Friday night grateful moment

There was this thought, while I was on the road, that I might actually blog... seems almost humorous in retrospect. My days away were filled with meetings, learning, listening, absorbing. The evenings were filled with walking and eating. Blogging? Just didn't fit into the mix, especially with lack of pre-planning.

But I am here to share tonight! And looking through my pictures was a quick walk down recent-memory lane. You know that feeling, when you're home only 24 hours and it's like you were never gone? Trip? What trip? Yeah, that. That's where I am tonight...

But entirely grateful to be here--home, safe and sound!

This week held a great deal of interesting talk about all things "client." If you're in business, you have clients. And they have an "experience" with you. What is that experience, and how can you make it better? (Gone are the days of just calling that customer service, by the way.) Just when I thought (at the end of day two) that we couldn't possibly peel that particular banana any more, in unique ways, there were interesting and thought-provoking presentations on day three! Go figure. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to listen and learn, and to be reminded that the work I get to contribute to is quite interesting, in the spectrum of industries. Working for a big conglomerate making widgets, running call centers all over the country (or India)? Not for me.

Had to share this picture of the group we shared some space with on Wednesday:

Didn't actually see any men in black, though...

In the evening my work colleague Molly and I walked and talked and walked some more. And ate. We looked at a hundred (really) different menus online and on the sides of restaurants, looking for interesting, healthful food. I know, healthful? In New Orleans? Fresh ingredients don't just grow on trees down there, apparently. Or if they do, they drop directly into a deep fat fryer on their way to your plate! Our persistence (or was it pickiness?) paid off and we had really good food.

We went to Mr. B's Bistro, a little French restaurant with a sweet courtyard called the Grapevine, Cafe du Monde for beignets, and of course, Emeril's. Everything was entirely yummy.

A few of the sights we took in:

We took a streetcar out St. Charles Ave., to see beautiful old houses and ride past Tulane and Loyola. But about halfway out, the streetcar stopped, and the conductor told everyone to get off, that he wasn't going any further as there was work being done to the tracks out ahead. Meanwhile, we could see the other streetcar ahead of us, continuing on... something didn't add up. But when the guy tells you to get off, you get off. And catch another streetcar back into the city. We chuckled and thought he made a pretty good example of what not to do, from a "client experience" perspective...

I took quite a few pictures of houses as we zipped along in the streetcar, but when I went back and looked at them, they all looked the same. Essentially, part of a house (never got my trigger finger timing down perfectly) with trees and sidewalk, and the houses are very similar: most have columns, are taller than they are wide, and on narrow lots, with porches and shutters. I felt a little like we were in the middle of a movie set for something like In the Garden of Good and Evil, which I barely remember, and it's set in Savannah, not New Orleans. But, still...

I came home Thursday from an oddly quick-but-long day of travel to flowers from my sweet husband (he missed me!), a clean house and the anticipation of Seth coming home this afternoon. Grateful grateful for my guys. I am blessed.

And, pretty much immediately upon touching back down in the Valley, I stopped by the Blue Mountain Humane Society and picked up a little furry friend who had been waiting to come foster with us this weekend.

Meet General:

General is a seven-year-old Corgi who was surrendered by an elderly woman going into assisted living care. He's sweet as can be, and best of all, Chief seems to like him pretty well. There's the usual need for reassurance and affection, but no real overt snipping and jealousy. They seem like they will get along and become buddies, and it already feels pretty natural to have General here. I'm stepping out in saying that, as we're not being all official-like until the weekend is over, so keep your fingers and toes crossed that all will go well. So far so good, and whoo-hoo for not having to go through the puppy stage; I'm very grateful for that! 

I hope your grateful list is long as you head into the weekend! May you find rest and peace and anything else you're looking for! I will be looking for some extra zzzzzs to catch up on; travel is never kind to my sleep schedule.

Peace.

