In this episode, Mark Canlis shares the deep roots of hospitality, the importance of turning toward others, and how his family legacy shapes his approach to restaurant leadership and community. Discover how hospitality can be a radical act of love and vulnerability, especially in challenging times.

Canlis.com

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Books by Kendall Vanderslice

Bake & Pray

By Bread Alone

We Will Feast

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Kendall’s Substack

Kendall Vanderslice.com

Edible Theology

Bake & Pray

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Edible Theology’s Instagram

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Books by Gisela Kreglinger

The Spirituality of Wine

Cup Overflowing

Wine in the Word Bible Study Guide

The Soul of Wine: Savoring the Goodness of God

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Gisela’s Website

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Every few weeks, when the news of the world becomes too much to bear, and I feel my powerlessness overwhelm me, I begin to take account of what I eat and with whom I eat.

I think of our imperfect family dinners. No matter how much the forces of organized sports and youth activities conspire against this sacred time around our table, we manage to sit down most nights. It might be homemade meatballs with store-bought sauce and spaghetti, or grilled salmon and rice, or leftovers from our favorite Mexican restaurant. One of us might be in a bad mood, a too-silly-to-sit-at-the-table mood, or rushing to eat because of said activities. But we take our places at this table, knowing it is always a place of love and belonging.

Or…

I grab a coffee with a friend who is really going through some stuff and just needs someone face-to-face to talk through the mess of it all — not on a phone or some other app. The embodied conversation allows the tangled emotions to be seen clearly, heard, and felt, and perhaps, begin to untangle. To be in a place together where the warmth of the coffee echoes the warmth of good friendship.

Or…

Dear friends from another time and place, come to visit — invading our home and life with theirs. They bring a sense of knowing each other, despite the years that have transpired between visits and the distance since our lives overlapped more regularly. With these friends, homemade pizza night becomes an event. The snow blankets the ground outside, as we gather, not around the dining table, but around the intimacy of the kitchen island. We sit, stand, and lean in, as we stuff our faces with laughter, life stories, carbs that don’t count, and rich wine.

I could go on: lunch with my wife, burgers with my firstborn, beers with a lifelong friend, pancakes with the sixth grade boys.

It’s in these embodied moments that the grace and mercy of my own humanity return. That our incarnate, limited place in this world is powerfully full of wonder and delight. It’s in these incarnate interactions that we become embodied grace to one another, affecting not the world-out-there, but the world-in-here.

Living an embodied, incarnate life, on one hand, acknowledges my finitude, my limits, my deficiencies, my humanity. But on the other hand, it frees me to accept the canvas of my life, where God has placed me, and to make this limited life beautiful right before my eyes.

I realize that even God, in the person of Jesus, took on humanity’s limitations. He barely travelled more than 200 miles away from his hometown his whole life. And yet his incarnation is what we can participate in as we embrace the expansive limits of an embodied life just where we are.

And in doing so, we embody grace as we share the table with those nearest to us.

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In this conversation, Mark Grapengater and Andy Cornett discuss the themes of hospitality and church planting, focusing on the journey of establishing Trinity Forest Church in Concord, North Carolina. They explore the importance of building community, engaging with the local population, and the role of hospitality in creating a welcoming environment for newcomers. Andy shares his experiences in navigating the challenges of church planting, the significance of relationships, and the journey from being strangers to becoming family within the church community. The discussion emphasizes the balance between being a host and a guest, the values that guide their mission, and the importance of intentionality in fostering connections.

In this conversation, Mark Grapengater and Brandon Jolly discuss the rich history and revitalization of Hopewell Church, emphasizing the importance of hospitality and community engagement. They explore how the church has transformed from a quiet congregation to a vibrant community hub, highlighting the significance of traditions like Wednesday night dinners and the annual corn roast. Brandon shares his personal journey as a pastor and the lessons learned about building relationships and fostering a sense of belonging within the church.

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I didn’t have a particularly strict household growing up. However, the one thing I was never allowed to say was, “I don’t know.” On Friday Nights, when I was going out with friends and we hadn’t firmed up our plans — we were going to play it by ear — didn’t fly with my parents. We had to have a plan. They wanted to know where I was going, with whom I was going, and what time I’d be home. They were cool with plans changing, as long as I notified them (especially difficult in the days before cell phones). But no matter what I did, I had to have an answer.

But looking at the world and what is happening in our country, trying to decipher Minnesota, The White House, Greenland, Epstein, Venezuela, Protests in the streets and worship services; I just don’t have answers anymore. I don’t know. And that’s my honest answer. And I’m fairly suspicious of anyone who offers any simplistic answers.

I do have a lot of feelings. I feel fear that this country is getting ripped apart by disparate political views and an unwillingness to hold people in power accountable. I feel shame that there is very little that I can do to control the situation and have answers for my children. I feel guilt for how little I’m doing, or shying away from talking about it, sharing posts, or not sharing posts. I feel anger that the Church in America is being co-opted into an agenda, rather than clear biblical injunctions, particularly around caring for our neighbors, refugees, women and children. I feel alone — these are such divisive issues that I don’t always know who I can talk to about it, even if they don’t agree with my particular viewpoint. I feel sad that families and churches are dividing and cutting off relationships with one another.

All of these feelings come to the surface when I even think about how to interact online. I find the push and pull between not saying enough and wanting to repost everything about what is happening in the world. I don’t know where my voice lies, and even this post is going to find resonance with some people and push others away. Did I say enough? Did I say too much? Have I already? Because I can’t control what you think of me after I post anything. So I’ll probably post some things, but not all the things.

Because I have a theory. The more disembodied dialogue we have, the more we dehumanize each other. Think about just being in the car. When I see another “car” driving like an idiot, the person is an idiot. It could be someone I know and love, but because there is some separation, I dehumanize them. Talking face-to-face with someone, I can see their humanity and, Lord willing, have some compassion for them. That lessens when I’m on the phone (customer service phone calls, anyone?) and even more so when we are communicating through the socials. Facebook, Instagram, and all the others lend us the privilege to not have to recognize the humanity of the other person we are liking, laughing, or commenting on. At this point, we are so used to interacting with others through a screen, we tend to dehumanize most. To further complicate the issue, A.I. makes us question if anything is even real and human.

So I want to make some commitments to myself; maybe you’ll join me, maybe you’ll find your own commitments.

#1 Committed to Embodied Conversations: I would much rather have a conversation with someone face-to-face than via the comment section on Facebook, Instagram, etc. And if I can, make that conversation happen around a table. I don’t want to fire off an angry or sideways comment that dehumanizes or makes an ad hominem argument. I would rather listen to them in a nuanced conversation, and be able to articulate my thoughts and feelings around a particular subject as we share a meal together. As a Christian, I am a person of the Table. The table is a place of sacrifice, vulnerability, and service. It does not allow me to be pithy. Jesus hosted even Judas at his table, so hosting a stranger is what we as Christians are called to do.

#2 Committed to Limit My Disembodied Time: I don’t think socials serve relationships well in this kind of environment. I feel my body tensing up for what new “news” is out there; what kind of “rage” is rage-baiting me; and I feel disappointed when there isn’t anything! (It’s ironic and sad.) A better use of my time is presence with my family and neighbors, watching long-form TV without my phone is my hand (honestly!), and reading real books. I do think there is a correlation between a lack of literacy in this country and the Sitz im Leben. Reading both fiction and non-fiction grant us a God-given imagination for lives other than our own. (I’ll have a reading list at the bottom, if you want to join me.)

