The article was titled New York City Barbecue. What is that? Fort Worth, Kansas City, Memphis maybe, but New York City, I’m not so sure. I’d recommend sushi in New York City, but not barbecue. New York City barbecue is kind of like Montana sushi, it just doesn’t sound right.

I had sushi for the first time with my friend Robyn several years ago. I was the one who always asked for a fork at the chopsticks kind of restaurants, so this was a big step for me. She explained the raw and cooked and suggested what would be good for a sushi rookie. I discovered I really like avocado rolls, California rolls and crunchy shrimp rolls and that using chopsticks on sushi works better than chicken fried rice.

It doesn’t matter how much of a seasoned sushi eater I become, I just don’t think I can handle the raw. I’m sure I look like I’m riding a tricycle among Harleys, but I have my standards, so I’ll eat the veggie and cooked and act like I know what I’m doing. There’s just something about any kind of raw meat that’s just not quite right.

I don’t eat much red meat, but when I do it needs to be almost crisp without even a hint of pink. I was having dinner at a nice restaurant once and explained to the server the crisp factor. When my food was served it looked great until I turned it over. It was crisp on one side and raw on the other. It reminded me why I eat a lot of fish and chicken.

I heard a preacher recently talk about people who are cooked on one side and raw on the other. Everything looks good and done on Sunday, but the rest of the week is pretty raw. It’s easy to act lovely when there are people around you want to impress, but what about when they aren’t there?

Cooked sushi, well done meat, and real people have a lot in common. It’s best to be authentic and consistent all the way through because eventually something will flip you over and, if you have a raw side, it’ll be exposed.