Try anything once, maybe twice

I have a general philosophy when it comes to food. At least try something new once, if you don’t like it try it again just to be sure. So I don’t let things like color or textures stop me from tasting something different. Same goes for restaurants, some people won’t go to a place that looks like it was built in the early 1900’s with mud and twigs or looks like they haven’t changed the grease they used since Ronald Reagan was president. Then you have people who have to look at the score grade to see what the local food inspector says of the place. I on the other hand think that if I don’t give something a try I could be depriving myself and mostly my stomach of something that could be very good. So what if there are more flies on the inside of the place than outside and the décor consist of random artwork bought from garage sales, there might be some good eatin in that place.

Early in our marriage my wife and I were driving around and I saw a sign for a restaurant called “Pasta Max”. I love pasta, so I figured this place was right up my alley. I mean it has “Max” in its name. Maybe this meant maximum amount of pasta, or maximum taste. Just about when I was going to suggest going there to eat, my wife says, “Who would go to a pasta place that is located in a lobby of a hotel?” I just shrugged my shoulders in the “I don’t know” motion and mourned over all the great pasta dishes I was missing out on. So what if it is in a hotel, a hotel would not serve bad food to their guest, right?

This past week my office had a going away party for a coworker who was being relocated to another office out of state. So we had a catered lunch; one this meant free food and two this meant free food. The food was from; you guessed it, Pasta Max. It was if the food gods were finally answering my prayers. I love the sight of those bright and shiny tin foil pans, along with the individually wrapped plastic fork and knife set; it’s kind of like unwrapping presents on Christmas morning. First of all the “Max” in Pasta Max does stand for a lot of pasta. There was more than enough food for everyone to have more than one helping. So I got my portion of chicken parmesan with ravioli noodles. It was decent, I would never complain about free food. Plus you have to equate that this stuff traveled 15 to 20 minutes from the restaurant to the office, so it wasn’t straight from the kitchen. The bread was good; I snuck a few extra pieces back to my desk for later that day. I found out that they were no longer located in the lobby of the hotel, but now had their own place. Thinking of my philosophy of try something new once, if you don’t like it try it again just to be sure, I was already coming up with my plan for my wife and I to “accidently” drive by the place one day.