Foodie Saturday

[browngirl]

Due to the generosity of several people who love me, I spent a beautiful Saturday out of the house being a foodie (and drinkie, I guess).

xiphias and cheshyre took me, temima, and their friend J to Eastern Standard, a restaraunt I hadn't dared dream of affording --- but I'm getting ahead of myself.

When we got to temima's residence, a famous and gorgeous shared home in Dorchester, the lady whose house it is (I recognized her but she didn't recognize me, since I'd only ever been in her house for big parties before) took us on a tour. It was really nice to see the square-boned, warm and lovely house without 150 people in the way, the bookshelves made the place look like an annex of the Library of Dreams, and the stand mixer is mighty enough to have his own name (Hob, for Hobart) and gorgeous enough to make me coo and xiphias tear up. And everyone talked up my baking to our hostess, which made me blush very much. *beam* She gave all of us us an invitation to return for tea and reading, and I really hope I get a chance to take her up on that.

It's that kind of house. I want to write about that house one day.

So then we drove up to Eastern Standard, where Jackson Cannon presides over the bar (I could write a post about Mr. Cannon, but xiphias has probably written a better one. He's in the vanguard of the movement to rediscover the beauty and art of the proper cocktail, and a founding member of the Jack Rose Society). We met J (a friend of xiphias and cheshyre via xiphias's mom rebmommy, who is the kind of incredibly wonderful person who would find and befriend in college someone so nifty she could then be friends with her friend's son and treat him and his friends as equals. J is awesome of herself, but I was also really impressed by her open friendliness to people so much younger than she is; trust me, my parents' friends still remember that they met me as a puling infant, and treated me accordingly last time I saw any of them.) I tried not to trip over my own feet as I gazed around in wonder; even more beautiful and sophisticated than the room were the waitstaff, and even more gorgeous than they was the food. Oh, my God, that food. The perfectly cooked stuffed artichoke. The fresh and briny oysters. The mussels in their fennel cream sauce! J, who also had mussels, asked for spoons for us, mostly so we wouldn't lick the sauce out of our plates.

And then there were the cocktails. cheshyre, as befits her Knowledge-Spreading Powers, brought a stack of books about cocktails, and we looked them up, discussed their ingredients, and generally spent some time in that lovely state sometimes achieved by mixing friendship, learning, and alcohol. I tried to take notes on my cocktails, but ended up rather forgetting under their influence. But what I managed to remember: I started with a nonalcoholic "Stormy Monday", Lime juice, bitters & ginger beer -- that was delicious and stomach-settling. Then I had a Pom 75, a sparkling flute of pomegranite juice and champagne sharpened with gin, and a Pink Lady, full of froth and yum. And also our waitress brought us a complimentary cocktail, the Last Word (?), which tasted like a flower garden, the yellow chartreuse giving it a flavor that was complex rather than complicated. We tasted each other's cocktails, too: xiphias ordered a Jack Rose, which tasted like... if I were going to name a cocktail after Cap'n Jack Harkness and Miss Rose Tyler, after meeting them in some smoky little club somewhere, it would indeed taste like this. He also got a Budveiser, the real one from the Czech republic, and cheshyre got something in a martini glass that was golden and strong and tasted like a broad-shouldered apple.

By dessert I was happily heavily tipsy, and there was rum in the tres leches cake, and it's a good thing I hadn't had any more drinks or I'd've licked that plate too. Replete with culinary joy, we wandered out into the sunshine and into Commonwealth Books (the bookstore in Kenmore Square that is not B&N), where I pretty much sat in a chair, watched everyone look through books and talk to the clerk (who was young, scruffy, liberal, and politically active), and looked at the books temima brought me and talked to her, which last I should make time to do much more often. *grin and wave to temima* I think I started falling asleep, and cheshyre very kindly drove me home, where I pretty much fell over under the weight of pleasure. *waves and blows kisses to cheshyre & xiphias*

When I woke up a little I checked my email and found a dinner invitation from bikergeek, to go out with him and WG. So of course I accepted. We went to the S&S, I think because... how do I put this? If someone could eat at Eastern Standard every day I think I would be impressed, awed, maybe a little scared. The food is just so impressive, it's a treat, it would be too much every day. (Disregarding calories.) Whereas the S&S's food is uncomplicated and soothing, and while I wouldn't (being not rich and interested in cooking) I could see how someone could eat there every day. Thinking about that difference, and talking to WG, who's been sick, poor man, I ordered the broiled salmon, which was beautifully cooked and richly delicious.

And so, full of good food, I pretty much rolled from bikergeek's car into the house and went to bed. *blows him a kiss*

(Next --- to read the 1880's articles cheshyre & xiphias gave me about cocktails and the general wacky tenor of life then. And read about cocktails in general. And write that story about Jack, Rose, and the Jack Rose cocktail. And eat salad all week. )

Comments

[baranduin.livejournal.com]

This is one of the most luscious LJ posts I've ever read! Thanks for sharing in such lovely detail!

[browngirl.livejournal.com]

*blush* Thank you. I mostly just wanted to write down all the details I could before I forgot them!

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

J is on LJ as felis_sidus. She does prefer to keep her real life name separate from her online name, to the extent possible, so referring to her as J is perfectly good. But calling her felis_sidus is also good.

And, yeah. It is easy to see why felis_sidus and rebmommy have been friends since they were freshmen in college.