#3 Committed to the Embodied Word: Not just reading books, but reading the Word, particularly the Gospels, the Jesus Stories. I will not allow God’s Word, Name, Likeness, etc., to be co-opted in blasphemous propaganda to be used against those Jesus came to seek and save. I believe that God’s Word was incarnated in Jesus to show forth his love for the world. Jesus operated itinerately — outside a religious elitism and political agenda. I am committing to put my life under his Lordship, rather than bending his will to my own desires.

Honestly, this doesn’t seem like much. It feels flat and not active enough. I didn’t even mention prayer, but I’ll be doing that too.

Maybe it isn’t enough.

Maybe it is.

I don’t know.

I’m sure I’ll find out, though. I’m sure someone in the comments section will correct me!

Books to read:

• Everything Sad Is Untrue, Daniel Nayeri. I’ve read this before and will again. It’s the story of a Persian refugee family who landed in Oklahoma. Daniel and I were probably overlapped at Will Rogers Elementary.

• Brave New World, Aldous Huxley. Never read this before, and I’m excited to, and a little scared.

• Jayber Crow, Wendell Berry. I’m finishing this up right now. It’s helpful to see the longview on a life carrying the stories of a community.

• When the Church Stops Working, Andrew Root and Blair D. Bertrand. Root and Bertrand look at some systemic issues in the church as it tries to stave off decline.

• The Uncontrollability of the World, Hartmut Rosa. We grasp at control, but can’t really hold on to it. Maybe we should be searching for resonance instead.

• The Creative Act: A Way of Being, Rick Rubin. What does a creative life look like? How does one create? It’s in all of us, we just have to be ready.

• Becoming a Person of Welcome, Laura B. Murray. I always want to increase my awareness of how I can be more hospitable.

In this conversation, Mark Grapengater and Joshua Smith explore the profound connection between hospitality, feasting, and spirituality within the church context. They discuss how everything can be seen as an act of hospitality, the theological implications of this perspective, and the importance of creating a culture of feasting within church life. Joshua shares insights on the biblical categories of hospitality, the role of liturgy, and the significance of love in fostering genuine relationships. They also delve into the practical aspects of church staff dynamics, community engagement, and the impact of rituals like the Eucharist on daily life. The conversation emphasizes the importance of embodying hospitality in both personal and communal settings, ultimately highlighting the joy and mutuality found in spiritual friendships.

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Food tells a story. Whether it’s a bowl of spaghetti and meatballs around the family dinner table, or a roast turkey as the whole family joins in a Thanksgiving feast, or the weekly bread and wine of the Eucharist marking our familial participation in the life of Christ. Food marks occasions both domestic and divine.

A few weeks ago, I was invited by the Peterson Center to cook a dinner for pastors in and around Grand Rapids. Against my usual practice, I had to submit my menu months in advance to the local Health Department — I much prefer to see what is available locally before deciding. Furthermore, I was asked to share my story of how my restaurant experience informs my pastoral vocation. I probably would have chosen a different menu to tell my story, but, in God’s providence, like the addition of cream to a soup, the menu brought together disparate parts of my story to share.

What I have below is that story, which I pray nourishes your heart and soul to see how God is writing his story in your life as well.

Thank you Winn! As he said, my name is Mark Grapengater. My family and I live in Denver, CO, where I serve as a pastor to the pastorless. I am a host, chef, and sommelier.

My wife, Stacey, and I operate The Table Project, where we provide a place at the table of God’s grace. We do this as we love and serve our neighborhood, reaching out to those who do not yet know Jesus and by equipping churches and ministry leaders in hospitality.

I am extremely grateful for Winn and Sam inviting me to do this.

They asked me to talk about myself, something which can be extremely easy, but also very difficult. What stories do I tell? Will I share too much? How vulnerable do I want to be?

I earned my D.Min. from the Peterson Center and God began to show me how much interplay hospitality has with my pastoral vocation. I often thought that my experience in the restaurant industry was a detour, but God has shown me that it was further education that I needed for his call on my life.

Hospitality as you may or may not know comes from the Greek word philoxenia, which literally means “familial love of a stranger”. I see this as the story of the Gospel. God loving us strangers, so that we can be part of his family. I have also taken this up as my pastoral vocation.

My own personal mission statement is “eating and drinking people into the Kingdom of Heaven.” That’s what Jesus did in his ministry and I see no reason to improve upon it.

To that end, the apron has become my liturgical garb.

Eugene Peterson’s father wore an apron in his butcher shop. He says wearing the apron “gave bone and muscle to his pastoral identity.” Everyone who came through the butcher shop was dignified by his father, whether they were buying the nicest steaks or ham hocks, whether they were pastors or prostitutes. This aproned work was holy work for his father, as he treated all who came into his shop with dignity, and it shaped Peterson’s understanding of work, vocation, and congregation.

N.T. Wright, “When Jesus wanted to fully explain what his death was all about he didn’t give a theory or texts; he gave them a meal.”

Tonight, I’m giving you a meal. And as I do, I will tell my story throughout the night.

1. Sourdough Bread and Butter

Sourdough was first thing I ever wanted to make in the kitchen; I repeatedly tried and failed, but I persevered.

In Seminary in Chicago, I repeatedly tried to make a sourdough starter. I read somewhere that you were supposed to put it in the window, which during a Chicago winter, is probably the last place you’re supposed to put it!

Finally I tried again, about 6 months into our marriage, in 2011. After about a week, I could tell it was alive! I decided I’d feed it one more time before, I used it for the first time. Measured out the flour and the water, and as I was stirring it with a metal measuring cup in an Ikea glass jar — tink, tink, tink — the jar shattered. There was no salvaging of it. I had to start over, again. This time, the starter was ready in just a few days with all the wild yeast floating around the kitchen.

Now this starter is 14 years old, gonna be driving soon. I’ve had to change the exact recipe and ratios depending on where we live, but our starter has continued to give its life to nourish our family and those we get to share it with. My kids call it “Daddy’s Bread” and bread baking days are pretty special in our house.

My journey in sourdough baking reflects my journey in the pastoral vocation. We moved to Denver to plant a church, but that was a failure to launch. But what we have realized is that even in the failures — which far out number the successes — God is working his slow ferment of redemption.

2. Pear, Walnut, Parmiggiano-Reggiano Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette

The first chef that I really learned from was Jamie Oliver on Food Network. I started watching him in college — especially during my semester studying abroad. His show “The Naked Chef” was not exactly what I thought it was! He showed that food can be really simple and delicious with just a few ingredients. He cooked in a way that was accessible and I asked for his cookbooks for Christmas. This salad was in the first of his cookbooks and I’ve been making it ever since when pears are in season.

I often think of Jamie as my spirit animal. He brings his whole-self, full of enthusiasm, almost cartoonish, to every dish he makes. And his enthusiasm is contagious. I so often feel like I’m too much, but I’m learning to be able to bring my whole-self to everything that I do. To overwhelm people with me!

I often, to quote Jeff Tweedy, “leave people wanting less.” Jamie has taught me that simplicity can often speak deeper than a big production.

