I met up with some friends not too long ago for a meal. They picked the spot: Lefteries, a Greek restaurant in Tarrytown, New York. It was the midpoint between the three of us and we all knew how much we adored Greek food. The restaurant was cold and somewhat uninviting. It was, however, bursting with patrons gorging themselves on plump portions of gyros and salads, shrimps and chicken. It wasn't long before we were those people, sinking into our booths just to take a breath before shoveling another forkfull of food into our mouths. What was originally intended to be a meeting between friends to catch up and talk ended up being a silent race between gluttons, eating as much as we could possibly fit into our mouths -- not because we had been deprived food for any amount of time, but rather because the food was that amazing.
Afterwards, when we had regained consciousness and were feeling partially ashamed of the hedonistic feast in which we just participated, we decided that maybe we could talk over a few drinks. With that, we walked down the street and found a brand new bar. We peeked inside, blasting music echoed around an empty room. The bartender, eager for a customer, welcomed us. He was young, about our age, very neat, and obviously a new -- well trained bartender. The bar itself was also new and didn't yet have any taps so we decided to try bottled beers that we had never before tasted. Everything in the bar was neat and well calculated, the chalkboard that listed the beers was artfully done while the bar resembled a rustic cabin in a way which allowed it to feel quaint but not so rustic that it was threatening. It was altogether so well calculated that it lacked any real personality. Furthermore, the complimentary popcorn was over complicated, with bits of caramel bacon -- which I admit sounds great -- but really provided neither the full satisfaction of bacon nor popcorn. The bar was dull and yet still over complicated and the lack of customers showed the bar's true colors.
And thus a conundrum arose: in the quest to attract customers, is great tasting food taking a knee to the glitz and glamour of restaurant showmanship? Seemingly-- yes. And so here we are, Mike and Teresa, a couple who love nothing more than good food with no need for anything else, on a mission to find the bare bones, unlikely restaurants that provide nothing more than an authentic meal, a good time, and a relaxing drink.
Teresa knows great food since she grew up in a house teaming with nothing but the best. While both her parents immigrated separately from Sicily, her mother runs a kitchen in which the table is always filled end to end with a melange of foods, some traditional, some original, all mouth watering. A kitchen where homemade jars of pasta sauce ascend from the basement perpetually. Each meal is topped with her father's own bottle of homemade wine -- good luck saying no to another glass! It's no wondering how her older brother, Giuseppe was inspired to become a chef and open his own restaurant -- "License 2 Grill" where he demonstrates his understanding that the simplicity of comfort foods like burgers and wings doesn't mean flavorless, dull, or unoriginal. His success as a chef even landed him his own show, "Mission Menu" in which he revamped the menu and flavors of struggling restaurants. Having spent so much of her time around great cooks Teresa has become an authority on what's authentic and what's a gimmick and has a knack for spotting a meal intended to be enjoyed and not just inflate the owners wallet.
I, on the other hand, can't sit still and so I spend much of my summers-off-from-teaching traveling around the world eating the amazingly unusual, unfamiliar, and delicious foods of countries whose restaurants can only be supported by the delicious foods served in them. I would very much prefer to find a small food cart along a narrow street away from the usual hot spots and enjoy whatever meal I just ordered sitting on the curb letting the food's juices drip down my hand and along my arm. To me, a real meal is prepared by someone who is more concerned with the quality of their food and not the show that their establishment puts on.
Afterwards, when we had regained consciousness and were feeling partially ashamed of the hedonistic feast in which we just participated, we decided that maybe we could talk over a few drinks. With that, we walked down the street and found a brand new bar. We peeked inside, blasting music echoed around an empty room. The bartender, eager for a customer, welcomed us. He was young, about our age, very neat, and obviously a new -- well trained bartender. The bar itself was also new and didn't yet have any taps so we decided to try bottled beers that we had never before tasted. Everything in the bar was neat and well calculated, the chalkboard that listed the beers was artfully done while the bar resembled a rustic cabin in a way which allowed it to feel quaint but not so rustic that it was threatening. It was altogether so well calculated that it lacked any real personality. Furthermore, the complimentary popcorn was over complicated, with bits of caramel bacon -- which I admit sounds great -- but really provided neither the full satisfaction of bacon nor popcorn. The bar was dull and yet still over complicated and the lack of customers showed the bar's true colors.
And thus a conundrum arose: in the quest to attract customers, is great tasting food taking a knee to the glitz and glamour of restaurant showmanship? Seemingly-- yes. And so here we are, Mike and Teresa, a couple who love nothing more than good food with no need for anything else, on a mission to find the bare bones, unlikely restaurants that provide nothing more than an authentic meal, a good time, and a relaxing drink.
Teresa knows great food since she grew up in a house teaming with nothing but the best. While both her parents immigrated separately from Sicily, her mother runs a kitchen in which the table is always filled end to end with a melange of foods, some traditional, some original, all mouth watering. A kitchen where homemade jars of pasta sauce ascend from the basement perpetually. Each meal is topped with her father's own bottle of homemade wine -- good luck saying no to another glass! It's no wondering how her older brother, Giuseppe was inspired to become a chef and open his own restaurant -- "License 2 Grill" where he demonstrates his understanding that the simplicity of comfort foods like burgers and wings doesn't mean flavorless, dull, or unoriginal. His success as a chef even landed him his own show, "Mission Menu" in which he revamped the menu and flavors of struggling restaurants. Having spent so much of her time around great cooks Teresa has become an authority on what's authentic and what's a gimmick and has a knack for spotting a meal intended to be enjoyed and not just inflate the owners wallet.
I, on the other hand, can't sit still and so I spend much of my summers-off-from-teaching traveling around the world eating the amazingly unusual, unfamiliar, and delicious foods of countries whose restaurants can only be supported by the delicious foods served in them. I would very much prefer to find a small food cart along a narrow street away from the usual hot spots and enjoy whatever meal I just ordered sitting on the curb letting the food's juices drip down my hand and along my arm. To me, a real meal is prepared by someone who is more concerned with the quality of their food and not the show that their establishment puts on.
