Friday, December 31, 2004
Last night (or early this morning) around 2:00 AM someone left us a weird prank call. He or she simply said, "You guys are gay" and hung up. We laughed at the message. He or she might as well have said, "You guys live in San Francisco" or "You guys are American." Breakfast: Grape Nuts for Patrick, ginger cream of wheat for me. Donated money to the American Red Cross for earthquake-tsunami relief in southeast Asia and east Africa. Lunch: bread and butter, leftover stew. Napped. Snack: tortilla chips and salsa. New Years Eve with Patrick, Aaron, Jamie, Evan, and Demetrius at Jamie's place, where we stopped for about 90 minutes in the evening for drinks and socializing. New Years Eve with Patrick at Samovar Tea House: Course 1: Mahi Mahi Rice Stew paired with Darjeeling Peony White Rosette. Course 2: Broiled Prawns with Oolong Dipping Butter paired with Ryokucha Green. Course 3: Keemun Tea Glazed Quail with Stewed Xiaoxing Shiitake Mushrooms paired with Iron Goddess of Compassion. Course 4: Russian Blinni with Wild Salmon and Caviar Trio paired with Samovar Russian Blend. Course 5: Tofu Custard with Matcha Powder and Chocolate Shavings paired with 1950 Vintage Extra Aged Pu-er. Although I found most of the teas we tried overly bitter for my tastes, we still had a great time. This is a tea house, so we excused the quality of the service we received, which would have been puzzling for a fine restaurant. Nitpicky suggestions for next time in case anyone from Samovar is reading this: use cloth not paper napkins, serve hot dishes hot not lukewarm, remind the staff to pull soup spoons after the soup not after 2 courses later. Neither Patrick nor I are very much tea connissours, so we didn't think to ask for cream or sugar, but if you ask me, for some of the teas, it wouldn't've helped much. The Samovar Russian Blend was the bitterest, followed by the 1950 Vintage Extra Aged Pu-er, then the Ryokucha Green, then the Iron Goddess of Compassion (the title of which Patrick especially liked—what gay man wouldn't?). The only tea I really enjoyed was the Darjeeling Peony White Rosette. We were able to discern sensibilities in the pairings, too, with Patrick's palate more sensitive than mine. For example, the Samovar Russian Blend had slight flavors of grapefruit, and the wild salmon with which it was paired was served atop slices of grilled grapefruit. When midnight arrived, the staff called attention to the passing of 2004 by way of a (presumably) reproduction of an ancient Asian bell, tapping the bell once for each of the last 10 seconds of the year. We toasted with about a half ounce of complimentary vodka, then shared a quick kiss over our candlelit table. Patrick resolves to make no more resolutions after I remind him of his resolutions (still unresolved) from 2 years ago.