Ambrosia

Before anything else happens tonight I need to talk seriously about food. This evening it was my pleasure to dine with Rob, Courtney, Nick, Jenlee and Lisa at Pizzeria 712.

 Photo courtesy of Nick Homer via facebook

Now this kind of company would make any meal enjoyable and worthwhile, but take that company and add to it the foods available for purchase at Pizzeria 712, and the dining experience is ratcheted up several notches. The pizza is delicious and the brussel sprouts divine. To top it off the establishment does everything possible to be on board with the local food movement, so that's cool too.

But none of that is what I came here to talk about. I'm here about pudding.

First of all I need to be clear that I'm not much of a dessert person. I much prefer savory foods to sweet, and as such I rarely, if ever, order or even ask for dessert. In fact, when offered dessert I often decline, thinking that it would only serve to taint the deliciousness of a fine meal recently enjoyed. The exception to that rule is, of course, Mom's cherry pie which is other-worldly and beats the pants off of any other desserts. Literally. Pants. Off. And yes, I'm still willing to fight you on that one.

Tonight, however, I went against custom and ordered the Amano chocolate pudding with whipped cream and a shortbread cookie on Rob's recommendation. Rob is my food guy, and I trust him on most all food recommendations. That goes for food and music. But I digress.

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I feel like I need to pause here so that upon reading what I'm about to write you can fully appreciate the gravity of the situation

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okay, I think I'm ready.

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Never before at a restaurant have I eaten something so delicious in my life as was that Amano chocolate pudding. I'm serious. It wasn't much to look at - it seemed like your standard, run-of-the-mill pudding with a cookie - but it was astonishingly, mind-blowingly incredible. No really, it was mind-blowing.

Now my generation often uses words and phrases such as "mind-blowing" for things that aren't really that great. We have a flair for the hyperbolic and are often found describing things as "epic" that would make Homer shake his head with disgust. But in all honesty, my mind has not been this blown in ages. The pudding was phenomenal. If John Travolta knew that this pudding existed he would have forgotten about his super-intelligence and telekinetic powers, shaved his fu manchu, slicked back his hair, put on his prettiest dress and come to Orem for just a taste.

As for myself, I took one bite and as my tongue, mouth, throat and stomach took turns dancing with euphoria, I could do nothing but sit and look at my chocolate pudding-streaked spoon with incredulity. Chills ran down my spine as I contemplated what I was experiencing. I sat there thinking that there is no way on God's green earth that anything can taste that good. But apparently it can. And it does at Pizzeria 712. And it was sitting there in front of me waiting to be consumed.

Just when I thought it could get no better, I took a bite of the chocolate shortbread cookie that accompanied the pudding and found myself yet again in the throes of ecstasy. Tears of emotion welled up behind my eyes as I contemplated the wonder of this dessert. It was one of those moments where you want desperately to find some way of capturing everything about the moment, and feel a pang of sadness knowing you can't.

The best word I can think to describe it is Ambrosia. The nectar of the gods. If they don't serve this dessert in heaven, then send me to hell.

And no, I'm under no obligation nor contract to write what I've just written.

All of that said, Mom's cherry pie is still better. And as I previously mentioned, if you can't get on board with that, I'll gladly grow out my mustache in preparation for you and I to get on board with something like this: