Who am I?

I’m a power eater who enjoys life and people who have interesting foods and culture to share.  My love of food comes from my parents. Mom was a superb cook who learned the basics from her mother, a Jewish Polish emigrant.  Mom never met a recipe she couldn’t improve.  Dad, on the other hand, was not one to be in the kitchen, but could make a mean reservation. He frequently dined at some of the top eateries in NYC, where we lived, as well as places around the world as he traveled. They both taught me to seek out and enjoy good food wherever it’s found.  I’ve decided to write this blog to share with you my eating adventures, whether they be at restaurants’, food events, parties and food I cook my self.  Follow me on Twitter and Facebook as I discover interesting eats.  I hope you’ll suggest some too as you follow along.

Ground rules

When I share my restaurant experiences with you, it will be after several visits.  I’m seriously interested in food rather than the surroundings and service but as we are all aware, these things may sometime have an effect our perceptions.  I often dine alone or with friends and family and especially my brother. He and I most certainly don’t always agree! And so, from time to time, I will include his opinions here as well.

I am not a fan of the skewering, negative type of food review.  If the place is that bad it will not appear here.  In cases where my meal was not what was expected, I would rather express that privately to an owner/chef and look in on them again at another time.  My blog musings are an attempt to share my good eating experiences with folks.  At the end of the day, the opinions I express are my own…unless my brother has something to add.

You should know that I usually dine anonymously, as there are only 10 people who know I’m doing this…and they don’t know me!  Hopefully as throngs of devoted readers begin to participate in this blog, families will direct their children’s attention to the happy man eating and making yummy sounds, and say, “Children…that’s alanEATS!.”

And finally, I pay for my meals as you would, and for now I accept no advertising on this blog site. If I should accept ads in the future, they will not be from any of the places I write about.

My food philosophy

Less is more. Fresh food cooked simply is the gold standard.  This applies to the hamburger stand or the fine dining restaurant.  And my writing!

Don’t try to fool the customers.  Never cut the quality of the product to maintain a price point.  So disappointing to anticipate a meal to find that it’s changed beyond all recognition. Time to bite the bullet and make a decision; either raise the price or eliminate the dish.  The food business is constantly reinventing itself. Those that are slow to change risk all.

Tell the truth.  My mom ordered a broiled piece of fish at a restaurant.  When it arrived she looked at it and said to me, “This is baked not broiled.”  She explained that the color and texture as well as taste of the fish indicated it was baked.  The server disagreed.  The host disagreed. The chef began to disagree and then said, “Well…we sometimes do bake the fish…!  The restaurant biz is the toughest to do correctly and make a profit in.  Not being truthful with your customers is the fastest way to lose their loyalty and repeat business.

Let’s EAT!