Nothing Against Restaurants, but....

There is nothing like an occassional dining out - sharing a meal in a restaurant setting with family or friends, a bottle of wine and enjoying what someone else's hands have made. But, to be honest, the best restaurant I've ever been to, including the one that cost over $500 for two - where the chef sat at our table before preparing our meal to jot down our nuanced preferences - is our own home. Nothing beats the restaurant we call home and our home cooked meals. At home we sit on our terrace surrounded by cherished plants - including many that are native and wild - black swallow tail butterfly caterpillars nearby munching on the parsley and picking it clean - a praying mantis hopping on through - maybe carried here by the wind? Always plenty to see and witness - a lettuce plant completing its lifecycle is a beautiful and towering specimin to behold - clusters of downy white and yellow flowers leaning or is it yearning towards the sun and wind like a dancer.

Sung and I delight in our home cooked meals - stews, savory pies, lasagnas - the kind of meal planning that makes use of every last fresh vegetable and fruit we buy from the JBOLC Garden Community Farmers Market - there is a joy in leaving nothing in the refrigerator to spoil - and if that occassionally happens, though rarely - it is food scraps for the compost process. We sit on the floor, crosslegged or stretching our legs in the midst of a thriving garden - and we almost always lick our plates. That's something you can't do in restaurants! (Though we have begun to question that protocol - why shouldn't we be able to?) So, I walk into Joe's Italian Delicatessen on 187 near Arthur Avenue the other Saturday to get another pint of grated right in front of me Parmesian Cheese for the weekly corn roast, after picking up our order from Terranova Bread. A customer is telling Kurt how great a cook his wife is and says "it was so good, we could lick the plates." And I can't help myself but interject, "Why not lick the plates? My wife and I always lick our plates at home. In fact, I think we should all start licking our plates more often, why should dogs have all the fun? Licking plates should be a thing, I say we need to start a campaign to encourage people to lick their plates!" To which Kurt replies, "Maybe you're right, but not during Covid!" "I mean, licking our own plates! Not everybody else's!" As we have revealed and some of you may know this, we aspire to start a Vegan/Vegetarian slow food truck - we even have a name for it - Beale Street Cafe - named after one of James Baldwin's stellar novels and one that I taught as an English Teacher at DeWitt Clinton High School many times. One of the signs I'd like to see on our truck would read, "Feel Free to Lick Your Plate" or "Plate Licking Allowed Here!" That's how good we want the food to be at Beale Street Cafe! And yea, licking your plate is a sensual experience. It gets you the last taste of a great meal. We encourage you to try it! (At least at home, for now!) Please share your comments