[Nicko]

Well it has happened, I have finally met someone over the internet. Really no joke, something I thought I would never ever do.

As most of you know this past Sunday a small group of die hard ChefTalk community memembers met in Chicago and had dinner at Arun's restaurant. What an amazing time it was, and of course the food was pretty incredible.

I guess what is so striking to me about the event is that I had for a long time regarded internet meetings as a no no due to the number of stalkings, and general bad things that can happen. It is my nature to assume the worst case scenario so I thought I would probably never meet anyone via the internet.

What really happened? I met some of the kindest most sincere people I have ever met. For those who are new or simple don't know this past Sunday Cape Chef, Mezzeluna, Momoreg, and myself met for the first time. I should mention that Cape and Momo met before since they work in close proximity.

All of these people were wonderful and I felt as if I was having dinner with friends that I had not seen in a very very long time. Cape picked the wines, and the evening was a time of story swapping, laughter, and great food.

It is my hope that we will be able to set up an East coast meeting sometime in the near future.

[kokopuffs]

Hey, what about the midwest around Denver?

[KyleW]

I think that we honor Nicko's wishes (He runs the joint, ya know) and set up the East Coast meeting first. New York City is loaded with great places to meet and eat

I wholeheartedly agree with Nicko about the meeting, and would love to go the East coast for the next one!

[Mezzaluna]

I'll start saving for the trip!

[monpetitchoux]

West coast, too. Please don't forget about us on the left side of the country.

[monpetitchoux]

I'm with Mezzaluna. I was born and raised in New York City. It would be great to go home and find all of you there.

Oh boy, Nicko! Maybe you could have the next one in Virginia! It's just a suburb of New Jersey.

[Papa]

Dear Friends:

How about a dinner every three months in a different region? That way we'll meet at least once a year!

[bouland]

Dear monpetitchoux:

Why don't you organize something to the SanFrancisco Bay Area. I don't know how many people there are out here that participate in the Chef Talk Cafe, but i'm sure there's is more than just you and me.