We acknowledge, as much as the next guy, the skill, the creativity, the craftsmanship that go into culinary production, and appreciate a top notch restaurant’s potential to dispense hedonistic pleasure, impart conviviality and lighten the mood.
With all due respect to the foodie community, however, a meal – any meal, of molecular gastronomy, slow food, or farm-to-table variety, and no matter how high the price tag, how artful the presentation, or how many Michelin stars – will, by virtue of its rather short lifecycle, have to be processed within hours, even by those of us with the slowest metabolism. On the other hand, works of visual arts or even performing arts can be timeless, architecture affects in many hidden ways how we feel individually and as a community, the built environment and spaces we inhabit have long lasting cognitive and psychological effects on us, and social history quietly but mercilessly teaches us lessons simply too costly to ignore. A juxtaposition that makes the product of the ‘art’ of cooking look trivial in comparison.
Unwilling to elevate the ‘art’ of cooking – the object of collective fascination that quickly and inevitably ends up, pardon our French, in the toilet – quite to the same level as a work of art, this blog will instead remain focused, at least initially, on originating, curating and dispensing subjective, opinionated, and thoughtful suggestions on underrated travel destinations based on recent hands-on experience. We will supply our thought pieces with ample historical context and bold comparisons, in order to induce in the reader a degree of curiosity and inspire slightly off-center incremental thinking.
We are obsessed with architecture, urban neighborhoods, history, people, caffeine intake, the wine country, and the space where these overlap, creating singular spirit of place that goes beyond the built environment. And so thinking about travel but thinking big, thinking integratively – and mostly not about food. We promise to sprinkle around our careful observations on local drinking establishments and an occasional food experience that stood out – more as a side bar and a glue to try and keep it all together – but if you are looking for an up to date guide for foodies and culinary enthusiasts, we assure you there is no shortage of better resources available elsewhere.
