Thursday, February 22, 2024
Medium bowl of oatmeal with milk, cacao nibs, toasted sliced almonds, toasted shaved coconut, diced half banana; hot water. Worked from home. Siteimprove linkchecking, spellchecking, and policy work. Orgchart and related web page and people pages work all day. Lunch: falafel in pita, water. Patrick and I walked and rode Muni to dinner at Rustic with Lucie and Paolo. We shared: sparkling water, fritto misto, and tuna tartare. Lucie had orecchiette bolognese and a glass of orange wine, Paolo had oxtail with gluten-free penne, Patrick had fried chicken with delicata squash and a Venetian spritz, I had fried chicken with delicata squash and a glass of grillo. For dessert we four shared an order of marash ice cream. All food and drink were delicious. The marash ice cream was particularly interesting. Served with finely chopped pistachio, it has a thick, mochi-like texture that has the faint mouthfeel and smell of something cheesy. I don't think I've had anything like it before. Throughout the meal Paolo took photos of the dishes with his phone and accepted my offer to provide a second light source from my iPhone 12 mini. We talked about Ireland, Cork, Dublin, language, learning, SF State, Washington (state), Italy, New Orleans, Katrina, Tom Fitzmorris's Hungry Town, their Kitchen Table food-related reading series, Dalida, Traci Des Jardins, Arguello (which was the restaurant name I couldn't recall and which was formerly in the space now occupied by Dalida), SF Eater, and more. There was a small but noticeable service delay early in the meal after the fritto misto, and consequently our excellent server Dario T graciously comped the tuna tartare. A fine evening with fine food and fine friends. Patrick and I rode Muni home.