Dad had great taste in food.
His favorite restaurants in Johnson City were Café One 11, Gourmet & Company, Wellington's, Scratch Brick Oven, Bella Vita, and Café Pacific.
He loved the tuna, salmon, and chocolate cake at One 11. "It's all in the sauce. They have mastered the sauce." That and they'd let him get the salmon veggies with the tuna dish. And he considered the owners his friends.
He loved a Bella Vita chicken dish that was no longer on the menu—but they still made it for him whenever he went there. He'd eat the chicken and bring us his leftover pasta when we bartended downtown. It was always delicious.
He loved the salmon and the steak at Wellington's. The quail wings from Café Pacific. And every trust pizza, bread, and chess bar he ever had from Scratch. We especially loved the days in the "test kitchen" when John (RIP) was trying out the deep dish. Dad and I went there often back then to test new recipes and sit upstairs for long, philosophic conversations with John and Jamie.
Dad loved a good bagel spread. He loved fresh lox and certain brand of lox from Fresh Market—but it had to be that specific brand.
He was thrilled earlier this year when I went to New York and ate a real NY bagel.
He called me every time I traveled for work to ask, "How are they feeding you?" He loved hearing about where we took clients, what I had for dinner. "Did they buy you dessert?"
In the end, during the quarantine, he longed for lobster. "Don't I deserve a final meal? Even criminals on death row get a final meal." I sent him Carrabba's delivery one night, a week or two before he died. Lobster ravioli, soup, and salad to split with Aunt Merle. He wasn't feeling well that day. But I spoke with Aunt Merle a couple days later and she told me he had enjoyed it.
Grandma Del, Aunt Merle, Dad, and me outside Cafe One 11
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