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Editorial

Hungry? Who’s Cooking in Chesapeake Country?

Is it just us, or do you, too, find that food’s never far from your mind? We’ll be minding our own business, writing or working or even exercising, when suddenly nothing’s more important than imagining the perfect match for the empty longing that’s opened up inside.

The other night it was fried chicken.

We haven’t eaten fried chicken since the early nights of Bay Weekly, when it came by the bucket to fuel the late shift, as we called the second eight hours needed on Mondays and Tuesdays to produce this paper in its infancy.

Yet the craving for fried chicken came to us, irresistibly haunting, like a song that won’t leave you alone. The only question became where the best fried chicken could be purchased and carried away to be devoured.

The 2008 edition of Bay Weekly’s Dining Guide could have solved that problem — had our fried chicken craving waited another week.

This week, you’re in luck.

Whatever hunger assails you will find its match in this Guide.

Eating right is an issue on which so much is to be said that it’s filled this week’s paper.

From front to back, food’s the subject.

The weightiest section is the Guide itself, a comprehensive listing of eateries from fast to fine throughout Anne Arundel and Calvert counties. You’ll find it organized by region, so you won’t have to go out of your way to satisfy your cravings. Listings — in alphabetical order — include name, address, phone number and often web site. Offerings and ambience fill out the listings for the advertisers whose dollars put Bay Weekly in your hands each week.

Columns this week continue the theme, reflecting on favorite foods and foraging opportunities.

We’re meaning no slight to home cooking; it’s dear to our hearts — even though we don’t fry our own chicken much these days. But also dear is eating out, and we’re not alone. Over the last half-century, eating out has grown in popularity and range, until today we each spend over $1,000 a year eating out.

Eating out fuels our sped-up lifestyles. It also gives us a range of satisfactions beyond speed and convenience. We don’t have to travel the world to taste the culture of faraway places.

Companionship and camaraderie are just as important, especially as distance and lifestyle stretch the family ties that used to supply such needs. Eating out also adds the icing to special occasions, such as Valentine’s Day. Best of all, eating out is fun — especially when you find exactly the right place for what you’re craving. Read on, and you will.