A Fine (Clean) Dining Experience

It's that time of the month again ... you know, my wine club! Tonight we dined at a little place called Mill Valley Kitchen. The web site for the restaurant can provide a great glimpse into the atmosphere of what you can expect at MVK. It's a very clean, bright experience that hints at the menu of "local" fresh, clean cuisine. I will say they make it super easy to eat vegan or gluten-free - the menu is nicely labeled. So, it made my ordering a delight!

Some folks might encounter this food and be concerned about the frou-frou aspects ... but the food delivered - while it was clean and healthy, it had taste that made it stand out.

My first course was a warm spinach salad, with red onions, mint, kalamata olives and goat cheese, tipped with medium-rare sirloin. Unfortunately, my stupid phone/camera went on the blitz and what appeared to have been a great photo when I was there ...  uploaded like this ...

All I can say is that it tasted much better than the photo looks. The goat cheese and kalamata olives were a great combinations of salty creamy and the spinach was just slightly warmed - not wilted.

Instead of ordering a main course, I decided to order three of the sides/snacks: first was a gingered-shiitake quinoa. Right now I am on a serious shiitake kick. I love these mushrooms, there is something about the flavor that just makes my mouth dance when I am able to savor the little morsels. Next was a lovely coconut sweet potato mash ... the texture was a smooth, silky, creamy puree with a hint of coconut. They melted in my mouth. The last item I had was there roasted vegetables, with a plethora of vegetables from eggplant to mushrooms to asparagus.

Here's the sad excuse of a picture my phone ended up taking ... (Not sure if you can even see anything ... urgh!)

Both courses were enjoyed with (gasp!) a Pine Ridge Chenin Blanc Viognier (yes, a white wine in February!) But it was a perfect balance with all the veggie goodness.

To end the evening, I enjoyed a maple panna cotta - topped with black sea salt. This girl likes salt, and I love maple ... so it was just the perfect bite of dessert to top off the evening.

Other than my phone camera resulting in an epic fail! the evening was a culinary treat. Unfortunately, on the way home, I almost met a deer horns to headlines. However, my reflexes were quick and I am now safely home, thinking longingly of my take-home box of goodness in the refrigerator!



The Day of Love

D and I have been together for almost a dozen years. I cannot believe that (and yes, I already know that I am going to get something commissioned for our next wedding anniversary, since it's pottery and I happen to have some connections ... tee hee) But I will say even after a dozen years, he doesn't cease to amaze me.

So, Valentine's Day was very apparently here ... in full force, the mobs at the floral shops was mind-boggling, the chocolate stores were practically bought out. Everyone was looking for how to exemplify their love. D and I don't make a big deal out of the day. (Our point is why do we wait for one day to demonstrate our love ... ) Now with K at school, we recognize there will be some external influences who may increase the perceived importance of this day. Fortunately, he's just in Kindergarten, there's not too much importance placed on it.

D and I agreed we weren't going to go out of our way, we don't want our boys to feel obligated about the holiday. So, on my way home, I stopped by a bakery and picked up some French macaroons that they had on hand (and looked at the crazy special section they had set aside for those who had participated in their V-day preorder.) And I proceeded on my way home.

I checked Facebook on the bus, as I do pretty much every day, and saw a note from my MIL who commented about how D made a special Vegan lunch for his dad (it's his birthday) and that they spent their afternoon playing as a family. It made me smile, he's a good husband, dad and son. When I got home, he showed me a special dessert cookbook and chocolates his parents gave us for V-day, and then he made an off comment about how Cupcake (one of our favorite bakery spots) makes gluten-free cupcakes. I gave him this look ... and asked him why he found that out...

He had called yesterday to see if they made gluten-free goods and then ordered a special cupcake for me. (He also got cupcakes for his parents and the boys and himself.) I shared that I got macaroons ...but clearly, he showed me his thoughtfulness was once again amazing and special. I can't believe he went out of his way to order me a special cupcake and then drove 30 minutes to pick it up. This is just an example of how wonderful and thoughtful my life partner can be ... especially when I am not expecting anything.

In Search of Perfect Education

Okay, confession ... it has taken me until now to watch Waiting for Superman. Yes, the documentary that rocked the airwaves last year as it took a critical look at the U.S. education system. It took me two days to watch, as it was my commute entertainment (thank you Netflix streaming and my smart phone -- you do make the bus ride slightly more enjoyable.) And it left me asking lots of internal questions.