NYC Day Four: More walking and eating

This morning Corinne had a class from a flower guru that she wanted to attend over by the UN/Tudor Place, and I certainly know how to entertain myself in the city, so we parted ways at Starbucks and agreed to meet up for lunch... I headed down to Chelsea to a quilt shop I found somewhere online, probably a quilt blog... I was curious to see how the city folk would present fabric and such.

I arrived at the store just before it opened and was amused to see a clump of ladies gathered and waiting. I was the youngest person on the block, I'm pretty sure of that! I like hanging with the older ladies, it is true... I wandered the fabric, looked at the finished quilts and of course indulged in a bit of fabric for my stash at home. But I was definitely reminded that we have an excellent quilt shop in Walla Walla, and there's not much lacking from the selection I have every day. That was a nice reminder.










There's a quilt museum on one side of the quilt shop, with some beautiful pieces. This is where the husbands hang while the women wander the fabric aisles...

After a quick lunch at 'wichcraft in Midtown, we found ourselves some bikes to ride around Central Park and set off. It was a bit of an experiment in going against the grain--I think for most of the ride we were going the wrong way in the bike path, and thankfully no one yelled at us. That actually surprised me. But the signage was so completely lacking, we really had very little idea of how to get to where we wanted, and most of the time we accidentally arrived at a scenic spot. A little frustrating...

Regardless, though, it was a lovely outing, and more peaceful and quiet than Midtown, where Barack Obama and Mitt Romney were arriving at the Waldorf Astoria for some dinner or other, and the NYPD were out in full force.








Our final dinner in NYC was a doozy, in the best sense of the word. Corinne did the hard work of getting a reservation at Per Se, Thomas Keller's restaurant at Columbus Circle. I am still processing the experience, but it was definitely one for the memory books. It deserves its own blog post, once I've had a chance to mull it over. Alas, the lighting was such that no pictures were possible, so we just had to dive into each course and try to commit it to memory. Yeah, like that's going to happen.


Tomorrow morning it's back to JFF > AWK (ha, I wish that was the way the flight went!). Regardless, home is on the agenda, and I'm looking forward it! It's been a truly lovely outing, but home is always where my heart is. (That's you, husband.)

NYC Day Two: Sunny in the city!

Day two dawned beautiful and sunny. C and I hit the streets ready to explore, knowing that we needed to be available for a possible private tour of the NBC studios at 11a.m. We headed toward 30 Rockefeller Plaza with coffee in hand. Once we arrived at the outside of "The Today Show" studios, Kathie Lee and Hoda were interviewing Matthew Morrison of "Glee" fame (see below, really that's them through all those lights!) so we obnoxiously snapped pictures of the back/side of his head until security told us to get behind the barriers with the rest of the throng... Um, no thanks! We'll just keep moving along...


We had a quick breakfast at Bouchon while waiting for confirmation of our tour, which was ON. My sister-in-law's good friend Sheryl (who works at NBC) asked a co-worker and former NBC page, Marie, to give us a tour, which was fabulous! We saw the sets of SNL and Jimmy Fallon, passed by Dr. Oz's area, went into the MSNBC control room (very quietly, as we weren't supposed to be there), smelled the commissary (yum), and in general learned a great deal about NBC history and trivia. Very fun! (See Molly Shannon's Mary Catherine Gallagher get-up below. It was beside Dana Carvey's Church Lady costume--which was currently missing [?], and Jane Curtin's egghead outfit... that's before my time, I think?)



Corinne and our tour guide Marie checking out the Jimmy Fallon set.



We had 1:30 lunch reservations at the International Culinary Center (formerly the French Culinary Institute) in Soho, so we subwayed down to that general area and walked around for awhile, exploring.




A fabulous three-course lunch later (see my halibut above, and I bet you can't guess what I ordered for dessert, ha ha) and we were back out on the street, wending our way from Soho to TriBeCa, the East Village and Chelsea areas, stopping at Washington Square Park for a brief stop before continuing on to Union Square, where we subwayed back up to the Theater District, where we saw "Grace," a play with Paul Rudd and Ed Asner. It was very intense and dark-ish, but well done. After the play we had a quick Indian meal at a nearby restaurant and called it a day.




