Quarantine sucks but…quarantine dining shouldn’t

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So here we are.

We are in the midst of something that I never would have expected to see in my lifetime. A pandemic, an outbreak, a national health crisis. Whatever you want to call it, I never expected that I would be in it.

Regardless of whatever name you or I want to put on it, one thing is for certain. It has affected every single person in some way. It has changed everything from how we interact, to how we shop, how we eat, how we live our daily life. It’s changed the conversation and has redefined what we consider to be our new normal. It seems like we have had everything that is good and positive taken away.

The sickness, the death, the separation, the isolation. It’s a lot to take in all at once.

But one thing to know about me, I consider myself a delusional optimist. When things get hard or bad or sad, I will go through this ridiculous bout of feeling all the negative at once. Kind of like that punch to the gut feeling of negativity. The fear, the anger, and whatever negative feeling comes in between; I will acknowledge it, feel it like a ton of bricks, but then shift to find the good. Not because it’s some God given gift, but because for me, living in the negative won’t drive progress. Living in the negative won’t drive happiness, it will crush it. If there’s no happiness, there’s no progress.

In this situation, there’s no difference.

Prior to all of this hitting, I always tried to ensure that I am consistently focusing in on being grateful. Being grateful for everything I have in this life. From the breath of air in my lungs to the delicious meals I have had the joy of experiencing, always focusing on being grateful. I have never wanted to take anything for granted because of how quickly any and everything can change.

Que that delusional optimism.

Being forced to separate and be apart is also what brings us together. Regardless of what differences we all have, or views we don’t see eye to eye on, the one thing that we can agree on is the appreciation and love that we all share for people in our lives. We all have people in our lives that we have a love and appreciation for. We all have those people that we are genuinely sad about not being able to see in person or even give a simple handshake to. And that’s what this pandemic has brought to the surface.

It’s brought this elevated level of gratitude that we can all share in. There’s more that brings us together than tears us apart.

Think about it for a sec. What was the last gathering you were at? Did you value the time you shared? Were you grateful for the people that were in your presence? Were you bringing your best self to those people in turn making their time with you great?

Once this pandemic hit and the ability to interact with the people that matter to you was taken away, being grateful took on a new meaning. Sharing meals or drinks with friends has taken on a new meaning. It’s forced us to put in the effort that maybe we took for granted before. To find new ways to connect, new ways to come together to share in our humanity and that’s great!

I guess you can say that’s part of this delusional optimism that I suppose has been and always will be within me.

So what the hell does all this ranting have to do with food?!

If you’ve followed along within this blog, you know that the main reason I started writing about food, was because of all the happiness, joy and celebration that came from being able to go out to have a cocktail with good food and good people. I wanted to be able to have that good food with good people and share that good with you in hopes that it would also provide some good for you as well.

But as you also know, as this pandemic has spread and seemingly taken everything away, it has hit the service industry especially hard. Restaurants are being forced to lay off staff or close their doors to help cope with the loss of revenue, but that’s not the case for everyone which is why I want to help those that are remaining open by means of curb side pick up or delivery!

As we are finding new ways to cope with these unknown times and social separations, we can still find ways to share good food with good people. It just means that we may have to put in a little more effort by means of getting creative.

Instead of having to focus on what we don’t have or can’t do, let’s continue to plan those virtual meet ups, let’s continue to share great food, and let’s embrace the changes to the good instead of focusing on the bad.

Throughout these unsure time, I want to make sure that as both a food enthusiast and a strong supporter of small business that everyone has the resources to continue to find good food to be part of those good times that we are making out of bad times.

I did some of the leg work for you…

After looking at a number of sites to find a comprehensive resource to find out who’s open and what services they are offering, I have made a short list that should make picking up your next meal enjoyable and easy. The qualities that I looked for to help make it easy are simple.

• Variety – it needs to cover local restaurants across the state because this goes beyond one city.
• Customization – you never know what sounds good, so options to narrow down location and cuisine to make the search easier.
• Ease of sorting – nothing is more frustrating then wasting time searching and getting nothing but sub par results or none at all.

Below are a few of the better options for finding options for ordering/dining online that will continue to help your favorites as well as mine. Again, the more that we can help support the small business owners and the staff during these tough times, the greater chance they will still be there when the dust settles!

Continue to be good to each other, continue to find ways to stay connected safely, and let’s continue to support local businesses so that everyone can survive these crazy times.

Cheers!

PS – This list will be ever growing, ever changing, and ever evolving, so stay tuned!

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Eat Local, Find Your Favorite

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