8.19.25 | Good Food, Will Travel

When I was but a fragile eggshell-minded adolescent, living in the woods, no shoes on, a rat tail and a mohawk I started to learn things about food. Particularly what food was worth and what it meant to people. I didn't realize at the time that I was picking up on these things, but I definitely was. From my grandmother trying to get me to eat every drop of food on my plate to my parents piling us all into the minivan and driving over an hour away to get good Chinese food. Not takeout Chinese food, but a sit-down fancy pants Chinese restaurant. Good food, will travel.

When we wanted good Southern food we just popped down the street to 77 restaurant, bellied up to the diner bar and got a great Southern breakfast. Finding any ethnic food was much more of challenge. There was only one Chinese takeout in town, Panda Garden. (Years later, Panda Garden would end up being my very first job.) When we were visiting museums in DC we would try Ethiopian, We would eat sushi when none of my friends ate sushi.

The places my parents wanted to eat tended to be a hike, but they made the trip and they dragged us along for the experience. It's interesting to think that now, when Becca and I have vacation we plan it all around food. Good food? We'll travel.

This year, we're driving south and heading into Charlotte, my old stomping ground. I graduated from culinary school in Charlotte and will be excited to see how much it's changed and how much I remember. Probably not much. We aren't going for the sightseeing, though, nor for the nostalgia. We're going to eat! We're not even going to eat in Charlotte, we're going to eat an hour away in Hickory. We're staying in Charlotte for the putt-putt golf, easy walkability and the few dinner reservations we have lined up. Japanese-Peruvian fusion, raw oysters, and who knows what else we'll find.

Sometimes we travel for fine dining, sometimes we travel for hole-in-the-wall joints. This time we're traveling for raw. Raw seafood all around, top quality seafood and if I can get some steak tartar, carpaccio, or ceviche I am all in on that as well.

A few years back we went to Charleston, SC to eat. We ate at some great restaurants, found a few hole-in-the wall bars and just followed our heart’s desire. It's late, we've had a full meal and Becca is starting to crash. Sure enough, she is down for the count and I decide to go out exploring. One of the fine dining restaurants that we weren't able to get into earlier was still booming so I walked in to see if there were any open seats. Sure enough there were and I bellied up to the bar, squeezed in between a few locals. I ordered a small bowl of bouillabaisse and started to dig in while striking up conversation with the people to my left and right and the bartender in front. They were all local and started asking about what sights I had seen. Old plantations? Nope. Fort Sumter? Nope. I explained I didn't come for any of the regular touristy things. I came to eat and meander. I don't know if they were offended or just shocked that a tourist didn't want to tour their rich and depressing history, but that's not why I'm here. I'm here to eat and scratch a few restaurants off the old bucket list.

You could tell by the look on their faces they thought it was weird I would travel nine hours just to eat. I realize then I don't travel for the same reasons as most people. We took a three day weekend a couple years ago and one of my friends and on-again/off-again employees asked what the occasion was. I told him we were taking the train up to New York for dinner. He thought that was hilarious; who travels eight hours for dinner? Me, that's who. We spent more on that meal than we did on my first car and we still talk about it two years later. I'm what my grandmother would call “a good eater.”

This vacation won't be nearly as bougie or expensive. This vacation is just to relax, step away, and become gluttons for a few days. Between gorging ourselves on oysters and bubbles, we'll be sleeping in, walking the dog through the city, and taking naps.

Our vacations are very different from my childhood vacations, but you have to wonder how much of my parents' willingness to travel for good food wore off on me. I guess the apple didn't fall too far from the giving tree.

—Matt