Blogging About What I'm Eating

Welcome to David’s Plate!

As you may have surmised, I am David, the lover of food, the amateur chef, and as of today, the author of this blog.  I have had the intention of documenting and sharing my gastronomic exploits for some time.  However, as my work keeps me in front of a computer far longer than I desire, I approached entering the blogosphere with more than a little hesitancy and trepidation.  From the get go, I will make clear my intentions to share and discuss a few meals per post about once a week.  I would love to do more, but hey – I need time to cook!

So who am I?  And why on Earth do I eat so well?

Well, I cannot claim the authenticity of a professional chef.  I did not come from hardship, scrounge a job one day washing dishes, and slowly work my way up in a restaurant, learning to cook out of necessity.  Nothing so romantic, nothing so bona fide.  In fact, my only brief teenage work in a restaurant was just that, a menial teenage summer gig as a bus boy.  That was where I started in the restaurant business and that is where I ended.  At the time, I was not cut out for it, and though I am a different person now, I still don’t know if it is for me.  My cap comes off to anyone who works in the food industry.  It is a hell of a life, and you need to really love what you do.

I love, but I serve a much smaller clientele.  I am merely a man who enjoys food.  I live in the tiny city of Norwalk, Connecticut (a town with a greatly underrated restaurant scene), and I cook for my beautiful girlfriend Vanessa and our friend and housemate Sarah.   

My first and greatest influence as a chef is my mother, who is an amazing cook and a wonderful baker.  I am also the son of a doctor, which means that growing up, I was fortunate and taken to many nice restaurants.  Mom’s cooking and Dad’s treating at restaurants means that I’ve been eating well my whole life. 

Other food influences include my older brother, who, in restaurants as a boy, I always asked, “what are you getting?”  I learned a lot from his orderings.  Also there was is my aunt Liza, who lived in France, and taught by example how to eat well.  Then there was my college housemate, a real chef.  Many nights I would sit at the kitchen counter pretending to do homework as I watched Steve cook.  I would ask about every ingredient he used and what he was going to do with it.  By the time I graduated college, I was ready to cook on my own.

The results thus far have been rather delicious.

 (I also have a tremendously awesome sister, who, being a vegetarian most of childhood, is not so much a food influence – but she is pretty sweet, and deserves coolness props any way!)

But enough about my peoples, and enough about me.  This blog is not going to be about me.  It is about my plate.  

Let’s get to the meat!