A friend recently reminded me of this quote by Anthony Bourdain: Eat at a local restaurant tonight. Get the cream sauce. Have a cold pint at 4 o’clock in a mostly empty bar. Go somewhere you’ve never been. Listen to someone you think may have nothing in common with you. Order the steak rare. Eat an oyster. Have a negroni. Have two. Be open to a world where you may not understand or agree with the person next to you, but have a drink with them anyway. Eat slowly. Tip your server. Check in on your friends. Check in on yourself. Enjoy the ride.

Good advice. So I acted on some of it the other night. I ate in a local restaurant. I did not have the cream sauce; I had the whole red fish. I had a negroni. I wanted a second, but I was driving. I took my time eating. I tipped the server and the valet. Everything else Bourdain mentioned I have done at one time or another. I checked in on Jorge this afternoon. And I have eaten an oyster…without contracting a vibrio infection.