ForkAndPen

Good Sushi, Bad Sushi, and Surreal Moment #24

Day 2

Bad Sushi

So a problem with this diet is that once you decide to try out a new place - you have to eat what you get - and more then that, you are pretty much done for the night.

Because I knew I was going to go help a friend move out at about 6:00 - I got my Sushi early at about 1 - and put it in the fridge at work till about 5:30 or so. That was a bad idea. My combo of Rock'n Roll and Alaska Maki + 3 pcs. Sushi (tuna, salmon, and fluke) was just well - cold and not very good. Oh well I learnt my lesson.

Of course after helping move my friend out I had 2 pieces of pizza. Yup there is that damn pizza foe of mine. Your trusty ForkAndPen is week. Not that it is an excuse but I had just carried some boxes AND the pizza was free. Turning down free pizza is like saying no to world peace (at least in my mind).

Day 3

Good Sushi + Surreal Moment #24

Ahh such a contrast to the day before. I had my trusty soy-milk and Special K (which really has been an easy good breakfast) for breakfast. Lunch was a simple cup of chicken soup. And then sushi!!

I went to Koi - which I have been to once before. This place is not really that cheap but is so good. The quality really is a step above most places around here - and I bet that if you were to seek out a place like Koi it would cost the same or more. After the all important miso soup came conch sashimi. First time eating conch for me - and wow it was sweet and tangy. Some pieces were chewy others were soft as can be. It came with a few radish pieces, lemon, and a small dish of ume (plum) salt. Displayed behind the conch was its shell - wow! No mistaking that you are eating this little guy. Next came menegi sushi, young shoots of the wakegi scallion, with bonito flakes sprinkled on-top. Interesting sharp taste. Last to eat was Anago (Sea Eel) from Japan. This was actually pretty large - a good piece. Unlike eel that I usually get (which I love but is usually pretty crisp and has lots of sauce), this was more like ordering a fish dish. Very light - grilled slightly (I think a bit more would have been good) with one or two brushes of sweet sauce. And that was dinner. It was perfect. I was full and had not really eaten much (calorie wise). However this diet works out i can honestly say I love eating this much sushi. It really is showing me what is out there - encouraging me to try new stuff.

Ok and now for the surreal moment (NOTE: this is not food related). I went to this bar after eating to see a good friend's roommate's band. A bunch of other bands were slated to play. I see one of the band's listed is dealership. I am thinking that is odd - there is a band called dealership from california which has in it Jane from Umami Tsunami and Game Girl Advanced - two sites I have read for many years. Of course i think there must just be some brooklyn band with the same name. Nope! It was them. They are on a tour across the country. The show rocked and I even got to say hi to Jane. It is so odd saying hi to someone who doesn't know you at all while you know way too much about them. All in all though a very cool moment. And just so you know their new album rocks - so go and buy it.

And to bring it all back to the topic - I did NOT have anything else to eat last night - the sushi satisfied my hunger and my mind (which increasingly i am understanding as the driving force behind eating). And the experiment continues.

SILK + SUSHI + ?? = ForkAndPen's new diet

It was inevitable.

I have not been watching what I eat for awhile now, probably since I ended my vegetarian ways. A new world was open to me. When I became a vegetarian I was excited about it but as time went on a new love of all kinds of food came over me and all I wanted to do was eat odd new dishes that I could have never imagined even existed. All this manifests itself into a lot of eating. And good eating at that - there have been copious amounts of burgers , hot dogs, and pizza - oh the pizza. While I am not at all abandoning my favorite foods - I need a break. Enter Silk + Sushi.

Yesterday morning after eating my usual whole wheat bagel and egg whites (made very well by Atlas Cafe on my block - they put a lot of pepper in the egg) I felt pretty damn awful. It is just too heavy for me that early in the morning. So in my sugar coma morning phase I surfed the internet for food stuff and found Silk + Sushi - a wonderful diet experiment by a Vancouver couple. They decided in an effort to help their waist and wallet they were going to eat 2 glasses of Silk Soymilk for breakfast, 2 glasses for lunch, and then have sushi for dinner, for an entire month. Brilliant. Go to their site - their recounts of dinner and revelations they are having are great.

