A vacation filled with good food and great friends!

I just returned from a five-day vacation to my former residence of Boston. I won’t bore you with many of the details. The overwhelming majority of Mighty Rib readers live in Arkansas and don’t have much interest in a blow-by-blow account of my Beantown vacation eating experiences.

I was able to visit some of my old favorites like Regina’s Pizzeria and Clear Flour Bread. I even went to Flour Bakery (twice) and ordered the coveted vanilla berry muffin top. We tried a new (for us) restaurant in Cambridge called Bondir, a quaint spot that churned out a memorable four-course meal.

I crawled the streets of Chinatown in search of the perfect soup dumpling.

I drank Sam Adams Octoberfest, ate raw oysters, and devoured seared scallops.

And as great as all those things were, they didn’t hold a candle to the quality time I got to spend with old friends. We talked about wedding plans while sipping on poorly made cocktails, we ate pizza on a six-floor balcony while watching the moon rise, and we laughed loudly in a stuffy restaurant.

You just can’t beat that.

For me, food has always been secondary—acting as a vessel to meet people, establish new friendships, and continue to build the ones I already have. Don’t get me wrong, I love the food and the longer I blog, the more respect I have for the preparation, technique, and execution that goes into it.

But it’s always been about the people. A great meal is nothing without even better individual(s) to share it with. I was reminded of this over and over again these past few days. It’s crazy, but thanks to this blog, most of my relationships, friendships, and chance encounters now stem from food.

I’ll drink …and eat…to that!