First, I always watch documentaries with a bit of skepticism. I mean, documentaries are told through one person's lens. Yes, they use interviews, testimonials and other people's stories to shape the film ... but through the power of narrative and editing ... it is still one perspective. And documentaries are typically created to leave a powerful impression. To make you think, make you question, and cause an emotional reaction. Waiting for Superman did just that.

As a parent, I have made the commitment to be as involved as much as possible in my children's education. So, I attend the PTO meetings, volunteer as much as possible and I also have agreed to represent my son's school as part of a special parent review board of the school curriculum. Part of me has gotten this involved so that I can cultivate the right relationships to ensure my children receive the best experience they can.

Part of this is so that I can campaign to try to ensure my son gets the First Grade teacher I want him to get. Yes, it's a political campaign ... and watching a silly documentary has only affirmed my convictions to do my part to ensure my children get every opportunity in life that I can help make available. Of course, it is as equally important that my children apply themselves and put forth their own personal effort. But I also now expect that the educators and leaders in the school system (because, wow is it ever a system) do their best to ensure every opportunity possible.

Because at the end of the day ... none of us can do this alone.

Color Blind?

Earlier this week, as I was brushing K's teeth, we somehow happened upon the topic of the different colors people come in. (One thing D and I are always amazed at is when we ask him about kids in his class, and he tries to explain what they look like, he never refers to them as a color - he'll explain they have long hair, wear glasses, have dark skin or light hair ... but that's where he keeps the description: light or dark.)

So, here we were talking and I asked K what color he was. He quickly said he was white (which admittedly, he does get a bit pale in the winter compared to the summer.) But I was sort of shocked that he said white, because his coloring is much closer to his dad's coloring. When he was younger, he described himself as beige. It made me wonder what will my son identify as when he's older. Will he see himself as white, Asian, or something different?

Just the week before, I was with a friend of mine, who's husband is also a different ethnicity than she is and they have one child and another on the way. She asked me what ethnicity we had put on our sons' birth certificates. I told her I couldn't remember off-hand, but if I could only pick one ... I think I picked Asian (of course, now I really should go look.) We talked about how it's difficult to determine what's best for your child ... is it to pick an ethnicity that is considered a minority and encourage your child to leverage their ethnicity for scholarships, etc.

It's a tough choice for a parent ... but it quickly becomes your child's choice when they get older to select their own identity. I read an article recently about how children who are half-Asian are selecting their other half when identifying themselves for college (regardless of that half, be it African-American, Caucasian, Hispanic) because schools that have you identify your ethnicity supposedly have higher standards for Asians, so while they may score high on their entrance tests, they have to score even higher to be considered for admittance. While I can only hope - that if that is true - it will change before my children go to college that this will change. I don't want them to have to feel like they ever have to deny half their heritage for any reason.

I hope that one day, the world will truly become color blind.

Travailing to a Dining Experience

Wine Club 2012 has officially kicked off. This year, we are once again dining at local restaurants in the hopes of great wines and exquisite foods. There's a little more order to the year, with it always being the third Saturday of the month. Which is nice from a scheduling standpoint.

So, we kicked it off at a little place called Travail Kitchen and Amusements. It's a quaint little restaurant that's been voted Best of and even written up in Bon Appetit magazine, I believe. So, we all had really high hopes for what the evening was going to bring. On the words of a good authority, I was told to get there early, especially if we dared to go on a weekend. I could never have guessed how much weight that warning really had.

The restaurant opens at 5 p.m., so I suggested we meet there at 5:30 - which is a bit early for us normally, but since we were anticipating a wait, figured it would balance out. When you get to the restaurant you need to go back to the bar and have your name put on a waiting list ... we were the 15th name on the waiting list. While you are waiting, you can order from the bar, and also order blue cheese tots, fries or a cheese plate. We drank water.  At around 7:40 - we heard our names called (and I will tell you the first names on the waiting list did not get called until around 7.)

So, after two hours of waiting, we were all quickly anticipating what we'd eat. One of my fellow clubbers and I decided to share the 10 course tasting menu for two (at only $80, it seemed a great deal). First, let me tell you, it's a lot more then 10 courses, because in between many of the courses, they bring you little amuse bouches. So, I don't even know how much food I ate, because even though they were tastings, it was a ton of food and completely worth the price!

