migblog

dinner at chez panisse consisted of the following food items:

hors d'oeuvres:
- goat milk ricotta cheese with fava beans and mint
- baked scallops with meyer lemon zest
- fresh oysters
- navarre chardonnay

main course:
- pan-fried sand dabs with potatoes, asparagus, and herb mayonnaise
- house zinfandel
- sparkling water

dessert:
- pixie tangerines and dates
- pine nut praline ice cream with chocolate sauce and chocolate wafers
- single espresso

yeah, it's all it's cracked up to be, and more. especially if you're more than willing to pay for it. (the bill was extravagant. ask me if you want to know how much dinner at the cafe was.) the food was delicious, magnificent, awesome -- while you're eating, you're bound to ask "how did they do that?" as well as "how could food taste this good?"

the service was impeccable. it's like you don't even know they're doing something until whatever it is they've done -- refill your water, clean up your table, bus your dishes, take your wine glass, whatever -- is done. constant checking, no hassles. they're there, but it's like they're not. and how they execute their jobs is fantastic.

the ice cream itself was worth the whole trip.

i wasn't daring enough to try the twenty-three dollar glass of port for dessert, but maybe next time. there were also a couple of items on the menu that looked particularly pleasing: the squid, the duck, and the nettle-pecorino pizza. but those are for next time, for sure.

in any case, my gustatory yens have been satiated for the time being. three hours of eating and being in good company; that's what it's all about. alice waters was up to something when she started up this whole thing.

and in other news, how does one get rid of annoying spyware? i can't load my browser properly without it going nutso on my computer. every time i click something, my cd drive opens up, or my speakers emit this horrible buzzing noise, and sometimes it take forever to load a friggin' word document -- A WORD DOCUMENT -- that it's beginning to piss me off substantially.

i'm practically done with midterms. the next big thing to hit miguel square in the jaw would be cal day preparations, and even those aren't too bad, save for a few sleepless coffee-powered evenings and a few missed classes. but all in all, the week has been fantastic, and it looks like relief isn't too far in sight.

the depressing foursome are making a comeback. watch out, san francisco: we're coming to get you!

yup. good week.

posted by Open Source Food @ 11:29 AM