For a couple of months now, I’ve been updating/maintaining the Web site and Facebook page for my favorite restaurant, Governor Stumpy’s. I’ve been eating here since they opened, partly because it’s a family place – the owner is one of my Irish cousins (to explain the relationship would take a forest of family trees), and my dad regularly makes the 30-minute drive from Shawnee to my side of town just to stop by and see what’s going on with the family.

So I thought I had a good grasp of what sort of food Stumpy’s served (short answer: good. Really good food), and I thought I’d tried just about everything on the menu over the last 14 plus years. But then I decided I wanted to have photos of every dish to be able to put on the web site and facebook. After all, when it comes to picking a restaurant, people want to know two things: where is this place, and what does it serve. The best way to show off a menu is not through words but through photos.

I’m about three months into this project, and I’ve shot about 50 meals. I have a few dozen more to go, and herein lies my discovery. I’ve long ago worked through the stuff I usually order, and even through the stuff I’ve ordered at least once in the past. Now I’m into uncharted territory.

For instance, I usually stick with a salad called the Nixon Chicken Salad, which is a nice, simple bed of lettuce with some cheese, carrots, croutons, tomatoes and chicken. With that one checked off the list already, I tried one called the Boulevard Salad:

My friends, it was a revelation. I have only recently come to like certain (i.e., most) vegetables, such as broccoli, red onions, red peppers, mushrooms, black olives, etc. This salad was the perfect combination of all my new vegetable favorites. What a gorgeous salad, and what a delightful meal it was. My mouth sang with happiness.

A similar thing happened with Stumpy’s Cobb salad. Observe how pretty this dish is:

It was almost a shame to dismantle the pretty rows of toppings so I could eat it, but it certainly didn’t stop me. I’m just glad I didn’t order this when my nieces were around. They have a sort of radar for things like black olives and cucumbers, and they see all vegetables as up for grabs. (Same thing happens with the cinnamon apples at Stumpy’s. The little adorable vultures.)

Anyway, it will be a while before I can order the Three Meat Pizza or Black and Bleu Burger again (sigh), but until then, I’ll be on a culinary safari at Stumpy’s.