This
Louisiana for the win...perfect blend of heat and flavor without being overpowering. When the food requires something with more punch i turn to Tobasco or any number of "specialty" hot sauces i have at the ready. Anything Asian gets Sriracha (I love this stuff). I also keep a jar of the vinegar with peppers in it for variety (really good on BBQ or fried chicken plus you can keep adding vinegar and when the peppers have become too mild they are great in salads or chopped up to mix into other foods like meatloaf).
Bland food is for nursing homes, hospitals and prisons. If you're not in one of those your food should have flavor. I'm always amazed how many eateries serve bland food to cater to the elderly crowd in this city. Case in point, Cattlemans's, a lot of hype without much to back it up. Simply one of the worst steaks I've ever had in a restaurant and unbelievably bland. We had two tables around us with an "elderly" population and two tables of younger people including myself and the bff (for the sake of simplicity I'll refer to myself as "younger"). Anywho, the older tables were raving about the food and how they love it so much they've eaten there for the last twenty whatever years. Our table and the table behind us of younger diners were lamenting the lack of flavor and the appalling treatment of what must have been, before being desecrated, a fine piece of beef. I will say the flies seemed to love the food, however, I had no way to determine their age and, let's be honest, flies don't have the greatest taste in the world.
Fast forward to "Mimi's Cafe"...again primary demographic the 60+ crowd. This place goes so far as to skip or lightly dust the food with salt during cooking. I thought perhaps it was a mistake made with my meal but of four different entree's at the table all were severely lacking in both salt and flavor of any kind. The local gentry, on the other hand, quite pleased with their dinner and happily congratulated each other on their choice of that evenings fine dining.
Now that's not to say older people have no taste, I know plenty of older pepper bellies, who would club a chef to death for serving them bland food and I wouldn't dare include them in the previous descriptions lest lose my upcoming position as a prospect in their gang.
I'm not sure how I got from a hot sauce poll to Mimi's Cafe and flies but the moral of the story...eat more hot sauce!
I prefer Franks on my wings, but Louisiana for most everything else (especially coneys)