Friday, July 20, 2012

What is Food Night?

Food Night started as a two person gathering. The Host searing a couple 6oz beef tenderloins with a red wine reduction. The guest providing a couple bottles of exceptional wine to share. Curiosities were peaked. Fires were stoked. This was a thing that needed happen again. After all, the Host liked to cook, and the guest had a stash of obscenely excellent wine.

And so it went. The group grew to a core of four. Durden, Tommy, Alex and the Host. Roughly every 6 or 8 weeks they would convene and embark upon a night of pure culinary hedonism. Friendships were forged, indelible memories made, even t-shirts (below) were produced to commemorate “Food Night”. Food Night was an EVENT. It was something to look forward to, to plan for, to budget for, to anticipate, and to remember.


Then life happens, people get new jobs, people move to different cities, and it becomes more difficult to get the band together on a regular basis. But, Food Night perseveres.

So, what exactly is Food Night? The Host had a conversation with his uncle while sitting at the bar of a local restaurant, and the topic of Food Night came up for some reason. Uncle James has been a huge inspiration in the Host’s culinary pursuits, and they dine together on a frequent basis. Between bites of the most delicious, salty, crispy, moist chicken, James chimes in that… “Any night can be a Food Night. Heck, this right here is a Food Night”.

And that’s a distinction the Host had lost track of. There need not be a formal occasion to enjoy a proper meal and/or bottle with the right people. Food Night happens whenever, and for whatever reason. With the right people, or with no people. Food Night can be you on your patio on a Tuesday night with an ear of grilled corn and a Pabst. That’d be a helluva Food Night, actually.

So when Friend of Food Night Dr. Tom sent the Host a text that read “Any interest in a Food Night at my place on Friday August 10th?“… the Host’s one word answer was…

Yes.

Food Night perseveres.