So basically I am trying a modified version for the next two weeks - and of course will document it here. My modification is a bit of leniency and the addition of a little more food. Breakfast will be Silk Soy Milk and something else - some fruit - cereal - one egg and rice - who knows. Lunch will be something like a salad or soup - maybe some rice and chicken - something simple. And then dinner...sushi! And not too much sushi - I think for the past 14 or so years I have been ordering too much sushi - not any more (at least not these two weeks). My final modification is to give me one day to eat something different - preferably home cooked.

You might be thinking that this doesn't sound like much of a diet but already (1 day in ) I am feeling better. We will see. The idea is to jump start a new way of eating where I eat more to savor and enjoy then to shovel food in my mouth and in the process consume a good amount of sushi.

Here is a breakdown of day 1 (plus the dinner before day 1 where I decided to do this)

Day 0

Spring Sushi (That isn't the name of it but it sounds close - 3rd ave and 13th)

roll combo - tuna/yellowtail/california roll - miso soup
Total - $12

Day 1

Breakfast: 8oz Plain Silk Soymilk + Special K

Lunch: 2 slices of pizza (screwed up already!! free lunch at work on Wednesdays - oh well hopefully only the first slip up)

Dinner: Tab Tos - this is potentially the best place for sushi in the east village - family run (no tax!) and such good sushi - cheap too.

Salmon Special Roll (Salmon, Ikura, Avocado, Cucumber, Masago, and White Seaweed on the outside) + Tuna Tataki Salad (free!) + Eel cucumber roll (eel was grilled fresh when we ordered) - Total = $14

It tasted great and I wasn't overly stuffed or tired like I usually am finishing dinner.

I think this diet is going to be fun.

71 Clinton

Downtown, a Trailblazer Matures - NYTimes reviews 71 Clinton

Best Fortune Ever

(Picture courtesy of Marianne)

Le Fooding

"All the events begin at 7 p.m. Word travels fast when free food is involved, so arrive early. Admission is free but requires a pass phrase. You can find it the week before on Le Fooding's French-only website, http://www.lefooding.com, or ask those in line. The website also has details on each event's wines and chefs." more...

Goodbye Julia

Julia Child dies at 91

Lonely Planet

Lonely Planet World Food Guides: Japan, Thailand, and India

Don't kill that lobster and other moral conundrums

You know him you love him (at least I do) : David Foster Wallace - and now he has produced probably the best written Gourmet article ever.

Boston Globe writes about some of the controversy surrounding the article

Restaurant Week 2004: Il Buco

Cozze - sauteed Bouchot mussels with lovage and chili flakes

Vellutata di Melone - chilled crenshaw melon soup with crisp Jamon Serrano and aged balsamic

Polenta con Gallinacci e Zucca - Anson Mills polenta with chanterelles, baby zucchini and marjoram

Tagliatelle al Ragu di Agnello - fresh egg pasta with Jamison Farm lamb ragu

I can't recall exactly what the dessert was - I think it was a lemon tart - but I can say for sure that it was so good it hurt.

Relish

I got this awesome friend who lives in Brooklyn. She knows a lot more about food then I do (her grandmother owned a restaurant for a long time)

a conversation between us about two months ago

AF (Awesome Friend) : You know you should check out Relish - the place is amazing - its in Williamsburg but away from all the stupidness.

Me: Yeah sounds cool - I don't know though I suck and will just forget about this place and not go because its in brooklyn

Ok maybe thats not word for word but its pretty close. I finally listened to my smart friend and went (with her on her birthday - yup it took her birthday to get me there). Great place. We sat in the garden and had quality food for pretty cheap. My halibut [**Edit : Scallops!! not halibut - how could I mess that up - so soft - seared - oh well the brain doesn't work sometimes **] was cooked just right and had this sauce - oh that sauce was addictive - slightly burnt butter with garlic, lemon, and ginger. The texture was perfect. I almost asked for a bit more then put my head down and remembered that I was given plenty. The desserts are not to be reckoned with either (and knowing people that work there as my awesome friend does helps the whole matter).

What have we learnt:
1. listen to your awesome friends.
2. Go to relish - I hear brunch is good too.