3. Roast Chicken, roast fall vegetables, creamy polenta

There’s something so satisfying about whole animal cooking. It’s harder with pigs and cows, so roast chicken has become a regular family meal in our house. I taught Stacey how to do it, from Thomas Keller’s recipe.

Keller’s probably the most well-respected chef in America. In fine-dining, he sets the standard; multiple Michelin-starred restaurants from Napa Valley to New York. I’ve read his books, listened to podcasts, followed him endlessly, but it wasn’t until the past February that Stacey and I made it out to Napa to eat at The French Laundry. It didn’t appear that he was there that night, I had figured as much. But about 3/4 of the way through our meal, he casually walked into the dining room. I had nothing prepared to say to him, to even thank him for his influence in my life. Stacey started, “We make your roast chicken.” I found some words, “I taught her how to make it and it’s one of the things we make that our kids will actually eat!” He graciously replied, “And it’s so satisfying isn’t it? Thank you for celebrating your anniversary with us.” And then he left our table. I wept like a baby!

Keller says this when he was asked why cooks cook: “Cooks cook to nourish people.” And I believe at the base level, our role as pastors is to nourish people in their life in Christ. We get to notice what God is doing in their lives and be witnesses to it. I hope you are nourished tonight.

4. Cornets, Hidden Spring’s Driftless sheep’s milk cheese, cherry preserves

When I graduated seminary, it was 2008 and seemed like there were no pastoral jobs available. After a very short-lived internship in two sister churches on the south and west sides of Chicago, I didn’t have a job. Kevin, my friend from church had taken me out to dinner at the restaurant, Bonsoirée. It was about 28 seats and the only decision you really had to make there was 4, 8 or 13 courses. Kevin was super generous and treated me there several times over the course of a year and I got to know the chef, Shin Thompson. Through that relationship, Shin eventually hired me, paid me cash in true Chicago style, and I worked a few shifts a week. I learned a ton about food, menu planning and hospitality.

Fast-forward, our family moves to Denver to plant a church. We settle in, and throw a few parties to get to know our neighbors. One day we are approached by the school auction committee to throw a party. They sell tickets and all the proceeds go to the school; we cover the food/drink costs. The party was typically a pig roast with an open bar, a real bacchanalia. I thought we could do better than that. Let’s do a tasting menu and cook through the whole pig. We’ll call it “everything but the oink.” We had 30 people buy tickets for $50 each. We had wine pairings, the whole thing. People were not ready for what was coming!

We now have a reputation! The theme changes every year, but the party sells out in a few minutes when the auction goes live online. In September we held our 6th Annual “Everything But” party and did 12 courses for 50 people raising about $8000 for the school. It has been a way for us to share the extravagant love of God with people we believe he is beckoning to taste and see that he is good.

5. Apple, Granola, and Vanilla

We have an apple tree in our yard that we inherited. We were so excited about it when we moved in. We can see it from our dining table and noticed all the apples on it right away. That first year we had a modest harvest. Since then we’ve had hardly any harvest. The problem is that it sits on the fence line, where the squirrels run back and forth. They eat like an apple a day in the fall!

It’s become a metaphor for our lives in Denver. We give ourselves away as much as we can to nourish those in our neighborhood. We host families for dinner, backyard bbq’s, Easter Feasts, Friendsgivings, and Christmas parties; playdates, s’mores nights, all sorts of gatherings. And we love it. We love the neighborhood God has placed us to love and serve by extending hospitality. But we believe that’s what Christ did for us. Jesus came eating and drinking, sharing his life with his friends, neighbors, and enemies. We just want to do life like Jesus did!

Thank you for letting me share my life with you!

Author’s Note: A few months ago, I was commissioned to write an article exploring the idea of a more generous table for a dear friend, Justin Chappell who pastors the church Redeemer Longmont. The crux of the desire from Justin was to give a definition of hospitality that allowed for more… generosity, however the reader, host, guest would define more generous. There are a lot of ways that generosity can be defined, but ultimately it requires more of ourselves to be sacrificially given away to our neighbors — however Jesus has defined who that is (see Luke 10:25-37). As I re-read this article for this, it strikes me that we, as the church — local and global, individually and together — are in a unique position to be more generous to our neighbors in a time when hoarding seems to be the cultural norm in the face of 42 million people going hungry in this country. Maybe that’s volunteering at a food pantry, cooking a meal and delivering it those in the streets, maybe it’s donating to a local food bank or the local school. But just maybe, we who live and move and have our being in the One who called himself the Bread of Life could offer bread to those who are hungry for any bread.

I love a good party. I especially love throwing a good party. Perfecting the table settings, curating a playlist, preparing the food, and pairing the drinks are all parts of hospitality, but they are also the performance-driven pieces that are meant to impress and entertain. True hospitality — biblical hospitality — is not about impressing and entertaining. This kind of hospitality provides a table where friends can deepen relationships and strangers, even enemies, can become friends. It makes the table a place where we can be known and loved, even in our most vulnerable and most broken moments. I often find this kind of table — being known, accepted, and loved — no matter what I’m feasting on, is that for which I truly hunger. Don’t you?

There is an oft-forgotten story in the life of David where this kind of table is set. Rarely does it show up in Bible studies or sermon series. There are so many other stories to choose from in the life of David: his triumph over Goliath, his conquest of Bathsheba, his psalter, his naked dancing before the ark. The story I’m referring to, stuck in the middle of all those others — which seem more salacious and instructional — could have been just left out altogether. But it wasn’t. And maybe that’s because it’s more scandalous than all the other parts of David’s life.

The story I’m referring to is that of David and Mephibosheth (2 Sam 9).

David is at the height of his kingdom. It is generally stable, and the constant threat of the Philistines has almost been eliminated. Despite this, he looks around and asks, “Is there anyone left of the house of Saul?” This would have been a bloodletting question to secure his own power and kingship in Jerusalem — the moment to ensure any descendants of the former king do not rise against him.

However, this is not the entire question. He continues, “…so that I can show kindness to him for Jonathan’s sake?” Jonathan was Saul’s son, killed in battle alongside his father the king. But he had also been David’s best friend. As Jonathan warned David of his father’s murderous desire toward David, Jonathan and David made a covenant with each other, ensuring kindness toward their offspring (1 Sam 20). At the height of his power, David was not seeking revenge; instead, he pursued the covenant he had made with Jonathan. This kindness (hesed in Hebrew) is covenantal love and faithfulness that goes beyond mere niceties. This is David asking if there is an enemy left to love.

To David’s surprise, Jonathan’s son, Mephibosheth, was still alive and had been living in obscurity beyond the Jordan River in Lo-debar. Mephibosheth was hardly a threat to David’s reign — his feet were permanently injured when he was five years old after his caretaker dropped him during their escape from the palace (under siege by the Philistines). And yet, he knows the gravity of the king’s summons. When he arrives, he prostrates himself to pay homage. He declares his service to the king and his status as a dead dog.

But the way David responds surely surprises all in his presence. Instead of the expected “off with his head,” David restores Saul’s land to Mephibosheth and his servants. What he says next is the most surprising: “and you will eat at my table always.” David doesn’t just say this once; he declares it twice, and the passage reiterates it another two times. This double repetition reminds us that these are not empty words, but the way in which David shows his kindness to Mephibosheth and honors his covenant with Jonathan.

