comfort

Have I mentioned yet my idea for a restaurant? This is separate from the Avogadro's project with my friends.

One day I would like to open a restaurant, maybe more like a bistro-cafe. I'd call it comfort and it would feature high quality freshly made comfort foods from local seasonal ingredients. It goes without saying that the chairs would be comfortable and the general ambiance would exude coziness. I'm also imagining a sparkling white kitchen with gleaming white subway tiles. Lots of natural lighting in the dining area and a menu filled with all my favorite comfort foods.

Truth is, most of my comfort foods are sort of gross. Or I think most folks would find them gross. That's the problem with comfort foods. They appeal to you because they are a part of your childhood not necessarily because they are universally delicious. Spam figures largely in a lot of my childhood comfort dishes. And a variety of dishes combining Korean sticky rice with all sorts of processed foods.

So I've been conducting an informal survey of what people think of when they think comfort food. It can be food you find comforting or food that you think would be on a universal list of comfort foods. What do you say? Let's hear some examples.

So far I've got:
bread pudding
mac'n'cheese
jell-o
grilled cheese
tomato soup
chicken noodle soup
chili
rice pudding
oatmeal
pie
mashed potatoes
potpie