I think you should do this in public… being a chef many years ago in a high end restaurant most of our customers would treat the experience with reverence… would love to have seen someone (dog) floating up to the ceiling!!!
This is the reason that I posted Action Bronson as he seems to cut through the snobbery and champion the transcendent joy that can be had with food at any level. I would recommend doing a deep dive on his YouTube stuff, especially around France.
BTW I cry every time I see him comforting his old dog out of a fit at the start.
You make a good point. Life is too short to stifle expressions of true joy in the moments we have. Years ago, a friend of mine invited me to dinner at Talula’s Table and I was so excited based on the reviews. I fasted most of the day, because I was expecting ten plates. The last time I’d had that many courses aside from a holiday was homemade Italian food (espresso after dessert was the only reason I could get up from my chair).
Well, our gourmet dinner was a six course tasting menu. Everything was delicious, and we couldn’t stop exclaiming over each dish, but I left that place feeling very hungry. We probably would’ve died laughing if I’d imitated Snuffles, pointing at my mouth and begging for more food.
I’ll definitely check out more on YouTube, and hope to find some places to add to my list for my next trip to Europe. Action Bronson makes me miss having a dog.
Yeah… good food is good food and everything on the plate needs a good reson to be there if I’m going to pay a lot of money that I don’t have… but will do whatever I can do to get it!!
My housemate and good friend is Italian and doesn’t cook!? Took me to her regular Sunday lunch and her mothers cooking was so much more than just feeding the family, so much care, so much effort and nurturing about this everyday event. Went around on weekday and had melon wrapped in prosciutto and then oysters before the main, holy cow! People actually cook for the love of food and that’s what a truly great restaurant does as well.
I’m so sorry but I just have to share 3 of the 7 dishes of the best food I have ever had in a restaurant:
One of my college roommates was Italian, and her mother made everything from scratch. I had the longest meal of my life at her home, and her mother’s manicotti was so good it ruined my ability to eat it anywhere else. Some other highlights were truffle fries with steak in the Paris Las Vegas casino, seafood tapas in Barcelona, a meal at Emeril’s Tchoup Chop in Orlando, sauteed haricots verts in Amboise (because I thought I hated green beans until that day), and many messy lunches at La Fondue and Tio Pepe’s in NYC where you were never rushed.
There’s nothing better than enjoying great food, wine, and conversation at a relaxed pace. This particular story makes me wonder how different wine production, tours, and tastings will be in the future. Most of the places where I had memorable meals are closed. Many chefs are scaling back, because some things don’t work well as takeout. I’m hoping the future of food and wine doesn’t look like this.
The thing about wine for me is twofold, taste and intoxication. Whiskey the same. Food the same. Music the same.
My comfort food now is the best Italian ragu sauce on a budget which is: pasta of choice, four Istra fennel sausages (local and authentic), 2 tins of Italian tomatoes and that’s all I need and want. Skin and brown the sausage meat and add to the pot of simmering tinned tomato sauce. Combine cooked pasta with cooking water, ragu and butter and stir vigorously and gently until it ‘comes together’.
Action Bronson makes me miss having a dog. 
