Dine and Discovery: a food and travel blog by Justin Martin

 Welcome and thank you for taking the time to join me here.

I am a middle-aged man who grew up not knowing the difference between Select and Prime, what fork to use for a salad, and likely to choose fast food over a home cooked meal.

When I met, Terri, that changed.

Together over 3 decades we have been on an adventure together and the paths we have chosen has led us to learning much about food, wine, spirits, beer, mead, and how to travel on a budget of nearly zero.

I am firmly part of two communities in the United States. One is close to my roots, mid-west in sensibility, and the other, affluent, well-placed in the upper middle-class and part of the nation vacations are expensive.

I love both.

In the early days of the internet, I dreamed of helping by sharing my hard-fought experiences as a poor bachelor. These days I want to share stories of our travels, food we eat, and drinks we share with friends.

My son, an avid aficionado of many topics, is a self-educated bourbon hound as well as an avid reviewer of beers from all over the world.

My spouse is a trained baker with a curious streak that extends from wine to tequila, Haddock to Wagyu, with the occasional burger and ice cream shake.

This blog will be a collection of my experiences with food, reviews of restaurants and recipes, as well as a look into bourbon, whiskey, wine, beer and whatever else I get up to.

My first goal is a comprehensive review of the restaurants, bakeries, bars and food trucks of North Dakota, specifically Minot.

Why Minot?

I am here much of the year and in the years, I have been visiting, the town has shown a stubborn resilience to the march of the culture at large, and yet, has evolved into a host of surprising complexity of tastes, styles, and venues that could be missed if you weren't open to looking.

So, here's to Minot and the wonderful characters that inhabit it.

- Justin
Jan 21, 2023