Now, I probably won't do the meal justice, because I should have been taking notes - and there were hits and misses, but I'll try my best... To start us all of, we got a cranberry orange bombs. Our server told us it would explode in our mouths. He was right, it did explode. There was a weird gel left over in my mouth, which didn't make me thrilled, but it was a good indicator of the gastronomy tricks we'd see throughout the night. The first course was a beet salad. It had a plethora of beets on it and was good. I'm not a huge beet fan, but I am learning when prepared correctly, I can enjoy them. Our second course was an Octopus slider - surprisingly good, and I thought about not eating the bread, but I took the risk (I'm not feeling too bad today, so I suppose gluten in small doses I can maybe tolerate.) Our third course was a cold slice of beef brisket. I enjoyed this, it had some crazy horseradish foam that was really yummy. I think it was after this course, that we got our interactive amuse bouche ...

Yes, that is right, we ate off the back of our hands. They did a veggie option for the two pescatarians at the table and a duck pate version for the other two of us. (I was impressed that my husband had no problem identifying my hand (it's the one on the lower left.)

Now that we were done with our cold appetizers, it was time to move on to the warm appetizers ... we were brought a delightful mushroom soup, that was poured over chili popcorn, herb cheese and button mushrooms. It was phenomenal, perhaps one of my favorite courses. I have come to learn through my cleanse and eating out lately, that this girl is a huge fan of a good soup. Which is partly why I'm thrilled that we've declared Soup Sundays in our house (at least for the winter!) After the soup we were brought agnolotti - which was a cheesy, creamy pasta with a little Serrano on the side. It was like a warm hot ham and cheese sandwich, good, but the cheese definitely owned the dish. Next we had some scallops - which were great, but the winning piece of that dish was the blini with a salted caramel mousse (truly, truly amazing! could have asked for a whole plate of those ...) After the scallops, I think is when we got the sea bass. It had a black Bearnaise, which I admit was perhaps my list favorite taste experience of the night, and maybe my least favorite course.  (Okay, so if you're tacking that is seven courses so far - and I am sure I am forgetting an amuse ...) After the sea bass, we were brought out a sun dried tomato tortellini amuse ... nothing too special, but not bad either.

Next on the menu was the rabbit dish. It was rack of rabbit and rabbit pate. I enjoyed it, it tasted like smoked sausage. The tiny rack of rabbit was a little disturbing, but it didn't stop me from nibbling on the goodness. The ninth course was the steak course ... it was a sous vide hanger steak, with more of that good horseradish foam. This might have been my second favorite course at this point in the evening. It showed some great color and the flavors mixed well.

So, we knew our last course would be dessert, so the pescatarians ordered dessert and we sat in anticipation ... well, who knew ... they serve you a warm-up to dessert. Yes, a warm-up to dessert, which was three mini dessert bites (frankly, this could have been dessert!!) I think we were all awe-struck when he said that it was merely our warm-up. (And how brilliant is that idea anyway - perhaps more restaurants should take it on.) So, there we got a piece of dark chocolate with peanut butter powder, a cherry marshmallow with caramel powder ... and a heavenly vanilla maccaroon. (Oh, and I totally forgot after the rabbit course, we were given guava granita to cleanse our palettes!)

So, then dessert arrived, it was a chocolate paradise! There was a chocolate mousse with marshmallow cream that tasted like the best cup of hot cocoa in the world. And then there was a fudgy, decadent little brownie. There was also a dehydrated chocolate chip thingy, I wasn't fond of that, but the other elements totally made up for it.

(Oh, btw, with dinner I had a delightful albarino - I had thought to go red, but I can't pass up an albarino when I see one.)

So, was the two hour wait worth it ... yes, admittedly ... it was. Just to have that experience. I don't know if I've ever eaten that much food for such a great price and my company was great, so I can't complain. (D did text me at 10:30 though wondering where I was since it was so late and I'd left at 5!)

The one lessen we did learn was the meaning of travail (we looked it up while we were eating ... and found out it wasn't a positive meaning ... and very fitting of how we felt about waiting.) But lesson learned, I probably won't go on the weekend ... or if I do, we'll get there at 4:30 and wait outside ...or put our names on the list and know we can walk away for two hours.

Dammit - I hate it when trendy proves right.