Have you eaten yet?

Thus, the backbone of every Filipino household's greeting: Kumain ka na ba? Have you eaten yet? Even if it's 3 in the morning, your host will still ask if you've eaten already, or would like something to eat. It doesn't matter if they have to wake up the help to get some burgers from Burger Machine, or set out extra plates whilst their own family is in the middle of lunch, the Filipino household's hospitality is pretty unparalleled in that regard.

And, while I've spent the last 8 years living in the States now, with a family that eats out more than we'd care to admit, that habit of asking visitors -- expected and unexpected, wanted and unwanted, from your mother to your mother-in-law -- "Have you eaten yet?" as a form of "Hello" has stuck. Back in San Gabriel, instead of setting out extra silverware, we love inviting people to restaurants that are either our go-to's or new places we'd like to try out, too. That's how we found out our first "regular" restaurant; our close friends brought us to Noodle World in Alhambra and introduced us to the awesomeness that is every-popular-Asian-cuisine-imaginable. Now that I'm living on my own, in my adult shoes with my grown-up job, I continue to greet my friends, family, and (once in a blue DC moon) strangers with an invite to chow down and discover new restaurants or rediscover favorites.

That's also why I wanted to start this blog. Writing is a release for me, as well as the only art form I am actually any good at. And the dining experience is my muse. Through this blog, I hope to explore with y'all the foodie heavens (or foodie hells; it all depends) that I encounter in my current home -- Minneapolis/St. Paul, in the places I visit, and sometimes rarely in my own test kitchen. I think the dining table is oftentimes the best place to bond with family, friends, and new possibilities; hopefully, this virtual dining table (I know, cheese is seeping from every pore of my skin) will foster thoughtful or silly or funny or cynical -- and altogether human -- dialogue. While this site won't be all about the edibles (nope, not that kind of edibles, silly rabbit), there'll still be lots of food for thought (someone stop me before I say another painfully corny line).

At the very least, I aim to make you hungry with my food photos and wish that you have eaten already. That being said, I'm going to make myself a sandwich. Love, peace, and chicken grease.

And chicken feet, too!