5.20.25 | Have Hunger, Will Travel

Food on vacation tastes so good.

So our vacation is coming up on the horizon.

Some people like the beach, some people do stay-cations, historical places, amusement parks, zoos, but not Becca and I. We travel to eat. We have bucket list restaurants, and destination cities.

Last year it was Richmond, where I think we were able to eat at about 1/10th of the great restaurants just a hop skip and a jump down the road. This year I think we're going back to my old munching ground, Charlotte, North Carolina. There is one restaurant in particular we are traveling for. Meanwhile, we’ve also been perusing other culinary delicacies offered around there.

When I was in Charlotte in '06 for culinary school, if I went out to eat it was usually a hole-in-the-wall burger rockabilly spot or a Vietnamese restaurant where you could smell the fish sauce from the parking lot. I know the rockabilly burger spot is still there, so we may try to stop in for lunch just for the nostalgia.

But what we look for now is fresh, fresh seafood. I want sushi, ceviche and oysters. The rawer, the better. I want quality food that I can't find everyday, I want fun unique atmospheres, I want tiki bars, I want hidden gems. In the words of Freddy Mercury, I want it all. We'll probably set aside a night for a fancy-pants restaurant, but what I really want are the things I can't usually find. Diamonds in the rough.

So, wish us luck on our grand adventure, from coffee shops to bistro brunches, burger munches to raw oyster with bubbles, and sweet dessert cookie crunches.

—Chef Matt