On this story, Eugene Peterson writes,

We can help install this story through a more hospitable, more loving, more generous table. A more generous table is where the story takes place, both in the Scriptures and in the life of the Church. It is not in the lavish entertainment prescribed by the world that this generosity shows up. A more generous table requires more intentionality, more vulnerability, more sacrifice, and more grace.

More Intentionality

David’s table begins with intentionality. He remembers his covenant with Jonathan and, despite all that has transpired, he’s intentional in honoring it. He asks the question, “Is there anyone?” And seeks out an answer.

A more generous table doesn’t just happen on its own; it takes more intentionality. We have to ask the question, “Is there anyone we can invite to our table?” In the busyness of our daily lives, we often forget to sit down at the table for ourselves, let alone make room, make food, and invite others to it. We eat in our cars and cubicles when, with just a little planning, we could be eating with companions. Who do we need to intentionally seek out to create a more generous table?

More Vulnerability

A more generous table requires more vulnerability. It can be scary inviting someone to your table — especially if he’s the grandson of the previous regime who tried to kill you! In reality, there’s vulnerability on both sides of the table — host and guest alike. David knows that he is inviting an heir to the former throne who might kill him. He invites him anyway. Mephibosheth believes that David might kill him when he shows up. He shows up anyway.

The word “vulnerable” means being exposed to potential attacks and, in some cases, even assumes harm will occur. Some of us have experienced this and do not want to risk being exposed once again. Providing a more generous table almost always ensures some degree of hurt — to be more generous, we risk vulnerability and being wounded. But we risk anyway, because oftentimes the only way healing can take place is to reopen a wound and allow the balm of shared tables begin the healing we so desperately long for.

More Sacrifice

A more generous table requires more sacrifice. Oh, how I hate to make sacrifices, but God has baked sacrifice into the design of the world. Tables necessitate sacrifice — especially generous ones. Sacrifices of time, money, perfection, privacy, and even lives are made when we sit down at the table. Food has to be purchased and prepared; homes have to be open and exposed — the lives we so carefully curate are examined and even judged. To get food on the table predicates that a life has been taken.

But sacrifice is also how life is transferred to one another. David restores Saul’s land to Mephibosheth along with all its crops, fruit, and livestock. He had all he needed to survive, but David sacrifices even more. He gives up a seat at his table for Mephibosheth. His seemingly perfect life will be on display before Mephibosheth. David sacrifices his time and possessions so that Mephibosheth can eat at the king’s table always.

This is ultimately what we call hospitality. Popular hospitality floats on the waves of entertainment, never getting below the surface. However, biblical hospitality is characterized by the familial love of the stranger (philoxenia in Greek). It has purpose and direction. It moves toward the stranger (or enemy) so that they might become family. It’s intentional, vulnerable, and sacrificial — which is why it requires more grace.

More Grace

We are going to fail in our hospitality. And all those we invite to our table will also fail us. Therefore, a more generous table requires more grace. Remember the grace extended to us at Christ’s table incarnates the intentionality, vulnerability, and sacrifice needed to provide this generous grace. Jesus ate with religious elites, prostitutes, and tax collectors alike. And when he instructed his disciples to remember him, he did so at a more generous table. Not only did Peter, John, and nine others sit down at his table, but so did Judas. So do we, every time we celebrate the Lord’s Supper.

Mephibosheth did not earn his seat at the king’s table. It was a gift of grace. Nor can we earn our seat at the Lord’s Table through our good works. Nor is it a seat that we can lose because of our sinfulness. This is a seat we are invited to have through Christ’s gift of grace — that is his intentional, vulnerable, sacrificial love toward us. And it is this grace that we are invited to generously share with others, whether it be at the Lord’s table, or our family table.

C. T. McMahan writes,

A more generous table isn’t something that we merely offer to others. A more generous table is that which is provided to us in Christ.

Remnants of this morning’s cold eggs,

Remind me of our growing children.

Recalling the conversation around the breakfast table,

Rambunctious sixth grade boys,

Reeling in laughter,

Wrestling in the between teen times.

Rapidly they grow without warning or permission,

Readying themselves to take on the world.

Realizing this is the hardest part,

Wrenching our hearts from us.

Remnants of this morning’s cold eggs,

Remind me of our growing children,

Relishing the time we have around the table,

Right now.

Do we really want to travel in hermetically sealed popemobiles through the rural provinces of France, Mexico and the Far East [or the Mid-West], eating only in Hard Rock Cafes and McDonald’s? Or do we want to eat without fear, tearing into the local stew, the humble taqueria, the sincerely offered gift of a lightly grilled fish head?

-Anthony Bourdain

Look, I get it. Driving for ten hours to see your family, or visit a national monument, or wherever the road may be taking you is no small feat. It’s long and tiring — in fact, we just got back from such a trip. Not only did we drive ten hours from Denver to Tulsa, but we also drove another three and half hours, each way, from Tulsa to Branson. We spent a lot of time in the car and wanting to add to the travel time was not something we were trying to do. We were making good time, but the very first stop for gas and McDonald’s blew our time out of the water. It took a full hour. I don’t even know how!

Mickey D’s used to be the fast-food king (sorry, Burger King) when it came to road trips, but it no longer is. And it was a Sunday, so there was no Chick-fil-A option. However, when we drove back on a Monday it was. And you know what happened? I had Sweet and Spicy Sriracha down the front of my shirt. Fast food on road trips is just not cutting it any more for me.

I know it’s going to add to the travel time, but it also gives opportunity to stretch the legs, actually see the locales through which we are otherwise screaming through at 80 mph. It means I’m gonna have to get up earlier, hit the road earlier, and pull my family along with me. But I think it’s the only way to make the long Summer road trips bearable.

So I’ve come up with some personal advice, for me and for you. I think we can do this together. We have to make the journey part of the adventure, release ourselves from the faceless, nameless gods of efficiency and receive hospitality seated at a table from a server with a face and name.

So here’s some tips:

1. Plan ahead. I think this is essential. It’s too hard to know where to stop and if a place is going to be open. Driving through Western Kansas doesn’t provide the greatest cell coverage, especially with kids screaming about their hunger.

2. Research. As much as it pains me to say it, Diners, Drive-in’s and Dives is a great resource for finding local places across the US of A that make quality food and provide great service. And it’s on Food Network nearly every night! Alton Brown’s Feasting on Asphault is another great resource, though he goes well off the well-beaten path.

3. Take an alternate route. Our interstate system came out as an efficient way to travel across our land, but it lost the nostalgia and romance of traveling the old “routes.” So many great establishments took root on great “Mother Road” of our country, Route 66, which runs from Chicago through St. Louis, Tulsa, Oklahoma City, Amarillo, Albuquerque, Flagstaff, before spitting you out in Santa Monica. All sorts of one-of-a-kind places were established in a time when franchises did not exist. There’s the Pacific Coast Highway in California, Blue Ridge Parkway in Appalachia or the Florida Keys Overseas Highways that all remind us of the beauty and diversity of our country.

4. Manage your time and expectations. Hopefully the stop doesn’t take forever, but it might. Hopefully the food is good, but it might not be. This is part of the adventure of it all. Are there other sights to see along the way? Make those detours also. Take pictures of your food and family when they are not eating in the car.

