Chicken-n-Waffles, a Religious Experience
In our various travels and culinary exploits, we've encountered food we call “nuclear.” It’s so good, it literally blows up any future happiness you might have dining on that food/beverage. I don’t normally like to compare things to drugs, but the best way to describe “nuclear” food is like cocaine. It gives you an indescribable high, only to crash, leaving every other food in that category utterly tasteless and blah.
You know that saying “there’s no such thing as too much of a good thing?” Well, it’s wrong. Don’t get me wrong. I love food. The problem is that when it’s too fantastic, it leaves you lusting after it, craving the buttery taste of those specific pasta noodles or the salty tang of fresh-caught shrimp on your tongue. Your homemade noodles just don’t have the same appeal.
You want to know my nuclear food? I found it in our last trip to Fort Worth. The culprit? Chicken and waffles. Chicken and waffles easily falls in my list of top three comfort foods. There’s something about the savory crunch of the fried chicken skin and the sweet maple syrup mix that just hits the spot. While I’ll clearly be eating them again, it’ll sadly be a long time before I have another chicken and waffle experience as good as this one. Maybe it’s time to start planning another trip to Fort Worth…
I know if I suggest that, Brian will start angling for a trip back to Tyler Florence’s Wayfare Tavern in San Francisco. He ordered some artisanal hamburgers there last year, and it was practically a religious experience. He’d had his fair share of burgers before this, but the gourmet burger from Wayfare Tavern was definitely his “nuclear” food (see top photo).
Our current dilemma: our photog Corey has discovered a coffee experience here that he says will redefine coffee for us. Am I ready for this? No. Do I want this? That’s akin to asking if I want my feet transplanted to my head, so I might view the world from a different perspective. “Nuclear” foods aren’t something I actively seek out; they just kind of happen. We haven’t reached a verdict on the coffee yet, but since coffee fuels a lot of things at the Pad & Quill world headquarters, I’m sure it will happen eventually.
