Today was quite the busy, adventurous, exciting day. We crawled out of bed at 6 a.m. in order to be out the door at 7 a.m. Too early for me, but the sunrise was beautiful. So my Dear Husband asks me if he should make a lunch reservation for us at the Chez Panisse Cafe. Holy mackerel! Yes! If we can get in... Yes! Yes! And we can get in! At 1:15, we'll be eating at Alice's restaurant.
At 7 a.m. we're out the door, my Honda CRV loaded with the boxed pieces of a cabinet that has to be returned to Ikea (it has a warped piece and needs to be exchanged) and Maizie Jane Valentine who is going to Radiocat in San Mateo for her $1,000 high-tech radio-iodine treatment to resolve her hyperthyroidism. Maizie rode in her carrier, right in the back seat between us, high enough so she could look out the window and watch everything. Maizie is a good traveler, thank heaven. We arrived at Radiocat shortly after her 11:00 appointment time. Traffic was squirrelly and apparently all the cats were running late. (You know how distracted those kitties can get....) Maizie is totally calm about everything. She's probably the most easy-going cat we've ever had. We got her checked in and then we were off to Berkeley.
Ah yes, lunch aboard the mother ship. Basically, this was a real vote of confidence (and encouragement) from Randy. Sunday night he told me that he's really impressed with what I'm doing with regard to my learn-to-cook project. Bless his heart.
Randy had:
Cannard Farm leeks with mustard vinaigrette and chervil
Autumn vegetable couscous with harissa and charmoula (Moroccan condiment sauces)
Carmel cream puffs with bittersweet chocolate sauce; coffee
I inhaled:
Rocket and celery root salad with Meyer lemon and black pepper
Northern halibut with cauliflower, spinach, lime and ginger butter
Pink Lady apple and quince tart with wild flower honey ice cream
Sour cherry D'Arbo fruit soda
I don't have to tell you that everything was wonderful. Expensive, but wonderful. And inspiring. This is only the second time I've eaten in the cafe. We also had dinner there with friends maybe a year ago, although I can't remember for the life of me what I ate that night.
Between my own cooking and this lunch, I'm getting a handle on what signature Waters food/cooking is all about. It's not like other food, even in other upscale California restaurants. There something different here that I can't quite yet put my finger on. One thing I know by now is that this is food for the adventurous eater. New ingredients. New combinations. New ways of preparing food. I'm an adventurous eater. Early childhood influence from my father's side of family. I'll have to write more about that later.
Anyway, after lunch I bought a few things at the Andronico's grocery store across the street from Chez Panisse. I would have thought that store, of all groceries on the planet, would have salt-packed anchovies, but nooooo. I did bring home a celery root however, a couple Meyer lemons, a proper fuyu persimmon, some shriveled French olives, some fresh mozarella, walnut oil, and raspberry white balsamic vinegar.
Then it was off to the Emeryville Ikea to exchange the cabinet. Lattes at the nearby Pete's and then head for home. We stopped in Salinas for a bite to eat at Jack-in-the-Box. That was tough after Chez Panisse, but I survived. We got home about 10:30 and hit the proverbial sack.
No new recipes today, but plenty of inspiration and reinforcement. Not to mention great eating!
Carry on.
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