Friday, November 10, 2000
alcatraz then lunch at johnny rocket's with mikey, judy, berkhard, and patrick. nap. dinner with patrick at oritalia. drinks: altenhofen and evian. starters were a mixed greens (i wanted to save my appetite for the meal) and crab cakes. i had pork medallions with persimmon jam. patrick had grilled duck breast with thai black rice. for dessert, i had a carmelized asian pear with mascarpone and on the side some reconstituted dried cherries which they called cherry chutney. patrick had "chocolate bliss" which was chocolate mousse and banana mousse and chocolate cake in a shell of hard chocolate like a big truffle and on the side of the plate a banana sliced lengthwise and carmelized down the cut faces. with our bill came fortune cookies that weren't fortune cookies. each of us got an inch-sized coin-shaped almond tea cookie. these were placed over strips of paper with custom "fortunes" laserprinted on them, then wrapped in foil squares like a hershey's kiss. my quote said, "One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.—Virginia Woolf"