I love to eat. ("No; really? We thought you were kidding; just rambling on at length for no real purpose!") It's an activity which comforts and restores me. Cooking is the one art form in which--unless you really screw up-- you can eat your mistakes! (Try doing that with a block of marble or an oil painting...) I love trying exotic cuisines and finding unexpected surprises in new restaurants. I can read a recipe and actually taste the dish while I read-- the way a musician can scan a piece of sheet music and hear the melody in his head. The pleasures of the table are far more than simple physical sensations for me. They are the result of years of experimentation and the desire to sample all the stimuli which are mandated by a healthy appetite and a good imagination.

The expectation-- the anticipation of the meal-- and the ritual of dining (perusing the menu and wine list; the orderly procession of the courses; the first tantalizing aroma of the appetizer; the last poignant inhalation of the wine's bouquet) are as nourishing to my spirit as the very foodstuffs themselves are to my body. The act of enjoying a great meal can be as exciting as high drama and as rewarding as a good belly laugh... if you have the capacity to abandon yourself to the experience and savor all that it offers.

I do. I indulge myself every chance I get. Life is simply too short not to savor and celebrate the simplest acts that sustain it! In Lewis Carroll's ALICE IN WONDERLAND, the Dormouse said: "Feed your head!" To which I would add: "Feed your spirit, too." Have a good time. Pull up a chair and go to town! Taste it all; discover a new favorite! I might suggest that you take the time to learn the Heimlich Maneuver, too. You can never tell when it might come in handy during an evening of calorically induced revelry. And read Proverbs; 26:11. Oh, yes; you should pass up the Chernobyl peas if someone offers them to you. They're just... kind of odd.

Some people's appetites are notorious. Everyone needs food. Not everyone uses it in the same way, however. Some folks indulge themselves dramatically, for our amusement or titillation on movie screens...

To my parents, who fed my curiosity and taught me to love quality in all things; to my sisters and the memory of our childhood food games; to my wife, who nourishes my soul; to my instructors, who gave me the gifts of discipline and technique; to my epicurean friends, with whom I've celebrated countless fabulous meals (and endured some really bad ones): I give you my love and my eternal gratitude. You will always have a place at my table and in my heart.