Welcome To The First Post!

Dan Doke Photography

Food has been a part of Chris' and my relationship from the beginning.  One of the first times we hung out, we made our own pizza with basil pesto and thin-sliced red potatoes, drizzled with garlic and olive oil, and sprinkled with some parmigiano reggiano on homemade dough.   We liked to go out for Asian and Indian food whenever we got the chance.  When we were married in 2006, we knew we wanted really good food at our reception.  Our wedding was on the eve of the Lantern Festival during Chinese New Year.  Everything was in shades of red and gold and our food echoed the theme.

But our first real "a-ha" food moment was during our honeymoon.  We went down to Florida for a week and decided to spend some of the time on Captiva Island and the remainder of the time at Disney World.  While at Disney, we booked a table at Victoria and Albert's in the Grand Floridian Resort.  My sister had a great experience dining there a few years before, so we decided to give it a try.  We knew it was "fancy" and that the food would be good, but we really didn't grasp how life-changing good food and wine could be.  It was that night, in Disney World of all places, that Chris and I had the single best bite of food we have ever had.

Heather and Chris at Victoria and Albert's

Fittingly, it was the amuse bouche.  It came just after we clinked our champagne glasses together to toast our new marriage.  The amuse, the one small bite that comes first before everything else, the offering from the Chef to wake up your taste buds and prepare you for the meal to come, opened our eyes to what a real food experience could be.  It was a layered bite on a spoon that exploded with the taste of fresh peas and wood smoke, with a creaminess that was as light as a feather, with flavors that danced, then disappeared on your tongue.  We just looked at each other and said, "that rocked."

After 4 or 5 glasses of perfectly paired wines and twice as many courses, Chris and I stood up from our table (trying not to stagger like amateurs) and left, changed somehow.  We didn't know much about food, even less about wine, but we realized that all we really needed to appreciate it was to pay attention.  Listen to what the chef is saying about the food.  Think about the way the flavors in the dish are enhanced by the sips of wine offered in the pairing.  It's really just a story, that when told well, changes you a little bit each time you hear it.  It's not about being stuffy, or snobby or a "foodie", it's about paying attention and allowing the chef to bring you along on the journey.