Since the visit from our new friends Simon Wilson and Madeline Chapman last week, I’ve had this itch to write a food review.

A shared theme I noticed across both Simon and Madeline’s reviews of both The Grove and KFC was ‘experience’. Both critics expected different experiences from their meals. Where Simon prefered to observe the finer aesthetic points of a meal, noting wine choices and presentation, Madeline was more than happy to taste the food and enjoy it for what it was.

Even more critical to their reviews was their background. Simon had very little idea of how KFC conjured Madeline’s nostalgic memories. Meanwhile, Madeline lacked Simon’s wine pairing experience.

This all points to a fascinating point: it’s not about the food.

You don’t need to have a Michelin star to know what good food is. You just need to have been alive and experienced your unique life. You need to know you.

I don’t know much, but I do know myself pretty well, so I may as well give this a go!:

The ‘Arts Scholars Sundae Fundae’ was supposed to be a competition of sorts. But in the end, we all just kind of ate ice cream together sans-competition. But when it comes down to it, I’m far too stressed all the time to be worrying about if I’ve got enough cookies in my cream. I have a history of getting a little too worked up about my grade (as many who frequent the arts scholars’ room will know), and it was nice just to de-stress. I only ate about half a bowl of ice cream, but as I said, it’s not about the food.

Did it go the way I’d expected? Absolutely Not.

Was it exactly what I needed in week 10? Definitely.

10/10.