The rest of the best with selected songs. Full mix still here (same mix as last post).
Disco at Christmas pt 4
Disco at Christmas pt 5
8/13 - Mission Chinese: Spicy Good Hell
Tuneyards - Powa
Sichuan pickles
Celia, Sam, Nate, and I
went to Mission Chinese for dinner with a promise that it was one of
the hottest restaurants in the country. Faced with an hour wait we
retired to Hog and Rocks for better beer than the last time we went and a
pot of cheese. Returning, we realized we'd been skipped. Fortunately
Nate knew a server, and standing outside we celebrated seeing her spread
her arms for a hug. We were in. Over the course of a frenzied two hour
spice festival which Celia later described as "being in a red tinted
[positive] Chinese hell", we ate fried pork belly, tea smoked eel, veal
ribs, thrice cooked bacon, among other things. Nate's server friend
brought us all of the things we didn't order, because she wanted us to
try them :) which warrants, for the first time and last time, the use of
a smiley face on this blog.
9/23 - Chez Ruby-isse Bourgeois Birthday Dinner
El Coco - Mondo Disco
Le table
Catherine's birthday involved the following menu:
Amuse Bouches:
(1) Tomales Bay Oysters in the Half Shell with Mignonette Sauce
(2) Baked Garlic with White Cheese and Peasant Bread
Soup:
(3) Corn Soup with Poblano Chiles
(4) Carrot and Shallot Soup with Chervil Cream
Entree:
(5) Charcoal Grilled Loin of Pork with Grilled Leeks and Red Peppers
(6) Potato and Wild Mushroom Gratin
(6a) A vegan entree: not Alice Water's specialty...ideas anyone?
Salad:
(7) Warm Salad with Tiny Escarole and Lettuce
(8) Tomato and Rocket Salad
Cheese Course:
(9) w. Figs and Walnuts
(10) +A good selection of fine cheeses (at least four or five -soft, stinky, Alice says good to have a theme to compare)
Dessert:
(11) Poached Pears and Figs in Zinfandel with Cassis Cream
(12) Apple Tarte Tatin with Apple Cider Sherbet
Andy, Tom, and Celia working on the Pork Loin + Potatoes
Wow! And she didn't have to make any of it. A brilliant idea for gourmets on special days. Sometime after this meal I learned what amuse bouche meant. Mouth amuser, love it... The guy who made the potatoes followed Alice Waters's recipe which involved soaking and then drying the potatoes with a cheesecloth repeatedly. He said the result tasted like crap, so he whipped something up involving putting potatoes and cheese in the oven. Probably the best course, in my opinion. Good thing we ate at Chez Rubyisse and not the other one. Celia and I brought cheese, which was successful, coming off our European education. Andy commented that if most people really love all but one of the cheeses (due to unreal stinkiness), and everyone else love all of the cheeses, then it means the cheeses were a hit. Wise words. Following this dinner, there was again a DJ dance party, and again, it was a good idea. Even after someone (was it you?) turned a hose on full blast through the window. Unsolved mystery. There were also many times as many desserts as you see on the menu.
11/10 - Dia de los Cumpleanos Taana Gardner - Work That Body
Churros served fresh in front of the Mayor's Mansion
A third bday. Celia and I created an enchilada shmorgasbord for her 24th. We served habenero pineapple tilapia, chicken mole, traditional sweet potato pinto bean, and chili verde spinach goat cheese black bean. All in enchilada form. For the second year running we composed a giant long table through the front of the Mayor's Mansion, though this year no one died or screeched in a Southern accent. The event was topped off by a surprise. I snagged Israel whose Rico's Churros are famous out on 40th and Foothill. We carried a plate of churros ricos y calientes into the house with candles, and then voyaged out into the front yard to begin the process of trying to keep up with Israel as he fried beautiful lengths of homemade dough without end. Ultimately we were overwhelmed and everyone settled for taking giant bags home for snacks, breakfast, lunch, and dinner the following day. Again, for the second year running Celia succeeded in knocking everyone out with the pure intensity of her celebration of choice, and the party was over by ten thirty, which was good because we needed to lie down.
