Tip: Try Scary Things at the Best Places You Can Get Them

I find that I’ve tried a lot of new things at nicer/fine dining restaurants (usually stealing off of the plate of someone else at the table). There’s no reason you should write something off just because you experienced a poor preparation or a rotten product. Guacamole at Taco Bell is very different from hand-crushed guacamole prepared tableside at Carnivale in Chicago (oh, I wanted to live in that guacamole!). It’s especially worth it if you can convince someone else to get what you’re curious about and borrow, or if you can try an appetizer version of something.

One source I use for information on this, in addition to personal recommendations, is the site www.TVfoodmaps.com. This site compiles recommendations from the Food Network shows by location, so you can see some of the best places to eat in your area. There’s an App, too, which is great when I’m traveling. I trust professional chefs to give me some good ideas, and it’s great to have these ideas all in one place. Another great idea I heard recently was to call a local ethnic association or embassy to find out their favorite restaurant for their style of food (e.g., call the local Polish American Association to find out where to get the best Polish food in town). I love this idea!

Tip: Experience New Cuisine With a Guide

Ethnic cuisine can be especially daunting to someone who wants to know what’s in everything (lest a potentially evil ingredient find its way in to my meal). Descriptions on menus rarely do food justice, nor make me feel any safer about what I’m about to eat. I’ve found Indian restaurants to be especially good at using the ol’ “meet with SPECIAL sauce” routine on a menu, but never letting me know if I’m going to bump into black licorice flavors (which are still gross, no matter how many times I try them), etc.

For this reason, I’ve found it especially helpful to explore ethnic food with people who know what they’re doing. Either they grew up eating a certain cuisine, or really enjoy it enough to know what’s what and can interpret the menu against my interests. They’re also good at knowing the ingredients and flavor profiles, so they can warn you ahead of time if you’re about to veer way off track and spend good money on something you’re going to really dislike.

I’ve been able to enlist the help of friends as food guides, but this really depends on having ethnically diverse friends, which is easier to do in a bigger city than the middle of nowhere (so is eating ethnic food, for that matter). If you can’t find anyone, a couple of other options are to do some internet research before a dinner out to find things that others recommend, and/or to look up recipes from menus to see what kinds of ingredients go into things (I did this once with Indian desserts before I went to dinner). Another option is to try a buffet, which will allow you to test small portions of things before deciding what you like and want to eat – sometimes this flies in the face of my tip about trying new things at the best places (buffets aren’t always great), but it is possible to look around for a reputable buffet that will have well-prepared options.

Tip: Visit Farmers Markets

I’ve learned that farmers markets are a great place to go to try lots of different foods without huge investments of money (free samples!) and to make sure I’m getting to try really great versions of food I’m afraid of. And because the designer of the food is often on-site, it’s easy to get to ask questions about what they’re offering, what I’m eating, how foods compare to one another, and get recommendations. I’ve found this particularly helpful with cheeses, sauces, and rare-to-me fruits and vegetables. This saves me from buying things I don’t like, or never trying things I’m curious about, and making sure I come home with things I’ll love to eat.

Bread at the Stowe, VT Farmers Market


White peaches at a New York City farmers market