Good Every
Day!
Welcome to
Jay’s, an intentionally opinionated view of the restaurant world in Raleigh.
Friends
have frequently suggested that I write a food blog as a fitting thrust for my
definite opinions. Their reasons? That’s to be seen; I’m eager for responses.
Me? I’m
Jay, a retired educator who happily did most of his work in states that paid
teachers far more than North Carolina, leaving me a retirement that enables me to
continue my love for dining out.
Like my
avian namesake, the jay, I can be noisy
and garrulous; I tend away from the ordinary, socialize happily even with strangers, eat
with gourmand gusto after pickily refusing anything less than gourmet, fling out
words indiscriminately, love life, delight in the hunt, and puff out
my hunter’s quill extolling a great new find.
The blog,
what’s it about? Mostly restaurants,
sometimes about food, frequently about beverage. My judgment is both
experiential and intuitive i.e. I both taste and feel what makes a restaurant
truly special. My personal criteria Include:
Décor and Service: a place that welcomes, a room that
wraps me in contentment; I realize fully that snugness defines differently, depending
on occasion and frame of mind. I prefer
formal settings for my wife’s birthday or our anniversary; but far more relaxed
mountings for those let-it-all-loose celebrations of another week alive. The word “restaurant” not coined by the
French until 1821 referred originally to food that restores. Great dining
evokes a fantasy of senses that stirs up our youth, so long banished from our
morning mirror.
Social: I insist on the privacy of
talking to those I am with – and yet welcome the opportunity to visit at the
table next door. Too much noise or music too loud diminishes this pleasure. I
enjoy meeting interesting people, especially waiters who I find, as a breed (or
perhaps tip driven) respond to my chatter with smiles and quirky humor. Miguel, one of my favorite waiters in
Maryland, gathered jokes from fellow staff, in order to cheer me during the
weeks after my father’s death. Good restaurants quickly sift out waiter-chaff,
male or female; dullards don’t last; those who remain tend toward complex,
smiling individuals, cherished by the establishment, and by me.
Food and drink: Unlike many restaurant bloggers,
I rely less on the common denominator of recipe and presentation. I rarely
stick slavishly to the menu, and far more on the full experience. Except for
the occasional need for comfort food, my wife and I choose healthy over greasy,
savory over sweet. My taste in beverages
ranges from craft beer to well-proportioned cocktails; my wife’s toward a good
red wine.
Price: We’re retired; our income is fixed.
We’re dedicated to finding ritzy quality on our tap water budget.
Sit back,
these writings hopefully will tickle forth that youthful exuberance to
which we all cling. Perhaps they’ll provide insight, perhaps they’ll guide
judgment, but mostly I hope that they’ll evoke pleasure.