The revered Guide Michelin got it start by pointing motorists in France to restaurants that were worth the trip — and therefore would need new tires. There are plenty of places for us in America to find that slight detour that not only adds to the adventure, but makes it a little more delicious along the way also. It’s time we resurrect the Great American Road Trip. Below are some inspiration for getting off the beaten path, and maybe even saving some room for pie.

VIDEO

Feasting on Asphalt

Alton Brown, Food Network, 2006

In his book, Food for Thought, Alton talks about how he really didn’t have much a plan for this series. He hopped on his bike and let his nose lead the way. On the motorcycle, he says, smells change every 20 feet and you can smell the diner that’s 5 miles down the road. Alton did two seasons of Feasting On Asphalt and I think his introductory monologue sums up this philosophy rather deliciously.

Best Line

Nothing plucks the heartstrings of the American spirit like an open road. Oh I'm not talking about those rivers of concrete which lure us with stable speeds and zero surprises. I'm talking about the highways and byways that really stitch this crazy quilt of a country together. Why on roads like this anything can happen. Consider cuisine. Interstates give you culinary conformity but, out here flavors change with the contour of the land and words like hospitality take on old meanings. Why I bet down around that curb, there's a cafe diner, tea room, or truck stop, where the waitresses still call you “honey” and the cooks actually cook.

ARTICLE

Take the Trip

by Joshua Burdette, The Second Mountain, 2024.

Joshua is father of five in a blended family. Loading up the car, even for a weekend trip to the lake is no simple task. And yet he makes the effort, because he knows it’s worth all the arguments and work in the end. He has his own Substack for men who are looking at the Second Mountain in life, and one of my dearest friends. Go subscribe and read. And take that trip!

Best Line

With five kids — yes, five — these weekend trips are not without a lot of fighting and complaining. I have to admit, the people pleaser in me can get trapped in that headspace of wondering why I work so hard and spend so much money if I can’t make everyone happy. It’s not a pretty place to be, but one that I often go to. I have to remind myself that being a father is always an act of faith. We’re all working for the long game, hoping that time will erase the fight over who sat where on the couch and let the good memories last.

Read the Full Story

EAT

Pâte Brisée (All Butter Pie Dough)

by Martha Stewart, 2023.

I mean Martha just knows how to do pie, and what is more quintessentially road trip-americana than pie? I’ve used this dough ever since I discovered it and it has make some of the best flakiest crust I’ve ever eaten.

It also freezes well, so you don’t have use that store-bought crust that always breaks ever again.

Make It

DRINK

Local Sodas

There used to be a time in this country — probably before my own time — where local sodas reigned supreme. Soda Jerks, my grandfather being one, would expertly combine syrup and soda water to create a delectable drink that could be sipped on a hot day. Nowadays it seems like all the options are Coke, DP, or Sprite. But local sodas still exist. Ale 8, Sprecher, Jones, or Sioux City are all still out there, you just may have to look a little harder to find them.

Taste of Home has a list of the best regional sodas in each state, with wild flavors from cucumber to prickly pear. Find your new favorite!

Local Sodas

“People go to restaurants to be taken care of, to relax, to not have to think about anything else for a minute.

Look, we could do this. We could take care of people. We could make it calm. We could make it delicious. We can make people happy.”

-Carmy

Little did I realize that my vocational training did not stop when I graduated Seminary. In fact, it was just beginning. After a failed internship between two church revitalizations in Chicago, I found myself wondering what was next in pastoral ministry, praying, sending out resumes, and getting very little response.

I was out to eat with my friend Kevin at a small 24 seat restaurant in Logan Square called Bonsoirée. Kevin had introduced me to this restaurant several months before when I moved into his condo as I looked for an apartment in Chicago. From the first time I ate there I was enthralled. I never saw a menu, ate between four and thirteen courses, and tasted things I’d never eaten before. This particular meal was on a Sunday, in which Chef Shin Thompson would head to the farmer’s market and buy ingredients to cook that night. It turned out that I had gone to the same farmer’s market and had purchased many of the same ingredients. I proudly let Chef know this as he brought dish after dish to the table. He eventually remarked, “Well, I guess you should have just eaten at home then.”

Yes, Chef.

Despite his remark, he sat down at the table and asked me if I wanted a part-time job. He needed a pantry chef and didn’t have time to sieve through the hundreds of Craig’s List applicants. Hesitantly I said yes and we set up a time to stage the next week.

After the initial stage, I worked at Bonsoirée a few days a week for several months until I moved to St Louis. The connections I made at Bonsoirée helped me get in the restaurant industry in St Louis also. And while I’m no longer working in the restaurant industry, it shaped so much of my pastoral identity.

I learned and experienced the closest thing to Biblical hospitality. I learned about the wide gamut of ingredients, spice blends, and cuisines. I learned how to properly handle those ingredients. I learned about a job well done and immediate feedback when it is not well done. I learned how to work as a team and how to communicate — giving and receiving feedback. I learned that everyone is essential to the team, no matter the position, no matter their background. And most importantly, I learned, and experienced, hospitality at a high level. Eventually Bonsoirée received a Michelin star.

The restaurant industry certainly has its ills, but much like a pirate ship, it makes room for everyone. (I often wish the church would do the same.) Perhaps the best portrayal of the industry is the Emmy-award winning FX show ‘The Bear’ which released its fourth season yesterday — I have yet to watch.

The Bear is perhaps the most stressful show ever watched on TV. My wife can’t watch it due to her own PTSD from restaurant work! But it accurately draws out the highs and lows of working in restaurants. And I love it.

It centers on Carmy who takes over his late brother’s Italian Beef shop and turns it into a fine dining restaurant. It shows his own trauma and inability to be known intimately, his drive for perfection, his leadership skills (the good, the bad, and the ugly), and some really beautiful moments. But a close watch of the show reveals there really are no main characters — they are all supporting one another.

Take Richie for example. He is lost in the new restaurant and doesn’t have a place, until he stages at the Best Restaurant in the world. He finds meaning and place. He sees the patterns of service. He himself experiences hospitality — given and received — and wears suits now. It changes him and how he approaches his work at Carmy’s restaurant, also called The Bear.

I could probably write another 1000 words for how much I love this show and how much we, in the Church, could learn from it. But instead, I’ll let others do the writing.

This week in Family Meal, we have writings and videos and content around The Bear. From the mantra “Every Second Counts” to a profile on Matty Matheson, a recipe for the Chicago-staple Italian Beef sando, and even the much-maligned Malört.

ARTICLE

Every Second Counts

by Davis Johnson, Mockingbird, 2025

We all have mantras that we live by, biblical or common-sense. They shape and form us as we live by them. Sometimes we don’t even know the power and the influence they have in our lives. The Bear’s Carmy has his own set of mantras and beliefs. He writes them down, posts them on the wall of the restaurant, and calls his staff to abide by them also — rightly or wrongly. These mantras often call us to perfection and become a law, rather than a grace. How does law become grace? Much like Martin Luther, Davis argues, we need new eyes and ears to see and hear.

