Ü

Is this not the perfect symbol of happiness? It's the grand opening of Yogen Fruz in San Francisco.
















There was a nice Korean lady from Toronto teaching the new staffers the zen of Yogen Fruz.
















Here, the twin owners Terrence and Clarence use samples (and buy one get one free special) to lure passer by-ers in. I got to chat with these two guys and to my infinite delight, they said they were planning to open a store at the new Hamilton Shopping Center. The Hamilton Shopping Center that is being built IN FRONT OF MY WORK!!!
















Next I wandered over to the Ferry Building. There was a super overpriced farmers market there. $2 for a small bundle of basil? Is that right? I can get a big 4oz box of organic basil at Trader Joe's for the same price. Anyways, I know there is a cheese shop in the Ferry Building so I decided to go look for my elusive Montasio Cheese. I was very disappointed to find out that not only did they not have the Montasio, they didn't even know what it was. It's an Italian PDO (Protected Designation of Origin) cheese! You reading might not know it but I'd expect someone whose living is cheese to know it. Sad, but I did buy some toys from the Sur La Table store.

Stop 2 on my impromptu search for Montasio led me to Cheese Plus.
Me: Do you have Montasio Cheese?
Lady: Yes.
Me: !!!!!!!
Lady: But we're out of it.
Me: Nooooooooooo!!!
Lady: But I know somewhere that probably has it.
















Lucca Delicatessen. Will you have my cheese?





















Cute place. Good selection of meats. Hanging meats.
















In the words of Rescue Ranger Monterey Jack, Ch-che-ch-che-ch-che-cheeeeeeeeeeese!!! This is a good sign. Wheels of cheese just laying around. How many places in SF have you seen with a whole wheel of Parmigiano-Reggiano just sitting on the back shelf?
















GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!
















I have Montasio!
















I also got a really freaking good sandwich there. It makes the Italian Deli in Novato pale in comparison.
















Back home with Yogen Fruz schwag.





















I met up with Kevin and Jeremy for Iron Man at the Kabuki. There were scores of overdressed (for just going to the movies that is) women at the theater that day. Turns out they were all there for the Sex and the City movie. Ah, makes sense. I forget where I read this but Sex and the City is the female version of Star Wars. Guys geek out (some of them dress up) and go see Star Wars. Girls geek out (most of them dressing up) and go see Sex and the City. The Kabuki theater also does something interesting. You get assigned seating. This oh so cleverly allows you to show up early, not worry about getting a good seat, and liquor up at their lounge before your show starts. Well, it seems like a good idea. I don't know how many howling plastered women were at that movie. I'll have to ask Akiha since she was apparently at that show. Ran into her on the street afterwards.
















After a dinner stop.





















And having not had a sufficient fill of frozen yogurt, I made a stop at Jubliee.
Very tired. Need more yogurt.

Weekend Working, Memorial Food, Folks, and Family.

Having to work all weekend for a big deadline, I was glad to be able to "escape" from work. Here at Anthony's Memorial Day BBQ.
















And the reason I could escape was because brother Gabe and Sue were in town visiting. Well they were at a wedding but today they were visiting.
















Everyone watching various people playing Grand Theft Auto 4. Lots of silly entertainment just from us driving around.
































Ben's Pesto Shrimp.
















Skip to dinner at Shimo. Gabe was happy to try several new sushi items including Herring Roe, Wagyu Beef, Blue Fin Tuna (Hon-Maguro), Walu, and some other fish. He ordered every item on the sushi special menu. Also on the dish, Tamago, Alaska roll, Tekka, and Uni.
















Detail of Herring Roe. This was weird and crunchy. Not quite the texture I'm looking for in sushi. One of those interesting to try but probably not necessarily more than once things.
















Walu - a.k.a. Escolar
















Sue could not eat raw fish due to her stomach invader. She's having Tempura Udon.





















At the Tian Tong place, Gabe ordered Durian. What a smell!!! >___<

Etsuko's Gambatte Itterashai

Location: Santorini's Mediterranean Cuisine
I think the food was overall decent but the service was quite dreadful. Since we were in a big group and content with socializing though, it really didn't affect the experience. But seriously, there is no reason why I should have had to do their job for them. Mandatory 20% Gratuity is pretty disproportionate to service. Had they been super busy and were pressed for tables, it would have been justified. I think they just need more servers. It did not look like they had enough.
















Anyhoo, our guest of honor Etsuko is taking a new job out east in Albany, NY at Vicarious Visions. She'll be joining Romy out there. Who knows if they will be on the same project?
















picture courtesy of Akiha's camera.
















































Santorini Salad - greens with beets, feta, walnuts, roasted red peppers.
















Smoked Pork Chops
















Chicken thing. Good sauce. Could have been juicier but it was not dry.
















Seafood Linguine
















Lamb Slouvaki
















Chicken Slouvaki
















































Etsuko dancing with the belly dancer.
















Being Artsy
















Being silly
















picture courtesy of Akiha's camera.

Finally!

I've been wanting to know and find this game since around 1990 when I played it in LA at my sister's Gan-Ma's house. With a name like Bio Miracle Bokutte Upa how could I ever have forgotten? True true, it's just that I just never knew. I love the concept of this game. Not only can you turn your enemies into platforms by... hitting them with your baby rattle??? Well... well you can also bump your inflated foes and launch them as an offensive salvo of antagonistic irony. Too bad I cannot get this game! edit: I misread, it is coming out on the Wii VC. Still maybe I will just play the emulation of it instead ;)

Egg

What did you eat today?

You just got served.

I don't know who or how, but someone here CERTAINLY just got served. I think I'm gonna go with Capitalism. Yeah Capitalism, you just got served.

This was a triumph, I making a note here...

Yes, huge success.
















So my high concept for dinner tonight was Scallop Risotto. I used some dried scallop (Two medium pieces --> $1.09) to create my broth that would be the base of the risotto.
















I used a minced asparagus (with just a little bit of garlic) soffritto. Here you can see the broken down scallop in the risotto as stringy strips.
















And with scallop risotto, what else but SCALLOP! Pan seared with ground black pepper, kosher salt, and a tiny bit of minced garlic and ginger.
















Oven roasted asparagus.
















And the final assembly. The only thing missing was some complementary dishes. This portion really should have been split between two people with some other dishes to complete the meal. A dish with a sweetish sauce would have been great. I will probably feature a full set of this (and other) dish in a future dinner party.