This week split right down the middle: four days of strategy meetings in Charlotte, then a sprint home for a birthday steak dinner and a weekend of house projects. The road brought airport pizza, one truly strange dinner, and a decent plate of steak frites. Home brought Joseph’s Steakhouse, giant Sapore sandwiches, and Colony pizza to welcome a daughter home. Not every meal was a winner, but the week ended exactly where it should, around our own table.
Monday: Wheels Up and Airport Pizza at Cotto
The week started at the airport, heading to Charlotte for a full week of work. Airport food is always a gamble, but I went with a pizza at Cotto.
Not bad for airport pizza. Let’s be honest, that’s the bar. The crust held up, it was hot, and it did its job before a flight. When you’re sitting at a gate with a laptop bag and a boarding pass, “not bad” counts as a win.
📍 Cotto | LaGuardia Airport, Terminal C, Queens, NY ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Tuesday: Strategy Meetings and a Very Strange Night at The Dunhill
Tuesday was all-day strategy meetings, fueled by some random sandwiches. Every business traveler knows the kind: wrapped, stacked on a tray, and eaten between slides without ever really being tasted.
Dinner was supposed to make up for it. It did not.
We ended up at The Dunhill in downtown Charlotte, and the whole night was very strange. My old fashioned came in a plastic cup. A plastic cup. An old fashioned is a drink built on ritual: the heavy glass, the big cube, the slow first sip. In plastic it just felt wrong.
Then came the filet. It looked like something from a school cafeteria, with some sort of gel on top that I still can’t identify. A filet should be the safe order, the one you can count on anywhere. This one was mid at best, and honestly closer to pretty bad.
I write this series to share the good meals, but the honest ones matter too. This one gets a pass.
📍 The Dunhill | 237 N Tryon St, Charlotte, NC ⭐️
Wednesday: More Meetings, Then Steak Frites at Dressler’s
Wednesday was more of the same: meetings, more random sandwiches, more conference room coffee. By evening I was hoping for a redemption dinner.
We headed to Dressler’s. It was okay, and definitely better than The Dunhill, which wasn’t a high bar after Tuesday.
I ordered the steak frites, and it was pretty good. A well-cooked steak, a pile of fries, and a little butter on top. It’s a classic for a reason. When you’ve spent two days eating sandwiches out of plastic clamshells, a straightforward steak and fries feels like real food again.
It wasn’t a meal I’ll dream about, but after the night before, it restored a little faith in Charlotte dinners.
📍 Dressler’s | 1100 Metropolitan Ave #125, Charlotte, NC ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Thursday: Out by 3, Home by 8
Thursday was another round of meetings and sandwiches, but with the best item on the agenda: I got out at 3 to catch a flight home.
There’s a particular feeling when the plane touches down after a work trip. The week shrinks behind you and home gets closer with every mile. I was back by 8pm, and that was the best part of the day.
Friday: A Birthday Dinner at Joseph’s Steakhouse
Friday was my birthday, and after a week of cafeteria filets and wrapped sandwiches, there was only one way to celebrate: a real steakhouse.
We went to Joseph’s Steakhouse in Bridgeport, known for its USDA prime dry-aged beef. This was the meal the whole week had been building toward.
We started with the thick-cut bacon, rich and smoky, the way only a steakhouse makes it. Then jumbo shrimp, big and sweet, and creamed spinach, the steakhouse side that always belongs on the table. And then the main event: a bone-in filet. Tender, beautifully cooked, with all the flavor the bone brings to the cut. Everything that Tuesday’s filet was not.
Thick-cut bacon, jumbo shrimp, creamed spinach, and a bone-in filet. That is a perfect birthday dinner.
📍 Joseph’s Steakhouse | 360 Fairfield Ave, Bridgeport, CT ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Saturday: Wallpaper Day and Sapore Sandwiches
Saturday was wallpaper day. My other daughter is coming home from Florida next weekend, and we wanted to make her room feel special, so we decided to wallpaper it. Anyone who has hung wallpaper knows it’s not a quick job. It’s measuring, cutting, lining up patterns, smoothing out bubbles, and repeating all day.
On a day like that, food is fuel. We picked up some large sandwiches from Sapore Italian Deli in Trumbull, and they were exactly what the job needed. Big, hearty, and Italian-deli generous, so generous that we had leftovers to keep us going all day and into the night.
That’s the beauty of a great local deli. One stop and you’re covered for lunch, the afternoon slump, and the late-night “let’s do one more panel” push.
Sunday: Finishing Touches, Wonder, and Colony Pizza
Sunday was about finishing the wallpaper. And because momentum is a funny thing, once the wallpaper was done we decided to paint the bathroom too. One project always leads to another.
To keep us going, we ordered from Wonder. When your hands are covered in paint, delivery is a gift.
Dinner was the real highlight. We picked up Colony Grill pizza, and then picked up my daughter from the train so she could celebrate her birthday with us back home. Colony’s thin, crispy bar pies are a Fairfield County classic, and they’re perfect for a casual family celebration. No reservations, no dressing up, just pizza boxes on the counter and everyone together.
After a week that started in airport terminals and Charlotte conference rooms, ending it with Colony pizza and a birthday at home felt just right.
Closing Reflection
This week was a tale of two cities. On the road, food was something to get through: airport pizza, plastic-cup old fashioneds, a filet with a mystery gel, and more random sandwiches than I want to count. Dressler’s helped, but Charlotte mostly reminded me how much home matters.
Then home showed up in full. A birthday bone-in filet at Joseph’s. Sapore sandwiches stacked high for a day of wallpaper. Colony pizza and a train-station pickup to celebrate a daughter’s birthday. A room getting ready for another daughter coming home.
That’s what this series is really about. Not every meal is great, but the ones shared at home with family always are.