress me is to bravely try anything I might suggest. Now, I’m not way out there, and have only just worked my way up to sashimi myself, so it wouldn’t be like dining with Andrew Zimmern for an episode of Bizarre Foods . A willingness to try the unfamiliar though is one of the things that is endearing to me. So even if I have to select the spot, cool points can be gained for a willing, adventurous, and curious palate. Of course it goes without saying a comparable enthusiasm for food would also be delightful.
On the flip side though, I should probably confess that it puts me off slightly to make the where we should eat decision for a date. There is a side of me that feels enough thought isn’t being put into it, and passing the decision on to me is just too easy, possibly lazy. Initiative is key. Of course, I know there are those among you who are thinking “but Sheri, wha bout if di bredda jus’ intimidated by you and nuh waa mek a bad choice and risk you not being impressed?” (I’ve been told that I am intimidating and more recently that I can be scary – go figure). For those of you who empathize with my scared and intimidated would-be suitors, this is the kind of decision he should seek help for – initiative it’s called. I also like this quality in students. If you like him enough though, and if he asks, give him the gift of being steered in the direction of what you might consider to be a Sheri approved eatery. Such consultation shows initiative on his part and the one thing that is most important to me in these matters: consideration. Lack of consideration in one area might mean the same in others. See how complex a little meal can be and we don’t even talk bout whe de pon di menu yet (pun intended? Maybe). Remember though, even if there is no pre-dinner consult, and I make the decision, being curious and possibly adventurous might tip the balance back into his favor.
Perhaps these and many other ever-developing peculiarities are why I hardly ever even think the words in the title of this post. Nonetheless, belly will always wan’ full, and an appetite for all things delicious perpetually rages. As long as it eat good, mi di deh pon mi teet!
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