In an effort to connect with more bloggers in my area, get ideas on how to improve my blog, and of course go out to eat, I recently became a member of the Virginia Bloggers group. To my delight soon after joining, Liz, the sites organizer and Blogger of I Heart Vegetables hosted a Brunch and Meet Up for Hampton Roads Bloggers at Tupelo Honey Cafe in Virginia Beach.
Most recently I took a step out and attended their very popular Third Thursday event. As the name says, on the Third Thursday of every month the museum goes from a quiet space of patrons leisurely browsing the collections, to a lively social gathering of the young and young at heart.
Be glad there's one place in the world where everybody knows your name, and they're always glad you came. With their classic cocktails, locally sourced food, and the relaxed atmosphere of Cheers, (you remember them right, the place where everybody knows your name); Saint Germain Restaurant could be considered the fanciest dive bar in Norfolk.
My confidence got the best of me, and despite my past of making plans to attend an event alone and not following through, I announced my goal and accepted the challenges. In a time frame of 2 hours for macarons and 13 hours for donuts, with a few freezing limbs, and 1 coat that needed some intense cleaning later, I was the proud recipient of a years worth of free things
Steak purists have said that if a steak is cooked properly, it doesn't need any extras. They say, additional sauces take away from the flavor of the meat. While my steak was juicy and tender on its own, the emulsion and egg added an extra layer of flavor that I never thought I would appreciate.
Now into my adulthood, a memorable and no fail childhood meal is the grilled cheese. In sickness and in health, with a bowl of tomato soup, I always ask my grandmother to make me one, cause nothing gets better than that sandwich, until now. At the beginning of my food journey, I found solace at Press 626 in Norfolk. A wine bar and restaurant with a happy hour consisting of half off glasses of wines, discounted small plates, and a relaxed atmosphere, they were everything I was looking for.never thought I would appreciate.
January 2016 I was lucky enough to get on the list for a private tasting at the newly opened Peter Chang restaurant in Virginia Beach Town Center. The event was hosted by Yelp Hampton Roads, and in full disclosure I am a Yelp Elite member and have to apply for access to these events . For several hours, myself and 50 other people partook in a endless sampling of eclectic and mouth watering foods.
Food is something that gives us as humans life, energy, and on some unexpected and unwanted occasions, a few extra inches. In my life food is more than just a meal, its an experience, a lifestyle, a release from the headaches of the world. Like wine, cheese, or a nice leather bag, the act of venturing out to experience food gets better with age. But this statement is today, words from my 2016 self, at this moment last year, I had yet to reach that level of thinking.
Early 2015 I started a personal journey. I refused to consider it a new years resolution, because I wanted to make this a journey of a thousand miles, not just an around the block power walk. My journey was as alphabet soup as it could be, get out of the house. Not just going to work and meetings, but to go places, make connections, participate in thought provoking activities, eat amazing food....but do it all, alone. Although I considered myself a free spirit that didnt let anyone or anything stop me from living life, something was missing. It was the idea of friend that getting out and seeing the good in life with no distractions from familiar faces was the only way I could find it.
Spoiler Alert...I found it, almost, maybe, well not really. In the midst of my weekly food comas, online reviews, and occasional panicked mass texts to friends of "do you want to do happy hour", 8 months flew by, and my journey of finding the missing "IT" in my life had not yet been fulfilled. But along the way, I found something, that being my intense love for food, my soulful passion for making connections, and my renewed zest for life.
This blog could have been called anything, my journey of a thousand meals, my seat at an endless buffet of random opportunities, or just Watch Kim Eat. But, this blog, my open diary, "So Full Zest" is a place where, in terms of my life and the food in it, I'll find it, eat, add a pinch of whimsy, write about it, and maybe even find my life's it factor along the way. Follow me through it.
