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Howdy Folks!
Did I ever tell you the one about…the fortuitous, random happenchance dining extravaganza at The Moab Diner?
No, didn’t think so, but, even if I did, I’m telling it again. I hope you enjoy this delicious tale about a hunter-gatherer motorcycle adventurer with very specific dietary food & pallet particularities, a diner, &, a Chef in Cook’s clothing.
So, Randy walks into the Moab Diner. Wait, wait, I’ve got to start at the beginning of the tale. After all, what’s a tale without a beginning.
I had booked my stay in Moab for 2 weeks as my central hub for exploring the surrounding National & State Parks & other Utah highlights.
Again, I spoke to the lovely lass at the motel office, inquiring about possible places to dine. She told me about quite a few, including the Moab Diner.
So, the first day I rode about 10 blocks into the central of town, parked, & began to walk the strip looking at the restaurants she recommended & looking at some I discovered on my own.
I never compromise much when it comes to lifestyle, & I never, ever, compromise on my dietary intake. I don’t view what most people blindly consume & consider to be food, as food.
So, as per usual, it’s quite the adventure to find a eatery that meets my standards. Though I do enjoy the explorations trying to find a place as it allows me to explore the town & meet many wonderful people along the way.
These food particularities are why I usually just default to shopping at local markets & grocery stores so that I can pick my food personally, prepare & cook it myself.
This way, I know, for sure, what I’m eating, what my food ate & what ingredients were used in preparation, if any at all. I usually choose, one ingredient, whole foods & then combine everything myself, rather than premade. I keep it simple, pure, honest & as true to nature as possible.
Being a Chef, just another one of my many interests in hobbies that I’ve become quite skilled & good at, allows me to eat like a King, don’t like that phrase but it fits, in my daily life, as well as, on the road. It’s really easy if you know what you like in whole foods to prepare & enjoy cooking foods for yourself. Happily, I do!
It’s easy to find everything I want & do it myself. However, there are times that I get lucky, find a place or two or three that I like, & when I do, I become a regular. It is nice when on the road, to spoil, or, pamper myself in dining out. & too, I get to meet wonderful locals & fellow travelers while getting quality cuisine.
Dining out is never as budget friendly, so, I look for places that do Happy Hour, breakfast, lunch or dinner specials to keep my budget in check. And I always look for a favorite in buffets, especially Indian ones, at any town I’m in. Though I always make sure to ask the locals for recommendations.
I’ll even ride quite a ways out of town for a favorite diner, like when I visit Boulder or Denver, I will ride some ways to have every breakfast at The Walnut Café. I prefer the Boulder location. Yes, it’s that wonderful & they always accommodate my culinary particularities.
So, after a bit of walking & exploring, I came to The Moab Diner. I walked in, was greeted by the hostess & asked for a menu to see if there was anything at all I would even consider eating. I was doubtful because it was a typical ‘American’ diner where everything was pancakes, waffles, fried highly processed foodstuffs.
I sat down to at least get a coffee, for my morning pick me up. When the server came to the table, I ordered a coffee & inquired if there was anything fresh on the menu. She stated no, I explained my particularities & she said that they probably wouldn’t be able to meet my needs.
We got to talking about food, what I do & what I was looking for. She said, ‘You know, our cook, fancies himself a chef & likes culinary challenges like yours.’ She continued, ‘He would probably be able to do something for you once you let him know the particulars & if he can, we will. Let me go ask him.’ I said, ‘Great!’
She left to go ask their ‘chef’ if he’d be able to accommodate my food particularities & returned with my coffee & an answer. She said, ‘Our chef will come out to talk with you a bit as he thinks he’ll be able to make something you’ll really like.’ I said, ‘Really, wonderful! Send him out.’ She said, ‘He’ll be out in about 10 minutes if I didn’t mind waiting.’ I said I’d be happy to wait & thanked her.
A cool little side note about the above picture. As you’ll read in the upcoming posts for this story’s continuation, the cook & I talked quite a bit. He liked the pictures on my website that I took, they didn’t have their website running yet, I showed him some pictures I took of the diner & they liked the ones I wanted to use for my Moab Diner story.
They asked if they could use my above picture & I said sure. Though I suggested to them that they use the angle & composition I choose & snap one themselves to keep it all in house. I showed them the exact spot I captured the image so they could duplicate it if they wanted. They loved the idea & agreed.
As you’ll notice on their website link in the next post is almost an exact duplicate of the one I took. I felt honored when they reached out to me to see their new websites unveiling & that they used my idea.
The Moab Diner experience will continue in the next post, stay tuned!
Peace & Love, Awaken, until next time…
