November 16th, 2022

I enjoy cooking, as I've mentioned a time or two,  but I rarely turn my nose up at an opportunity to eat out either.  We generally eat out once a week, usually (though not always) on the weekend.  Partly because it's a nice change of pace, and to give me a break from cooking but also to support the (usually) small businesses in our community.  In fact, even during the Pandemic, we made it a point to order take out from one of the local restaurants when we could.

We mix it up.  Sometimes Tim is in the mood for a particular kind of food, sometimes I am and that directs where we go.  Other times we want to try something new and different.  In a small town, sometimes the concepts 'new' and 'different' are hard to come by.  Luckily, since the pandemic, a number of restaurants in our town have already opened and there are others in the process.  Yay!  Which means, we have a new mission on our hands!  Very Fun.

Among the new to us restaurants we have visited were:

I believe the first new place we tried was "Crisp and Green" which is a salad and grain bowl place.  I was concerned that it would be more of a Sam place than a Tim place since my palate tends to lean more towards veggies (though not exclusively) but as it turns out, Tim quite likes it too.  We have been back multiple times now and have never been disappointed.  I particularly like the grain bowls, Tim almost always gets a salad of one sort of another.

Over this past weekend we learned that one of Tim's favourite pizza places has changed hands and names!  It is still a pizza place but it is now called "Sicilia".  Everyone who works there is friendly, warm, welcoming and speaks Italian!  I am, therefore, going to assume that they produce a very genuine Italian pizza?  And something called, Pane Condito, which I'd never heard of before.  

Last weekend we checked out a place on island called, "Food + Beer".  It says what it is.  The menu was far more varied than I expected and the food was good. The Fries were fresh cut and exceptional. Cannot complain about that at all.  It's also wildly popular for a place that only just opened a few weeks ago.  It was packed!  

Now, I don't know how you order when you go to a new place, but I always order something that is familiar to me.  Something I would likely order at another similarly genre'd place.  I mean, I wouldn't order a hamburger at a Chinese Restaurant for heaven's sakes.  But I mean, at a sandwich shop, rather than order something I've never even heard of before, I would probably order a sandwich I've had elsewhere.  In this mind, I now have something to compare it to.  Was this better/the same/worse than whatever other place that I keep in the brain file as the "standard".

For instance, I have, in my mind, my favourite turkey sandwich.  It is the standard to which I hold all other turkey sandwiches.  So if I go to a new sandwich place, I am likely to order their turkey sandwich.  And then afterward I ask myself does this supplant the old standard?  Where does it go on the list from worst to best?  A second visit (if warranted) might open me to trying something different on the menu.  Might.  Maybe.  Or Maybe not.

This is where  I confess to getting into a rut.  There are restaurants that we visit where they offer what is, in my opinion, the Best of something.  My absolutely Favourite Version of...whatever. Let's say it's that Turkey Sandwich that I prize as the Best in class.  The Gold Standard of all Turkey sandwiches.  Now why on earth would I ever order something different on the menu?  It  isn't as if we go to that restaurant every day, every week or even every month!  So on the occasion where we do visit, I peruse the menu and then order the exact same thing I always order.  

My thought process on not being very adventurous when ordering food at a restaurant is that what happens if I don't like what I've ordered?  Now I've wasted food, wasted money and I'm still hungry.  Dang.  That doesn't make any sense at all to me.  It's Sam logic, but still a type of logic. It makes perfect sense to me.

Meanwhile, we will keep our eyes peeled for new restaurants opening in our area.  There is  a Poke restaurant with a "coming soon" sign in the window and a Donut place called, 'Parlour Donuts" that sounds beguiling.  Both of those are on the check it out list.

But not tonight.  It's  gloomy, foggy, drizzly day today so it'll be something cozy and warm and home made for sure. But maybe this weekend.  We shall see ;)