What's so great about great food? Food done right engages all five senses. Taste, smell, sight, and touch/texture are obviously at play, but a truly great meal should also involve the sound of conversation with whomever you've chosen to share the experience. It is the only survival essential that is social, cultural and infinitely varied. Everyone has to eat, so why not make dining a fun, eye opening, exciting activity as often as your paycheck allows?
Since moving to San Francisco last August, I've concocted many arguments to justify the large percentage of my income that I spend eating out. Though it's easy for chefs to rationalize their raison d'être -- they're artists; they're saving the world through sustainable agriculture; they're sharing the cuisine of their home town -- it was hard for me as a diner to achieve the same level of personal fulfillment from eating the fruits of their beautifully plated labor.
And then I discovered The List.
7x7 Magazine's Big Eat SF is a 'list of the 100 things to eat in San Francisco before you die.' Though many may browse the list to find the best soup dumplings around, or a great spot for a friend's birthday dinner, I decided to enslave myself to its edict. Why take a list of randomly compiled suggestions so seriously? Well, in doing so I was able to turn dining out into a game. By entering into the ultimate battle vs. the culinary scene of San Francisco, there was suddenly a new purpose behind every meal. Eating out was not only satisfying as a sensory, cultural experience, but every list-dictated item that I ate became a personal victory. I proudly displayed my achievement among pictures of friends and family at work, feeding my type A personality's anal retentive tendencies and hunger for task completion by highlighting every dish I consumed. To be perfectly honest, I got almost as much satisfaction from highlighting my conquests as I did from actually eating them. But that's neither here nor there.
By November of 2009, I had 84 dishes crossed off. No big deal. But then I learned that they'd be publishing a NEW list in February 2010, sending me straight back to square one. Touché 7x7, but I accept the challenge.
One girl. One year. One hundred things to eat. Bring it.
