While traveling back from Israel, I sat next to a couple with a small baby. The husband is Israeli but was born in the US and the woman was born in the US. The little one turned one at midnight during our flight. I started speaking to them and heard their story about moving to Charleston, opening up a sandwich shop that turned into a restaurant and now have 6 restaurants in Charleston and Nashville. They had come to Israel because it had always been a dream for the husband to bring chefs from his restaurant on a food tour as many elements of their restaurants are drawn from Israeli cuisine.
They were able to make their dream a reality and toured their chefs around the country for five days. They shared some of the highlights and I loved seeing that I had been to some of the restaurants they went to and walked away with a list of many to try. I asked them if they would repeat this trip and they said absolutely but they would make a few changes. We talked through some of their ideas and I tried to offer a few ideas and connections to strengthen their program even more, such as going to a few restaurants I knew about, connecting them to a top bartender in the country and introducing them to EatWith, that brings chefs and foodies together in more informal spaces. We exchanged information and hope to stay in touch.
I am usually one that does not interact much with my seat mates while traveling but I enjoyed speaking to the couple about their experiences. Here's to more spontaneous conversations!
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