Food Bully Manifesto

Eating is one of life’s greatest pleasures: certainly in the top 2, and for most people more frequent. This blog is for people who understand that food is fun…. If not, you probably won’t be interested (and the feeling would be mutual).

Each day / every meal and eating occasion presents a number of new food opportunities—and this site is all about how to make the most of them. It takes some work (advance research, planning, & scheduling) in order to have the best opportunity for success, and thus realize the most pleasure from food.

All phases of the food lifecycle are great: planning what to eat, shopping for food, eating at home or in a restaurant, watching or reading about food and how to make it, as well as identifying places to have great food.

Great food can be expensive or cheap—but it’s not necessary to shell out $100 per meal to eat well, and have wonderful eating experiences. Given the choice, I’d prefer having fantastic food for less, and more typically find myself disappointed when I’m paying top dollar (I guess my perspective is that an expensive meal should be memorable, and most of the time they are not).

Eating experiences are greatly enhanced when they are part of a broader daily agenda that could include local sightseeing, a day out with friends, or a family vacation. For instance, my wife and I recently spent a day off taking a trip to Arthur Avenue for Italian Food at Roberto’s, with some shopping at the local meat, bread, cheese, and bakery markets, and an afternoon visit to the Bronx Botanical Gardens to see the Darwin exhibit, and the Henry Moore sculptures. (Note: you’ll hear much more about these types of trips, with some suggested itineraries on this blog!)

At the end of the day, food is special when you put it in your mouth and the deliciousness of that taste is instantly clear and unmistakeable, your mind and body are craving for more, and you just want to keep enjoying that taste as long as you can.

This is the quest of the Food Bully.

About me:

. Nearing the half-century mark

. 25+ years consulting with fortune 500 clients from around the world

. Lots of travel to what are considered “great”(e.g. London) and “not-so-great” (e.g. Midland, Michigan) eating locations, for both business and pleasure

. While on the road, I have always sought out eating experiences (both costly, and cheap) that are the “best” in town—tell me a place, I’ll give you some great ideas.

. I usually try to seek out what the area is known for (e.g. seafood in Seattle, Italian in Boston, ribs in Kansas City, etc.), verses the hot new restaurant (although I’ll do both if possible).

. I think of food all day long: what to eat, where to eat, what to buy, where to buy it, how to plan an integrated meal, pairing food with wine, etc.

Why I’m the Food Bully:

. I’m food anal…

. If I shopping, I want to smell, touch and feel, so if a family member comes home with less than quality ingredients, there may be hell to pay (of course, this assumes that they can be entrusted with this important activity)

. If I’m traveling to a new city or location, I’ll be finding out what’s best in town, special events that may be happening, and most importantly where to eat, and seeing how this can be best integrated with business and / or family trips.

. If I’m cooking, I want to make sure that timing is well coordinated so that everything comes out perfect

. If others are cooking they do so at their own risk; I’ve been accused of hovering, typically have a recommendation or two, I may suggest alternate approaches… you get the picture…

. And, if we’re at a restaurant, well, just make sure you order the right dish.

The punchline: My daughter named me the “Food Bully”, and the name seems to have stuck

Why you should visit this blog:

. You too are a food obsessed bully

. You understand that there are too many food experiences out there and we can benefit from sharing

. You might get a couple of laughs

How you can participate

. Let me know your great eating experiences

. Ask questions and I’ll try to respond.

. I plan to share a daily food experience on this blog (subject to the more mundane pleasures of my consulting work)

. Together, we can leverage off of our mutual obsession and Bully away!