I was quickly deleting emails form my junk box the other day and managed to catch a glimpse at the subject of one of them before it quickly vanished. The line was memorable, catchy and stopped me in my tracks. It was ‘imagine a city with no restaurants”, and it really got me to thinking about just that.

I for one am a recent ‘foodie”. Having spent years as a routine eater (I like what I like), I finally branched out and started making a solid effort to get out there and try different foods and restaurants. I’ve also taken up cooking as a hobby and must say, really enjoy experimenting in the kitchen, even though I’m not nearly ready to be hosting a dinner party yet. I’ll need both a few more months of cooking experience and a bigger apartment for that. 

 Anyways, back to the subject line of the email. I consider myself uber-lucky to be living and working in the wonderful world of NYC. And one of those reasons happens to be the immense amount of restaurant offerings the city has. On any given night, I can get in line at the cheapest deli, eat at DeNiro’s hip hangout in Tribeca or be one of the first to feast at any one of the new openings in town.

 Come to think about it, restaurants are usually among the first thing another person will tell you is a must visit in a city. How many times have we all heard, “Oh, you just have to try _______when you’re in Chicago?  How many times have we all updated statuses, texted, tweeted, or blogged about a delicious dish? Probably too many times to count. Entire sections in travel books are dedicated to just this. It goes to show how influential restaurants are and that city popularity to a large extent is influenced by the food offering.

To me, restaurants are a way of expanding tastes and gaining creative influence. The way the food is mixed and matched, the drink it pairs with, the ambiance, the décor, the weird and funky servers, and even the other patrons can all be wildly expressive, eye opening and influential. Textures, nuances and insights to tuck away for use later.

 “Imagine a city with no restaurants” is essentially like saying imagine a city with no creativity and adventure. And I for one could not live without those things. You?