Sunday, December 24, 2023
Medium bowl of oatmeal with milk, flax meal, cacao nibs, toasted slivered almonds, toasted shaved coconut, blueberries, diced half banana; hot water. Helped Patrick with much baking, mostly by washing dishes. Lunch: delivery from L&L Hawaiian Barbecue: two half and half lunch plates, both with mac salad: bbq chicken, chicken katsu, bbq beef, kahlua pork. Patrick napped while I showered. I organized and titled photos on Flickr from the Los Angeles and New Orleans trip. Dinner at Frances with Patrick. We prepaid $125 each, gratuity included, when placing the reservation. The set menu: oysters, passion-fruit-verjus mignonette; mushroom custard, hen of the wood mushroom, chanterelles, sicilian chili crisp; dayboat scallop crudo, winter citrus, fennel confit, togarashi; parsnip cakes, kimchi relish, puffed black rice, xo sauce; star route lettuces, purple daikon, house levain, burnt mandarin dressing; tagliatelle, veal and pork bolognese, lacinato kale, pangrattato. For main courses, Patrick had the wagyu short rib, sunchoke, broccolini, coriander caper bordelaise and I had the steamed gulf snapper, creamy cauliflower, blistered brussels sprouts, fines herbs. Dessert: gingerbread yule log, caramelia mousse, pineapple quince ice cream. All food and drink were delicious. Patrick said it was hard to pick a favorite course and that the parsnip cakes, the short rib, and the tagliatelle were all contenders. Timing between courses was noticeably slow at times. Service by Katie C was excellent. Patrick drank a glass of Delecheneau Bel Air chenin blanc; I drank a glass of Presqu'ile Santa Barbara pinot noir. At the end of the meal we paid only for the two glasses of wine plus tip—about $50. Afterwards we rode Uber to 15th Avenue House for a Christmas Eve party with Phil, Drew, Tai, Yang, Igor, Danny, Annita, Cricket, Sean, Richard, Michael, Quyen, Dave, Bernard, and others whose names I didn't get or remember. A feast was available, but we partook very little having just eaten. Cricket brought and shared a Tasmanian coffee liqueur which was delicious, and Drew pulled out a bottle of Firelit, Blue Bottle batch 7, in case anyone wanted to compare the two. Patrick met Bernard for the first time. Patrick and I chatted for a few hours before tiring and riding Uber home.