These boys were belting out some jazzy tunes in Washington Square Park and it made me think of Seth and how he might be able to fund college, while he's in college! They were good, and having a bit of fun too... had people dancing, even. Well, one guy. But he was very into it!

18,000 steps on the FitBit. Shops visited: Sephora, Apple, Purl Soho, Pearl River, DSW, Apple (again), Aerosole, Steve Madden... Notice the plethora of shoe shops there? Alas, nothing purchased at those... interesting. But oh how our feet were feeling those 18,000 steps...

NYC Day One: An excellent beginning!

We landed in NYC after a red-eye where Corinne and I both slept surprisingly well. A cab ride into the city where we dropped off bags, and away we went, walking over and up to Central Park South, where we enjoyed a quick breakfast of eggs and baked goods at Sarabeth's.


Then we thought, might as well head off walking to our next destination, Pier 83, where we'll take the Circle Line boat tour around Manhatten... many blocks and a blister or two later, we did indeed arrive at the pier in time for our jaunt.


Yes, we did wander through the craziest few blocks in the city--Times Square...

On our tour a zesty guide named John regaled us with interesting details on both sides of the Hudson as we set off toward the Statue of Liberty. We then dipped around the bottom of the island and headed up the East River, all the while soaking in the sights of so many beautiful architectural details.






What's that last picture, you ask? Why, that's a Costco! I saw the sign from the boat and just had to capture the picture for husband. That is one mega-Costco, fitting for a mega-city.

Crossing under many bridges, we finally found our way back on the Hudson side of the island, listening to "New York New York" sung by Frank Sinatra. Funny guy, that John. Funnier still was the lady who (with a little help from our friend Gallo) thought John surely must be speaking just. to. her, so responded to pretty much everything he said with her own, quite enthusiastic, responses. It was a very entertaining three hours.

Giving our blisters a break, we cabbed it to the World Trade Center Memorial. Quite a security process getting into the area, but completely worth it. The peace and quiet of the two reflecting pools dampen the noise of the city, and the cut-metal nameplates are a beautiful touch. You can search for a name on computer kiosks and they will tell you right where that person's name is located around the pools. And the trees that line paths between the pools are beautiful, creating a very serene environment. A really beautiful outcome, these 11 years later. I thoroughly enjoyed soaking in the sense of remembrance and solemnity, especially so with Corinne, who I spent the original 9/11 day with, 11 years ago, in San Diego...


"Generations do not cease to be born... and we are responsible to them because we are the only witnesses they have. The sea rises, the light fails, lovers cling to each other, and children cling to us. The moment we cease to hold each other, the moment we break faith with one another, the sea engulfs us and the light goes out."
-James Baldwin
(From "September Morning," a book of readings from the first 10 years of 9/11 memorial services.)

From the WTC we headed back up town to our hotel, just in time for the rain to start in earnest. We slopped through the rain to dinner with John and Wendy, friends from Walla Walla who relocated to NYC 8 years ago, and put our tired feet up while we phoned our dearests at home.


Wendy and I after a lovely dinner in the MetLife Building just off Grand Central. Pizza! A very fitting ending of our first day in the city.

Recent Seattle trip: The Book Bindery (and a wonderful visit with a friend)

hen one visits a lovely restaurant, it's good to get your thoughts together within a few days... or at least weeks. Even more than a book or movie review, a meal is filled with so many ethereal and evocative tastes, smells and visual experiences... pretty soon it's just a blurry, happy memory... (If, on the other hand, the visit is less-than-lovely, it's good to let it quickly fade, don't you think?)

My dinner the week before last with dear friend Kate at The Book Bindery was exactly that--ethereal and evocative--and is quickly becoming the latter--blurry, happy memory... so before it fades any more, here's a quick rundown of the evening.

