Food Confession: No. 1

With this blog, I’ve wanted to share with you my good and bad experiences with food and wine, as well as the funny and…well, sometimes, not so funny. But am I ready to share something a little deeper, a little darker, a little more, shall we say, twisted? Do I really want to sink into those places where we almost always only whisper about behind closed doors?

I think so. I wouldn’t be doing FROTB (Frequent Readers of this Blog) justice if there were food and wine topics I shied away from, for any reason. So here goes my first Food Confession (yes, there will be others—I think).

Deep breath, hold, now exhale…. Count to five. And….

I have a favorite set of dishes.

There, I’ve said it. Here they are:

It’s the “Cabaret” series from Sango. To me, these plates and dishes and cups and sauces epitomize fun and making “every meal a feast.” They remind me of the Belle Epoque, or “Beautiful Era,” that time between world wars when Paris was vibrant and spontaneous and very much alive. Anyway, I love these with Sunday brunch…and with Thanksgiving dinner. I drink my coffee every morning in a Cabaret cup. They help put a smile on my face, make food a little more fun. They’ll never show up in one of our garage sales, as long as I’m around and kicking.

Hey, that wasn’t so bad. In fact, I’m going to share ANOTHER food confession right here, right now: I have my eyes on another set of dishes (they’ll never replace Cabaret as my favorites, but man can’t live by one set of dishes alone). Here they are. They’re the “Black Forest” series created by the artist Bodo Sperlein.


These obviously are the complete opposite of Cabaret: black and white, starker, simplistic. I, however, happen to have a thing for bare trees. I just like the looks of them. And to me they also symbolize dormancy, that rest before spring’s big explosive growth. As a writer and creative marketing guy, it’s very hard to be creative EVERY SINGLE DAY. You need that rest, those "away" times to mull, to recharge the batteries, and to…well, do nothing.

Anyway, these are expensive ($82 per dinner plate plus tax and shipping) so I won’t be running out to get them soon. But I have my eye on them. And they will be mine one day. I just don’t know when.

There. Two confessions. That wasn’t so bad.

Now, what’s your favorite food/wine item? A favorite coffee mug? Set of wine glasses? A plate handed down by Grandma Betsy? It's O.K., you're among friends. It's alright to let it all out.