When I started to plan what would become RnR a very important part of it was the location. I wanted to put the restaurant in a neighborhood that could support the casual, local, and special cooking from America that was coming together in my mind. The cooking, decor, and vibe would be one of acceptance without exception because that was what I believed made America so special. Being a Southerner in New England from Oregon via New Mexico, New Orleans, Nebraska, California, and Virginia gave me a sense of the fantastic array of cooking that is called American. Our gastronomical personality is one that can not be defined as burgers, fries, steak, and potatoes. It is so much more. I saw that in Roslindale 10 years ago and still see it today. Maybe the Republicans should come on down for bingo Tuesday.
As this election got closer, more heated, and polarized it began to take on a life of it's own ripping the country in two. With us or against us was everyone's stance and it showed in the polls. But as I watched Romney's early numbers climb over Obama's the numbers of who was voting started to become the true indicator. The white vote was represented but not as drastically as the black, Asian, young, Hispanic, and gay. They came forward and were counted like true Americans. The millions of American lives that have been sacrificed so we have the opportunity to vote were well remembered as the voice of a true representation of America was counted and heard.
Of all the issues that were brought forward in this election one stood out to me as I sipped beer from behind the bar at the end of dinner service watching the polls with my patrons. All races were represented at the bar from varying economic brackets as I had always hoped to have at RnR. What stood out were the amount of same sex couples watching attentively the results. I was never more aware of what was at stake for them as far as their basic human rights and how close they came to being taken away. I, Chef Delicious, feel that homosexuals are fiercely discriminated against and deserve every right that heterosexual citizens do. Growing up down south racism and its effects were apparent every day and it disgusted me even though I was in the privileged group of young white male. How could people look down on their neighbor because of reasons beyond their control? How could parents tell their sons and daughters that they could not date that person because they had a different skin color? My opinions have grown more mature and clearer, but never weaker. That's why one of my proudest days for America was coming out of work in Central Square, Cambridge MA many years ago to the roar of celebration as the first gay couple was wed in the USA.
Where are we today? Much, much closer to seeing a true America that screams with diversity happily and peacefully without discrimination. The election guarantees that development and will hopefully bring more people to that view. A healthy family supports each other, accepts the unchangeable characteristics of each other, yells, fights, says unspeakable things to each other, but stays together for the greater progressive good. I'm excited for the next four years but hope more then anything that ALL
Americans can look at who we are, continue to argue about everything
under the sun publicly and openly, but do it together and move forward
like a true family.