12/17 - Food Drama pt 2: Holiday Sandwiches Janet Jackson - When I Think of You
'veggie lasagna' - roasted eggplant garlic and zucchini - mozzarella and marinara
bacon-egg-an-cheese - cilantro pumpkinseed pesto - english muffin
bloody mary corned beef - pickled onion and radish - rye roll - celery
Cheeses
[can't remember, nice work though, Wiley]
Food shot: Bloody Mary Corned Beef 'plated' tableside
Corning the beef meant leaving it in a ziploc in a brine for two weeks. Piece of cake! This was a great 5 course meal to host (each sandwich was one course) because I made the sauces in advance, and all that I had to do between feasting was build up the sandwiches and heat the sauce. Per Eric the Psychologist (my food guru)'s suggestion I served the sauce 'tableside', meaning everyone had their plate ready, and I just ladled the steaming sauce on top. I chose this meal over the first Food Drama because it was more relaxed for me, and the food was more fun. Eating a multi-course meal while sitting on a couch in a 'studio plus' is hard to justify. I think that the Food Drama pt 2 was successful in making a case for it though. Since then I have obtained a nice round folding table that will be the site of FD3. A final note: none of the bread fell apart, which was an initial concern. This may be because we ate everything quickly, unimpeded by the insane fire of real Tortas Ahogadas. Some people even used but a single paper towel. Over the course of the night we learned about TaskRabbit and Flow from Wiley. Both basically involve getting other people to do stuff for you. TaskRabbit in particular smacks of servitude as people attempt to outbid each other until finally someone is doing someone else's laundry for $1.50. Maybe I will TaskRabbit a sous chef for the next Food Drama.
12/30 - Lukshon New Year's Eve Eve
Tom Tom Club - Genius of Love
Talking Heads - Making Flippy Floppy
Lukshon Chicken Pops
In LA I learned a new word for Christmas/Hannukah/Pagan gift giving and celebrating. Apparently Luke's family has always just called it 'end of the year presents'. One of Celia's end of the year presents for me was a trip to a nice restaurant in LA. We originally considered Animal, but I quickly admitted to myself that Celia would not be able to eat anything on the menu. Instead we chose Lukshon, invited the rest of Celia's fam, and cancelled the cashing in of the end of the year present. Going with a larger group was excellent. We each order a couple plates and then they came fast and furious, some paired, some alone, always perfectly timed. The chicken pops were a blast and I'm planning to imitate the Chinese style pork belly. Most impressive, however, was the water service, which involved at least 5 bussers and servers correctly pouring the water of our choice (sparkling or still). Gretchen even switched from one to the other, and the next guy to stop by knew without asking. A miracle! Another mystery was how they knew which bottle was not sparkling, until we saw that one bottle had 'not sparkling' printed on its side. Plus, our waiter had a serious 90s MTV veejay thing going on with bleached white teeth. A very positive and encouraging dude. By far the best service I have ever received in a restaurant. As Eric the Psychologist says about fine dining, 'They treat you better than your own family ever would'.
(Thank you to Gretchen and David for the meal!! And to Noel for desiring the same things as me on the menu.)
2012 Donna Summer - Lucky
Feeling good about future prospects. I'm looking forward to continuing to eat good meat and produce from the farmers market, buying eggs from Becca's friend Val, checking out a few more fancy schmancy restaurants, buying a few more cooking utensils (good pan, good pot, steamer, wok, meat grinder, slotted spoon), going back to NOLA, continuing the Food Drama series, potentially starting a Food Drama blog (in lieu of some quality???!), Andy's chicken and waffle bday brunch, 3cheeseketeers, family meals, having people over, eating at your house, getting taken out to dinner and vice verse, doing specialty food weeks (right now its Hunan week), and eating after cycling.
dig on the pairing of this prose and these tracks. food drama, indeed.
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