Intro.

Simply put, I'm obsessed with food.  I love to bake, get stressed out when cooking, but ultimately love to eat.  I've lived in Charlottesville for almost six years now and I've been able to explore my surroundings and all this great town has to offer by... well, eating.  I can confidently say that I know the restaurants in the area well and I think I have a knack for being able to pick the right restaurant for the right occasion.  I'm starting this blog as a fun way for me to document my dining experiences in town, from the horrible disappointments to the little gems that you may not have heard of.

A little bit of background:  It all started in college.  A good friend of mine would ask me periodically for restaurant advice, such as where he and his girlfriend should go for their anniversary dinner, a good place to bring his parents while they were in town, etc.  I'm not sure when it was but at one point I inquired rather frankly, "Why are you asking me?"  His answer was along the lines of "You know all the good places around and you talk about food a lot."  "Really?"  I thought to myself. "Do I really talk about food that much?"  I was mildly embarrassed but flattered nonetheless.  Funny how other people view and notice things about you that you hardly realize about yourself.

The idea for starting this blog sprung from thinking about passion.  What are we each passionate about and how are we incorporating these things into our daily lives?  Some people are lucky to have their passion be their job -- the ultimate "when business meets pleasure."  Some of us have to find ways to sneak it in.  A recent conversation made me come to the conclusion that I wasn't doing enough of this for myself.  I figure when your passions are as general as people and food, it is harder to incorporate them in your daily life because it's difficult to differentiate the passion from the everyday.  Ultimately, I'm not starved for either so I have to find a way to make them my own.

Most guys and haters can tune out now:  One of my favorite shows is Sex and the City (if you can appreciate that, good for you, if you can't, you should really educate yourself) and I can't help but randomly quote lines from it, often just in my head.  The main character Carrie, played by Sarah Jessica Parker, gets a freelance job at Vogue to help pay for her once rent-controlled apartment which she know owns and has to put up with her boss/editor, played by Candice Bergen, who is somewhat of a tyrant.  At the end of this particular episode, Ms. Editor criticizes Carrie's article about shoes point blank by saying, "Shoes?!  What does Carrie Bradshaw know about shoes?!"  Carrie then stops abruptly while they're walking through the office and confidently replies, "I may not know much about men, but shoes -- shoes, I know."  That about sums it up for me if you replace "shoes" with "food."