Hungry Travels

Here’s a dilemma for you to ponder:

Say you’re at J.P. Doyle’s in Sleepy Hollow, known for its tasty pub grub. You’re chatting with your Team in Training teammate, Ray, who’s just seen Food Inc., the documentary creating buzz by exposing the unseemly underbelly of the food industry: corporate greed, mistreatment of animals, gruesome looks into slaughterhouses, etc. You’ve seen Super Size Me and read Fast Food Nation, and both The Omnivore’s Dilemma and Food Inc. are on your list. You try to be a somewhat conscientious consumer by toting reusable bags into supermarkets, staying informed, reading labels, eschewing processed foods, supporting farmers’ markets and limiting your general meat consumption.

But it’s a beautiful Sunday.  You’ve just completed the Sleepy Hollow Sprint Triathlon.

You’re starving and you and your teammates have all moved over to J.P. Doyle’s.

You’ve been looking forward to a burger and a beer all week. ALL week.

But now you’re thinking about what Ray’s told you about Food Inc. and wondering about the beef and the cow from which it came.  Do you forego the burger and order a Cobb salad instead, like my teammate Anne did?

Or do you stick with the original plan?

What would you do?

I admit it, I caved.

I absolutely believe it’s important to be informed and ask questions about your food… but at this particular moment, my mind stepped into the ring with my stomach, and my stomach won by TKO.

A mammoth bacon cheeseburger with onion rings.  It was glorious.  Cooked a smidge past medium-well, but beefy and charred, topped with gooey Swiss cheese and crisp bacon. With a beer in front of me and ketchup and grease dripping down my hand, I entered a state of  post-race bliss.

Of course, once I see Food Inc. this might be the last burger I ever eat.

J.P. Doyle’s
48 Beekman Ave.
Sleepy Hollow, NY
914-631-3015