Friday Food Because food is about more than just eating

I’m just about to head out to New York for a few days. New York is an amazing city for food, make no mistake, and some of the best meals I’ve eaten in my life have come from chefs in New York. It does have a few advantages after all:

• It is on the coast, and can therefore benefit from some amazingly fresh seafood and fish.
• It is a vibrant mix of cultures from all over the world
• Americans love to eat
• Americans REALLY love to eat

In fact, some of the best food I’ve eaten in my life has been prepared by chefs in New York. If you’ve never been, I heartily recommend it. Speaking of heartily brings me to the one thing that I really struggle with in my numerous trips to the city that never sleeps. I come back feeling like I’ve swallowed an anvil. I’m amazed that they don’t charge me extra when checking in at JFK. There’s just something about the way in which the food is so plentiful that you almost feel obliged to eat what’s on the plate. Not helped, of course, by the fact that I was brought up to actually finish everything on my plate. And, before you say it, I don’t want my leftovers bagged thanks. I ate cold leftovers as a student and, now that I can afford to eat in Michelin star restaurants, I’d rather not have a half-eaten steak festering in my fridge thanks.

I have therefore taken a pre-emptive step in anvil-avoidance. For the one business dinner I had the flexibility to arrange I’ve gone for something that you really would not want bagged up for tomorrow: Japanese. I will, of course, let you know whether my plan works, or whether they’ll be putting me in the hold with the oversized luggage…