(Since I'm pretty sure you didn't tuck this into your memory banks, Kate is the friend who took me to Tilth last year, after we went wedding dress shopping for her Big Day... Look how late THAT post was--MONTHS late. See how I've improved? P.S. Kate always finds the coolest places to take me.)

So we started with drinks... Kate had a customized martini, I think with lemon and ginger? (See, memory is fading so soon...)

While I stuck with the non-alc, but entirely refreshing cucumber-mint-lime tonic. It was very good.

The amuse-bouche: a shot of chilled spring pea soup, with basil oil. I could have eaten an entire bowl!

Somewhere in the evening, we had to take pictures, right?

Kate looking lovely and rested from her recent Southeast Asian honeymoon!

I would say the one surprise of the menu for me was the dirth of vegetarian options. I'm not a vegetarian, per se, but I often choose an option that leans that direction, especially in starters and/or salad courses. I already knew, going into the evening, that if the beef option had an arrangement/sides that I liked, I would be partaking happily.

So, as no starter really shouted "Eat me!" we turned to the cheese course to start (which was listed with the desserts). I'm a well-documented cheese hound, so this worked well for me. As you can see from the picture below, there were three presentations, all in their own little world, quite independent. The homemade graham cracker in the upper right, under the strawberries, paired the the blue cheese--that was amazing. But then, the whole plate was delicious...

Kate opted for the pan roasted mad hatcher's chicken with grilled chicories, vanilla-parsnip purée and black currant jus.

And I stuck with my beef-love and had the Mishima Ranch “Flavor Curve” with confit potatoes, creamed nettles, King trumpet mushrooms and bordelaise sauce. (You can see the beef looks a little rare. I did ask for medium, but it was a more than a bit rarer than medium... but very good.) I was able to create one of my Perfect Bite scenarios over and over, with a little potato, a little nettles (I thought of you, Kim!), a little beef and some bordelaise. It was delightful.

What's an evening out without a sweet ending?! Knowing that we were headed into a long night of royal wedding watching, we decided we needed fortification and chose two desserts that we shared.

Grapefruit granita with coconut cakes (I couldn't find the more descriptive/elaborate menu online, so you're stuck with my memory here...): I could have eaten a much bigger bowl of the granita but the coconut cakes, which was the real pull for me here, didn't deliver in texture and flavor to the same extent...

Churros and chocolate pot de creme: The churros came warm and were quite delicious. The pot de creme was equally delightful and I put some pot de creme on  some churro and the combination was really fabulous.

I know, you're thinking in the way I just described those desserts: Did Kate get to eat any of those, Sher? It sounds like you pretty much cleaned the plates... Well, you may be right. This is one of those moments where the memory has faded, quite handily... But in my defense, Kate is less dessert-y than most, and is fully capable of smacking my hand away if I'm eating more of her portion than I should. So I'm pretty sure she ended up with as much of the sweets as she wanted. At least I hope so.

As we were winding up our meal, Kate thought I should take a picture of the kitchen, as it was wide open on your walk by to the restrooms. It seemed like a good idea until I was actually doing it and then I got all shy and furtive, and ended up with a giant finger (I swear that's what that is) in front of my iPhone. Not exactly cut out for spy work, am I?

We retired to Kate and Tony's place, not far away, visited for a bit, then got a couple of hours sleep. At 2 a.m. we arose, put some tea on, and watched the Big Event. We were awake through the ceremony, and then napped after the Buckingham Palace viewing (and kissing), and then truly slept for a bit after that.

Really, a quite wonderful evening with a memorable meal at The Book Bindery, made better by the company, for sure.

Top Chef Masters, Round 2 (and a roundabout-very-late restaurant review)

o the cast of the upcoming season of Top Chef Masters has been revealed, and there are some fun and exciting chefs to watch. I know I wasn't a big fan last season--it was all too respectful and professional, I believe I said. Alas, I can't help but be excited to give the show another shot; I'm a sucker like that. Good food, good chefs... maybe a couple hotheads in the bunch, I'm sure!