BEST LINE

Every Second Counts isn’t about grinding harder, producing more, or earning your worth. Chef Terry’s retirement shows it to be an invitation into recognizing beauty, meaning, and grace in the mundane and the ordinary.

Every second counts because nothing is wasted. Not the burnt sauce. Not the awkward hug. Not the loud family dinner or the failed relationship. Not the tears or the laughter or the long walk home. Every second counts.

Read the Full Story

VIDEO

The Making of Matty Matheson

by CBC News: The National (25:23)

Chef Matty Matheson is larger than life. He’s a big guy, covered in tattoos, Canadian hipster-punk styling, with a squeaky, irreverent vernacular. He’s probably most known for his role as the haphazard handyman, Fak, on The Bear but was originally pulled into the project by producer and friend Christopher Storer as a chef-consultant. He has lived a wild life, but he also gets the reason the restaurant industry persists. The video above digs into his story, but if you have Apple News+ or a Rolling Stone subscription, the linked article is worth a read also.

The best line comes when The Bear won their Emmy, and Matty stepped up to the mic:

BEST LINE

"I just love restaurants so much -- the good, the bad," Matheson said. "It's rough. We're all broken inside, and every single day, we've got to show up and cook and make people feel good by eating something and sitting at a table, and it's really beautiful."

Rolling Stone Article

ARTICLE

‘The Bear’ Is at Its Very Best With ‘Forks,’ a Sensitive Spotlight on Cousin Richie

by Daniel D’Addario, Variety, 2023

In the second seaon in episode 7, Cousin Richie stages at the best restaurant in the world. It’s absolutely my favorite episode in the entire series. We see how his attitude moves from lost, wandering, abandoned to finding his purpose, his joy, his home. Hospitality often does that, which is ultimately what he learns. He becomes the The whole episode is worth watching multiple times over. It’s an honest portrayal of life, in which joy and sorrow are often served together.

BEST LINE

The scene in which Richie serves the pizza comes as a small, earned reward for a character who’s been through it, and provides intriguing grit and texture, too: Playing the role of a server at the finest restaurant there is, Richie’s slinging pizza and cutting it up with the patrons. Haute cuisine is changing Richie, but, if only in moments, Richie may be doing the reverse, too. Taylor Swift’s “Love Story” — a satisfying deep-dish slice, extra cheese — plays on the soundtrack as Richie undergoes a training montage, having seen just how possible it is to carve out moments of surprise and delight in a rigid format.

Read the Full Story

EAT

Chicago-style Italian Beef

Recipe by Brooke Caison, Delish, 2024

The Bear starts in an Italian Beef joint, so it’s only appropriate that we return there — I’m not attempting any feast with any number of fishes. Delish breaks this recipe down for a simple and delicious sandwich.

Eat It

DRINK

Jeppson’s Malört, I’ll have another…

It’s a practical joke. It’s a Chicago rite of passage. Much maligned, but never forgotten, it’s Malört. Described as evil with notes of petrol and earwax, the last time I ordered a shot of it, I was laughed at by the bartender. My throat took some convincing to swallow it.

It’s a wormwoord-based digestif created in Chicago by Swedish Immigrant Carl Jeppson. He created his bäskbrännvin, a traditional Swedish-style bitter, during prohibition. According to Malort.com, he was able to skirt prohibition laws because no one thought anyone would ever actually drink it! When it was first produced commercially, it even had a stem of real wormwood in it. In 1986, the Mar-Salle distillery closed after 30 years of producing Malört. The production eventually moved to Florida, where it remained until 2019, when it was purchased by CH Distillery and production officially moved back to Chicago.

It’s popularity began to rise in 2011 when a comedian began promoting it. He was about to be sued by the owner of Malört, Patricia Gabelick, but instead she decided to hire him.

Find a bottle near you.

Double-Dog Dare

“The best comfort food will always be greens, cornbread, and fried chicken.”

Maya Angelou

When the Cain’s was being built in our neighborhood, about the distance a chicken can fly from the Chick-fil-A, we asked my Atlanta-born son if he wanted to try it out.

“We are a Chick-Fil-A” family,” he declared.

But low and behold, the Texas toast and curly fries came calling and we now frequent both regularly. Fried Chicken no matter it’s form is a regular staple in our diets and sometimes we even fry it ourselves.

When we decided our dinner we host as a fundraiser for the local elementary would be themed “Southern,” there was no way not to do fried chicken. The twist I did on it was to make it picnic-style. I fried it a day ahead and stuck it in the fridge to be served cold. With a sorghum drizzle, I plated it in red and white paper baskets and served it with chow-chow and a sweet potato biscuit, smothered in sorghum-whiskey butter. The most amazing part for me was to hear how the cacophony of the party settled down. Six courses into the dinner, people were finally eating. “This tastes like childhood,” someone remarked. It was a moment where eating became comforting and nostalgic. Fried chicken has a transcendence to it.

This week in Family Meal, we’re serving up buckets of fried chicken. It has been a way for African-Americans to survive during reconstruction, it has taken over the highways and byways of this country, and it has gone to Nashville and Ethiopia. Maybe this is the summer, you fry some yourself, or pick up a bucket as you head out for a picnic lunch on a Sunday afternoon. Just make sure the champagne is chilled!

VIDEO

Why Everyone Loves This Ethiopian Fried Chicken in D.C. | The Experts | Eater

I love a good story on food, especially something that cuts through the norms of our established food culture. In D.C., Doro Soul Food is doing just that, as they fry their chicken with traditional Ethiopian spices before dipping it, Nashville-style, in a hot butter bath.

Why did Chef Elias start this particular restaurant?

I was thinking of this concept, you know, going through some hard times. It’s almost like a way of, again, finding comfort.

ARTICLE

The Surprising Origin of Fried Chicken

by Adrian Miller, BBC, 2020

Fried chicken has become ubiquitous around the world as American fast-food chains have expanded, but how American is it? Did it originate in the South during the years of African-American enslavement? Or did it start somewhere else? Like most Americans, and our food, its origin story is not simple, and is an amalgamation of cultural origins.

Adrian Miller, James Beard Award-winning author of Black Smoke: African Americans and the United States of Barbecue, explores the history of fried chicken. He ate at 150 restaurants throughout the South as “research.” Sounds deliciously definitive to me.

Most Intriguingly

In the Southern US, American [sic] Americans made fried chicken their go-to dish for a communal meal after church, or when the church pastor went to a congregant’s home for dinner. As the honoured guest, the pastor was served first and got the best pieces of the bird (usually the breast), which were also called “preacher’s parts” until the 1950s. With fried chicken so imbued with religious connotation, it’s no surprise that its “Gospel Bird” or “Sunday Cluck” nicknames endure in African American culture.

Read the Full Story

ARTICLE

The Golden Age of the Fried-Chicken Sandwich

by Ellen Cushing, The Atlantic, 2025

Circa 2004, is when I remember CFAs left the mall food courts of the country and started their own “free-standing” restaurants. They started in a free-standing location in Atlanta, but this brought the fried-chicken sandwich to the masses. But now, Ellen Cushing argues, we have entered into a Golden Age of golden, crunchy, juicy, chickeny deliciousness stuffed between buns. (Just today I went to a Korean Fried Chicken establishment and was surprised they didn’t have a sandwich!)

