Taste is created by the combination of ingredients, but it’s the heart and soul of the cook that makes it memorable. – Chef Charlie Trotter

I try to avoid too many posts around the subject of eating, but the simple fact is that I enjoy great food so very much, and Rebekah and I have been blessed to experience some amazing examples over the past year.

Last week we watched a captivating documentary, “Love, Charlie: The Rise and Fall of Chef Charlie Trotter.” The film told the story of one of the key figures in the extraordinary late 20th-Century movement that revolutionized modern American Cuisine through the turn of the century.

Charlie Trotter’s story reminds me of A) how completely wonderful great food can be, and B) what it can cost those who work so hard to make it happen.

It also helped me to understand the fact that, for the great culinary artists who are behind elevated restaurant experiences, it is very much about their passion and their commitment to excellence, and they are in a sense compelled to create what are essentially masterworks, both in their kitchen and in terms of dining service.

This is why, in order to properly celebrate forty-five years of marriage this past weekend, Rebekah and I simply stepped off our front porch and walked the two blocks down St. James Street to Tarboro’s celebrated On the Square restaurant.

Just look at the plates we ordered. Fried Okra, Shrimp & Grits, Grilled Swordfish, Carrot Cake.

The food of course is imaginative, cooked to perfection and first quality, but I also believe presentation not only impacts the experience it literally affects flavor. I think about this every time I am ready to serve something at home that I nonchalantly slide onto the plate. And I wonder what would happen if I actually “plated” something like I was in the kitchen at On the Square?

Then some timer goes off and I realize I forgot to put out the silverware and I throw it all together in a moment of panic and the opportunity has passed.

But I do wonder.

Anyway. Thanks so much, On the Square people, for reminding me of what is possible in terms of elevated cuisine. Just don’t be so obsessed as Charlie Trotter… because it quite literally destroyed him. But I do – we do – genuinely appreciate and respect the superior food experience that you have achieved.

Thanks – DEREK

Amazing food: Carrot Cake, Swordfish, Shrimp & Grits, Fried Okra