The new season starts April 7 on Bravo! Plenty of time for the excitement to build between now and then...

Competing chefs for this season, and their restaurant (or, at least, their flagship):
Jody Adams -- Rialto Restaurant, Cambridge, Mass.
Govind Armstrong -- 8 oz. Burger Bar, Los Angeles
Graham Elliot Bowles -- Graham Elliot Restaurant, Chicago
Jimmy Bradley -- The Red Cat, New York, N.Y.
David Burke -- David Burke Townhouse, New York, N.Y.
Wylie Dufresne -- wd~50, New York, N.Y.
Susan Feniger - Street, Los Angeles
Debbie Gold -- The American Restaurant, Kansas City, Mo.
Carmen Gonzalez -- Chef Consultant, New York, N.Y.
Maria Hines - Tilth, Seattle
Susur Lee -- Madeline's, Toronto
Ludo Lefebvre -- Ludo Bites, Los Angeles
Tony Mantuano -- Spiaggia, Chicago
Rick Moonen -- Rick Moonen's RM Seafood at Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas
Mark Peel -- Campanile, Los Angeles
Monica Pope -- t'afia, Houston
Thierry Rautureau -- Rover's, Seattle
Marcus Samuelsson -- The Red Rooster, New York, N.Y. (This is odd. Marcus is usually listed as the chef of Aquavit... and The Red Rooster has no web site that I can find... mystery.)
Ana Sortun -- Oleana, Cambridge, Mass.
Rick Tramonto -- TRU, Chicago
Jerry Traunfeld -- Poppy, Seattle
Jonathan Waxman -- Barbuto, New York, N.Y.

Looking at all the different web sites for the restaurants just now was amazing--there is such talent out there, such diversity, it will make for a great season, I'm sure. They seem to be going with a broader chef base this time, fewer of the recognized "grand master" names like Chiarello and Puck and Bayless. There are a few bring-backs from last season--Ludo Lefebvre... Mark Peel... Wylie Dufresne--and I'm not sure the purpose of that. But I'm most excited to see how Marina Hines of Tilth of Seattle, does. I had the sublime pleasure of eating there late last summer with a good friend after getting together and trying on wedding dresses for her upcoming nuptials this summer. Well, she tried on dresses and I watched and gave thumbs up and down and inbetween...

Tilth fed us an amazing meal--one of those experiences where each bite is better than the one before, the portions are exactly the right size so you leave full but not stuffed and even have room for dessert. Truly a quintessential summer dining experience. One I am craving right about now when the freshest thing in the grocery store is... apples from cold storage? Can't really think of anything that is getting delivered right now that's not be trucked a gobzillion miles, or coming from cold storage...

But let's not dwell on that. Summer is coming again, eventually. And even though it's months later, here are a few pictures from the evening at Tilth. Forgive the iPhone shots, it's what I had on hand...

This amazing little appetizer had goat cheese on a cracker, with a sliced fresh fig on top. Wonderful.

 

Dear friend and bride-to-be Kate. 

  

Mid bite. A common look for me...

  

Ricotta gnocci. Light as a feather.

  

 Corn flan in corn soup. Amazing.

  

Another amazing soup, cucumber I believe...

 

Now it's really gotten dark in the restaurant; the candle has to come o-so-near. This is a dish of heavenly little squash--zucchinis and patty pan squashes, steamed just so with a nutty pesto on top. Summer eating at its best! I swear we ate dessert too, but I must have been in a slight food coma and forgot to take pictures. (That or it just got too dark.) If you're ever in Seattle in the Wallingford area, check out Tilth. A quiet, unassuming little house with a patio out front, very cozy seating inside, and wonderful service throughout the evening.

I know these pictures don't do the meal or the evening justice. It's a reminder that I should post immediately after the experience, since the summer menu is long gone (the food had much better names than I was able to tag above)... but this meal is in my memory forever. Thanks for a lovely evening, Kate! Let's do it again, soon!