The “Anno Pulli” has been declared often recently (2016 and 2019), but what is most astounding is that fried-chicken sandwiches have outsold burgers in recent years. Nearly every fast food “burger joint” also has a fried chicken sandwich, as do many Michelin-starred chefs. But why?

Cushing explains

Fried-chicken sandwiches are particularly well suited to the ways Americans like to eat—in general, but especially recently. Eating in one’s car has become far more common than it used to be, and sandwiches are car food. We tend to be pretty squicked-out by bones, Paul Freedman, the author of American Cuisine: And How It Got This Way, told me, and we love crunch.

Read the Full Story

EAT

ALTON BROWN’S GOOD EATS FRIED CHICKEN

I watched as much of Alton’s Good Eats series on FoodNetwork as I could get. I learned so much from him before I started cooking for myself. His classic take on fried chicken is thoughtful and helpful for those who want to do it themselves. Sure it’s involved, but what isn’t that’s good and delicious.

DRINK

CHAMPAGNE

Champagne has become a special occassion and celebratory drink, but it shouldn’t be excluded to that. What’s more celebratory than eating fried chicken! Plus, they’re the perfect pairing. The high acidity and bubbles in the champagne clean the palate and work with the fat in the chicken to make it even more delectable. There’s something special about the pairing of a low-brow food with the high-brow of champagne.

Champagne is named for the region in France that it comes from. It is primarily made from Pinot Noir, Pinot Menuier, and Chardonnay grapes, but can also include pinot blanc, fromenteau, arbane, or petit meslier. After the primary fermentation, it receives a secondary fermentation in the bottle to create carbonation. This process of bottle fermentation was accidental. At the Abbey of Hautvillers, Dom Pérignon was charged with getting rid of the bubbles, because they were bursting the bottles. However, when he tasted the carbonated wine, he exclaimed, “Come quickly, I am tasting the stars!”

In our house we particularly love the Mailly Grand Cru. It became what it is because of WW1. None of the vitners had enough crop to make their own, so they came together as a village and something even better was made. Something maybe we could learn from today.

This week, we hosted friends once, shared two and half bottles of wine, we’re hosted once, ate pizza, ice cream, and cake at a birthday party, made french toast, a fennel-leek tart, and had a dad’s happy hour at a local brewery. Getting our family around the table has been a challenge.

Back before kids, normal job hours, and so much more, I would wait in line over an hour for a hot dog. Not just any hot dog, though, a Hot Doug’s Hot Dog. Let’s be fair, there was so much more on the menu than hot dogs. There were sausages encasing exotic meats — ostrich and elk — with toppings as equally wonderful. It was the first time I read the words “Bacon Sausage” as one thing. It was topped with creme fraîche, carmelized onions and Tomme de Savoie. Hot Doug’s was one of the restaurants that rebelled against the city of Chicago’s shortly lived ban against foie gras, serving a Foie and Sauternes Duck Sausage with Truffle Aioli, Foie Gras Mousse and Fleur de Sel. On Fridays, the line ran around the block as they fried their fries in duck fat — culinary liquid gold.

My friends and I would arrive early, stand shivering in line, and plan our selections. Doug Sohn, Hot Doug himself, would greet you warmly, orient you to the menu, was patient with everyone I saw, and treated you like an old friend. As he has often told, the restaurant started as a joke. A friend once remarked, “There is no such thing as a bad hot dog.” Doug differed, but set out to prove there are even better dogs than the prolific Chicago Dog, which he also proudly served. Unfortunately Hot Doug’s closed in 2014. Since then Sohn has been inducted into the Vienna Sausage Hall of Fame, and has a window at Wrigley Field, but he does not man it himself.

Having just celebrated Memorial Day, Summer is un-offically here, spurring on Hot Dog season. Hot Dogs are one of summer’s greatest foods, especially when used as a gathering food. Start the grill, warm thoroughly, and pull out the toppings. It can’t get much easier, or honestly, much more delicious.

In this issue of Family Meal, we explore the history of the hot dog, bun counts, why Chicagoans don’t put ketchup on their dogs, the hot dog eating contest that Nathan’s throws every year, and see how a serving a simple NYC hot dog can transform a dining experience at a Michelin 3-Star Restaurant.

VIDEO

The Secret Ingredients of Great Hospitality | Will Guidara | TED

Will Guidara has taken hospitality to new levels in the restaurant industry. Guidara ran Eleven Madison Park, which has garnered such accolades as a four-star review from New York Times food critic, three Michelin stars, and named the Best Restaurant in the world in 2017. But what took their hospitality from good to great, Will says, was the humble $2 NYC street dog to out-of-town diners.

Since then, he has written the wonderful book Unreasonable Hospitality, which has become a standard text on hospitality across industries. Watch the TED talk to hear the whole story.

Best Line

At that point in my career, I had served thousands of dishes and many, many, many thousands of dollars worth of food. And I can confidently say that no one had ever reacted to anything I served them better than they reacted to that hot dog. Each person said it was not only the highlight of their meal, but of their entire trip to New York, and they'd be telling the story for the rest of their lives.

ARTICLE

Hot Dog!

by Michael McMenamin, Museum of the City of New York, 2015

Hot Dogs have a much deeper history than we take for granted when we grab the 10 pack from the store. They have peddled drugs, they have been banned on Sundays, and they have been under the scrutiny of the muckraker himself, Upton Sinclair. CostCo sells more hot dogs in a year than all the MLB Ball Parks combined. But where in the world did they come from?

Best Line

That year [1893], Americans enjoyed the affordability and convenience of the portable bun and sausage combo during the Colombian Exposition in Chicago. At that time, hot dogs also became standard fare at baseball parks. Harry Stevens, a British steelworker, moved to the United States and began selling scorecards for local games. In 1887, he started Harry M. Stevens Inc. in Columbus, Ohio and became a concessionaire. The company served clients like the San Francisco Giants for over a century and also held large contracts with Shea Stadium and Madison Square Garden, both in New York.

Read the Full Story

ARTICLE

There’s a Reason Hot Dogs And Buns Don’t Come In Equal Count Packages

by Ni’Kesia Pannell, Delish, 2021

We’ve all long wondered why the Hot Dog gods decided to sell the dogs in packages of 10 and buns in 8 or even 12 counts! We franticly do the math in our heads to figure out how many we need of each to make it even up (I always end up with more buns left over!). Seems like the bakers and the butchers need to get together to figure this whole thing out!

Best Line

According to the National Hot Dog Sausage Council, the reason why isn't as strange as you may think. The NHDSC—which was founded in 1994—explained the mismatch packaging is simply because of the way these things were sold back in the day. In fact, it wasn't until 1940 that we actually began seeing hot dogs packaged in packs of 10 (which is why you typically see in stores now!). So why are buns not in 10-packs too? The NHDSC says it's because of the way they are baked.

Read the Full Story

ARTICLE

An All-American Hot-Dog Controversy

by Lora Kelley, The Atlantic, 2024

Joey Chestnut was just confirmed for a return to Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog eating contest this year, despite what this article had written. It was all a controversy over his partnership with the fake-meat company Impossible Foods. Joey holds the world record of 76 weiners in a mere 10 minutes. As one does these days, Joey took to the socials to air grievances. The MLE, the Major League Eating, has responded with a statement of “basic hot dog exclusivity provisions!”

