Seven years ago I started working at a seafood restaurant that was owned by the family of one of my closest friends. I knew very little about food at that point. So little, in fact, that when a cook asked me if I wanted fried, sautéed, or broiled scallops I replied, “uh, which is better?”

Between the ages of 4 and 8 I would only order one thing when I went out to eat at a restaurant. That one thing wasn't even an actual meal, it was shrimp cocktail.