Sunday, January 18, 2009

Chains, Jo-Blows Pizza, Where's the Taste??

My boyfriend and I had to drive out of town last week to see a friend in the Hospital, who got into a terrible car wreck and we ended up missing visiting hours. So we found a restaurant and ate dinner. We ended up finding this amazing restaurant called the Tin Angel. Crazy but I actually said, "I would love to find a dark lit restaurant with a fireplace" and it was like my wish came true!! It was all there! Not only that, the food was amazing, the atmosphere was great and the waiter sounded like he was a cook on Food Network! My boyfriend of course makes fun of me all the time because I want these completely crazy requests when it comes to a restaurant. I totally thought of my friend Barbara when I was there. Barbara is a great friend of mine who moved away and she was always so much fun and would love trying new places. She was always the one you could call up and get all dressed up with, go out, have a blast and still be in an elegant setting. It's really sad when great friends move away and you can't share those simple moments, like laughing over a great meal! Miss you lady :-)

Anyway, I have to complain because the town my boyfriend and I live in only has crappy chain restaurants and minimal unique dining experiences. This would be Clarksville, TN. There are maybe two or three places that I consider unique and that I would miss, but that is it. There are lots of towns that lack a great dining experience, so I'm sure lots of people can have the same argument about where they live. Don't get me wrong, I love going to Olive Garden once in a while and I really enjoy the Habachi Grill and Chinese Buffets!! I am guilty of loving Chinese Buffet and Clarksville does have some of the best, still... I'm from PA and there are not, per say, fancy restaurants in my hometown, but many privately owned or family run restaurants. I haven't been home to stay in a long time, but I truly, truly miss the fantastic Italian food and it's nice just to have a great butcher in town and a great bakery. It really surprised me that it's warmer here and there are no farmer markets in town and back home we have four to five farmers markets I know that fresh fruits and veggies can be bought. I don't like a lot of store bought vegetables, once you've had a fresh tomato, just picked, you don't want to go back to the store!

Another part that goes into my food rant, is some restaurants you go to just don't seem to care and the food is old, the place is dirty, the service is sloppy. I just don't understand how someone who is a restaurant owner and this is your career, your life, how could you not want it to succeed and be the best in town! I guess once you've been to a great restaurant, once you know how wonderful it can be, you want that all the time!

I guess I have a lot to bitch about the subject of food and restaurants, I can go on forever! So I think I'll chill for now. If anyone has anything they want to add, I would love to see your comments :-) Good night all!

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