Best Line

And as George Shea, the charismatic host of the contest, told The New York Times earlier this week, “It would be like back in the day Michael Jordan coming to Nike, who made his Air Jordans, and saying, ‘I am just going to rep Adidas too’ … It just can’t happen.”

Read the Full Story

This isn’t the first time the hot dog eating contest has been in hot water. In 2013, Takeru Kobayashi had to bow out because he could not have his own sponsors. In a bonus read, which seems to foreshadow the entirety of athletic money grabs, read “No Sport is Safe: How a Squabble Over Money Is Hurting Competetive Eating” from The Atlantic in 2013. We humans are a hungry bunch.

Read the Full Story

VIDEO

Demystifying the ‘No Ketchup’ Rule | NBC Chicago (2:09)

Very quickly I learned that one does not order ketchup on their hot dog when in Chicago — it was an unwritten rule. But I was “today years old” when I found out why. It’s rooted in city pride that made Chicago the “Hog Butcher to the World.”

Best Quote

In the city of Chicago, you’d actually put on your door “We don’t serve ketchup” which meant our hot dogs were better than everybody else’s. … It’s about quality.

-Steve Petty

EAT

The Chicago Dog

Having lived in Chicago for seven years, the Chicago Dog is the hot dog par excellence. Some complain that there is a salad on top, but nevertheless the acid and spice of the sport peppers, the freshness of the tomato, the brightness of the relish all form a taste sensation.

Sourcing the proper condiments can take some effort (outside of Chicagoland), but they can readily be ordered from Vienna Beef.

You will need: all-beef hot dogs, poppy seed buns, chopped white onion, dill pickle spear, fresh tomato slices, relish, sport peppers, celery salt, and yellow mustard.

Grill or steam the dogs and the buns. Top generously with the condiments and remember: no ketchup!

DRINK

Lagers

Look, we’re eating hot dogs — let’s not get too fancy here. This is not the time to be pretentious about our beer selection. I’ve grown to love the mass produced lager that has defined America, just like the hot dog. And honestly, they pair wonderfully together.

Food & Wine just ranked twelve of the best North American lagers in their most recent issue. But whether it’s a High Life or a Banquet, just make sure it’s ice cold!

Drink Up!

“Food is everything we are. It’s an extension of nationalist feeling, ethnic feeling, your personal history, your province, your region, your tribe, your grandma. It’s inseparable from those from the get-go.”

Anthony Bourdain

This week we had four family meals around our own dinner table, ate seven meals from other ethnicities not our own, ate fast food four times, and had to delay our dinners due to kids’ activities three times. Screen time was up.

Every year our elementary school holds a multi-cultural night. It celebrates the surprising diversity of a school in Denver located in an upper-middle class neighborhood. While on paper, the principal has told me, the school appears about 70% white, it’s actually less than 60%. This is actually quite diverse for Denver! And when we begin to parse the ethnic makeup of the “white” families, we begin to see Swedish, Jewish, German, Irish, Scottish, New Zealander, and many more. More than 30 countries are represented in all.

What has become the most exciting part of the Multi-Cultural Night are the twenty-one different tables that families set up. They have maps and keepsakes from their home countries, but more so they have food! Navigating around the school, there is lefse, rice pudding, baklava, shortbread cookies, injera, pasties, sushi, perogis, spanakopita, pancit, and so much more. One does not need to eat dinner before they come!

Food is a celebration of culture. Recipes can be deeply embedded in a family history, or a cultural movement. It can tell the story of a people conquered, or a people delivered. Food shares the cultural background that people come from, especially here in America. And when someone shares food from their culture, they are sharing a piece of themselves with you. It welcomes you to experience and share in their story.

All the cultures and ethnicities tell us something distinct about how God has created humanity in his image. He imprinted all people with his own image and asked that we reflect it back. And he calls it all “good.”

This week at Family Meal, we explore how food tells us something about our own cultural stories. This is but a taste of the videos, articles, and recipes out in the world. It’s meant to inspire you to eat widely, cook widely, and celebrate the diversity with which God has made humanity.

VIDEO

How Food Connects Us | National Geographic (2:03)

In this short video, chefs — Nigella Lawson, Graham Elliot, Marcus Samuelsson and Ed Mitchell — from various cultural backgrounds talk about how food has connected them with one another.

Best Quote

“I think to me, that food is a Looking Glass into that culture. Where ever you’re at, whatever country, or city, or even neighborhood in the States that you’re in, to understand where the locals eat, to go and try that. Read the menu, go to the market, you really understand who those people are.”

Graham Elliot

ARTICLE

Food Isn’t Just for Survival — It’s Also Culture

by Sky Kapoor, The Varsity, 2021.

The University of Toronto student, Sky Kapoor, reflects on the food he ate growing up as a first-generation Indian-Canadian. His food was wildly diverse depending on who he was eating with and where their day took them. Sometimes they ate certain dishes for economic reasons, other times to celebrate certain holidays. His memories are defined by the food he eats.

Best Quote

Most of my good memories are surrounded by food. While I could deem it the single greatest unifier of cultures, I’d go even further — food inherently is culture, and it’s something that defines us wherever we go…

In all these moments — and in all moments, in general — food is culture. Food is love. Food is a memory. Whether I’m cooking, eating, or sharing my meals, they will always mean something to me.

Read the full story

ARTICLE

Working Out Our Faith in a Culturally Diverse Society

by Simon Murphy, Thirst.sg, 2019.

Navigating cultural differences can be hard, especially as our cultural landscape and the people around us changes. Simon tells the story of the time he went to pray with a Chinese member of their church who had been diagnosed with a serious form of cancer. While the visit went well, they had brought a bouquet of chrysanthemums to her. Little did they know, these are the flowers typically used at Chinese funerals to symbolize death. “…not the best flowers to bring to someone who has just been diagnosed with cancer.”

Best Quote

“But when we do make these blunders, there will be much grace for one another (just as that Chinese member gave to me on that day).

What has brought us together is not our works or good behaviour, but the grace of God given to us in Jesus Christ. It’s from this deep well of grace that we can dispense that same grace to our different — yet fundamentally alike — brothers and sisters in Christ.”

Read the Full Story

EAT

The Best Thai Coconut Soup

This is a staple in our house, even with elementary-age kids. We often sub the protein in it for chicken or pork, even though our kids do like shrimp. And more veggies are added too. It’s simple and quick enough for a weeknight meal, and gets us out of our Taco Tuesdays becoming Tacos Everyday.

Cook This!

DRINK

The Paloma

We first had this drink at a hipster diner in Phoenix — Welcome Diner. They served it in a Jarritos Grapefruit bottle, with tequila and a little Campari, topped with a lime. It was delicioso. We’ve since learned that this is the true drink of choice in Mexico, rather than the Margarita. It has become a mainstay, not merely on our taco nights, but throughout the summer season as well. Super easy to make, I hope it becomes a regular offering of your own.

1.5 oz Tequila (sometimes it’s 2 oz!)

1/4 oz Campari

Grapefruit soda; our go-to is Fevertree.

Lime

Fill any glass with ice. Add tequila, campari, and a squeeze of lime. Stir, before topping with approximately 5 oz of the grapefruit soda. Add a lime wedge as a garnish. ¡Disfruta!

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