The thing is -- that respect and equality that she treats us with? That's how she treated me as long as I can remember, which is at LEAST as long as I had language. She's one of those people who believes that children are human beings who may have a smaller vocabulary than you, and may have less experience, so you may have to explain more background to them to give them context for things, but they are otherwise basically just the same as other human beings.

It would be misleading to say that felis_sidus likes children, I think. I think it'd be more accurate to say that, for the most part, felis_sidus likes people (except when given reasons to feel otherwise about a person), and that children are a subset of "people". I like to think that I got that attitude from her. Well, her and other folks I grew up around.

I've also mentioned, I think, that felis_sidus told me, when I was in junior high school, that anyone who says "these are the best days of your life" is totally full of shit, although she didn't use those words (she doesn't swear a whole lot). And that high school was better than junior high school, although still not GOOD, but that college was good-to-great, and that the rest of your life from there on got better. I think that every geek should have an older geek around to tell them that.

[browngirl.livejournal.com]

One of the many, many reasons I love you is that I meet the wonderfullest people through you. *big grin*

I shall have to pop over and tell her hi, I do believe. Thank you for giving me her LJ name.

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

Incidentally, Lis was telling me how MUCH she enjoys taking you out to eat. The only thing better than enjoying wonderful food is enjoying wonderful food while watching someone else enjoy wonderful food. Since you're someone who truly appreciates wonderful food, we get almost as much pleasure from your enjoyment as we do from our own.

[browngirl.livejournal.com]

*blushes a great deal* Plus I'm amusing when I'm drunk. :D

(Seriously, thank you, a *lot*. I had such a good time it is not to be believed.)

[micheinnz.livejournal.com]

Czech Budvar has got to be one of the finest things in the world.

I really need to get to Boston, don't I, just so I can go to dinner with you.

[gingicat]

I personally would LOVE it if you came to Boston. I'd even clear the house of gluten completely if you're that level of allergic.

[bikergeek.livejournal.com]

I'd love to meet you in person after corresponding with you by email and newsfroup all these years.

[browngirl.livejournal.com]

You definetely need to come visit! So I can hug you and cook for you and go out to eat with you and also hug you, and hug you again, and buy you things to take home, and also hug you!

[aprilkat.livejournal.com]

Wow, now that's a post worthy of a true hobbit (if hobbit food-appreciation tended toward the gourmet).

Almost like eating and drinking with you. Thank you. :)

[browngirl.livejournal.com]

Hey, hobbits appreciate good solid food and yummy drinks, and so do I. *beam* Seriously, thank you. I just wrote this down to remember it, really. But I'm really glad people enjoyed it!

[temima.livejournal.com]

You wrote a better post about the day than I could. Oh, and I had the Lemmy Tum Tum (which is a pink non-alcoholic drink with ginger and lemon), a Harpoon UFO, and a Chocolate Frappe (which is more like a chocolate French soda with some kind of peppermint liquor, but whatever). They were all beautiful and yummy.

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

Also, half of my Budvar. :) I couldn't finish my drinks.

[temima.livejournal.com]

Some of your Jack Rose too. If I remembered, I would have ordered the Sazerac.

[browngirl.livejournal.com]

*blush* Thanks. I just wrote everything I could remember, really.

It was wonderful to be out with you, from the Grand House Tour onwards. *huggles*

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

Cheshyre's drink was the Commonwealth Cocktail, which is a drink that Jackson Cannon made up specifically for Eastern Standard. I don't know what's in it, except that it's based on Laird's applejack.

And the other thing about eating like that -- I think I mentioned that, in general, I eat FEWER calories when I go to places like that than I do at home -- because I get satiated on pure pleasure and taste before I get satiated on raw caloric value.

We're going to have to take you to Cragie Street Bistrot for the Chef's Whim one of these days. That's the two times a week that they clear out their pantry, and they just make up stuff randomly out of whatever they've got, and you get five courses of whatever Tony Maws, the chef, chooses to feed you. And Tony Maws uses that time to play around and just see if he can impress the heck out of people while cleaning out the kitchen.

[browngirl.livejournal.com]

*makes notes*

We're going to have to take you to Cragie Street Bistrot for the Chef's Whim one of these days.

You are too good to me, you know that? Oh, I would absolutely love this.

[bercilakslady.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad you had fun. I'm going to have to take you to the lovely Burmese place soon. It's near Herrell's in Allston, and they have fabulous food.

*hugs*

[browngirl.livejournal.com]

I've never had Burmese food! What's it like?

[dan-ad-nauseam.livejournal.com]

I don't know. I've never had a Burmese, only a generic shorthair.

[bercilakslady.livejournal.com]

Locate Burma on map. That's about what it tastes like. Yummy!

[susanscookietin.livejournal.com]

You beamed from the post(!)

*feels absolutely happy for you*

[browngirl.livejournal.com]

*blush* I guess I did! Well, they made me just that happy. :)

Thank you, you know. A lot.

[fitfool.livejournal.com]

awesome! That sounds like a wonderful night out with fine food, fine drink, and best of all, fine friends. I haven't eaten at Eastern Standard either but your post makes me want to go there.

[browngirl.livejournal.com]

Oh, it was absolutely awesome. You should definetely eat at Eastern Standard if you get the chance. And drink. Most definetely.

[fitfool.livejournal.com]

oh darn. And I see I just missed a Class of '97 happy hour at Eastern Standard last night. It would've been so perfectly timed if I had gone after seeing your post..