California Eatin'
So continuing last last weekend's journey, Mosh and I were back in her room, after backpacking, deciding on dinner for Sunday evening. The choices were to eat at her house, or to go to Zibibbo, in adjacent Palo Alto. Somehow, while trekking through the park, we got on the topic of our favorite cuisines (I think I said French), and I'm pretty sure Mosh offered Mediterranean as her choice. The conversation went on a bit of a tangent as I expressed confusion about what Mediterranean actually entailed. Trying to conjure up images of Mediterranean food usually leads to me imagining a salad with a lot of olives and feta cheese. And that's it. So she brought up the Zibibbo, where she had enjoyed a good meal before.

Ultimately, we decided on going out to eat. I'm going to try to avoid my usual pitfall of waxing (insanely) poetic on food, but the restaurant's website has a menu for those of you who care to follow along. Our first order of business was ordering some fragrant shrimp appetizer that passed us as we were being seated. Unsurprisingly, we weren't the only table to succumb to the smell; our own appetizer prompted our dinner neighbors to inquire and order it themselves. This happened at least once more that evening. As an entrée, I ordered the pork loin, which came with a sweet glaze. Mosh ordered the hanger steak. Oddly, when they brought out the dishes, they placed them between us, communally. It wasn't a problem, since we were going to split them anyway, but it was a little strange. Mosh posited that this was just the way of the restaurant.

They were both pretty sumptuous, though the pork loin had the advantage of more mass. It was a little chewy. There's a better word for it, but the word I'm thinking of exists in Chinese and not in English. It was kind of like ham (maybe logically), but a bit spongier or softer. 'Spongier' isn't a word I usually like to associate with meat, but it was very, very good. The steak was perhaps a bit more dignified, since it was tender, and required less chewing. It was more yuppie-ish, I suppose, while the pork loin was hearty. The steak was tasty, but I'm having trouble remembering it, so it couldn't have been too remarkable. I do recall it being garnished with some tasty mushrooms, though. The pork loin was more intriguing, with its pomegranate glaze, and left a stronger impression. We closed out the evening with some coffee and chocolate cake.

Totally useless detail: there was a tree growing next to our table, and it extended past the ceiling. The decor/atmosphere was excellent.

After dinner, I left Mosh in her room doing homework, and I went to the on-campus Coffee House. I was unimpressed by the café's offerings, but I sat for a bit, reading a book of short stories from Mosh's bookshelf. Eventually I just started watching The Breakfast Club, which was showing on their TV. I left sometime after 1am, and we both went to sleep.

The next morning, I was surprised to find Mosh at her desk, skipping class. As she did some last minute work, I left to meet Christine, from the Stanford Summer Session a few years back, whom I hadn't seen since high school. We went with a couple of her friends to a sushi place in the brown-and-yellow-signs place. Our conversation wasn't as smooth as it once had been, but it wasn't uncomfortable, as her friends filled in the dead spots. It was good seeing her again.

I idled away my time online until Mosh got back. We decided to go to a café in the brown-and-yellow-signs place (I don't know what else to call it), which she said had excellent tarts. And they did. We indulgently selected five tarts, and I ordered a chai, while she got an Orangina. As we stood by the cash register, waiting for our items, Mosh clarified that the tarts were being eaten-in, not taken-out. The girl who was helping us expressed mild shock. "Is anyone else coming?! By yourself? Right now?!" The idea that our appetites were surprising secretly pleased me.

I don't want to say that we left the café and immediately went to eat dinner at her house, but I can't remember any intermediary activities that would say otherwise. Dinner wasn't spectacular, but it was serviceable, and it showcased some novel meat cupcakes. After dinner, we went to watch Mean Girls, which was thoroughly entertaining. I can't remember any choice moments as particularly funny, but I do recall laughing loudly on more than a handful of occasions.

The original plan for that night was to explore Berkeley, but on the ride back from Point Reyes, Mosh's car was afflicted with a Can't Go Past 45mph disease, so that plan was scrapped. I hadn't been looking forward to Berkeley in particular, but it would've been a new destination to mark off my map.

Tuesday was short, as I needed to get to the airport shortly after noon. We made a stop at a market with beautiful produce, as well as some slightly more exotic fare. I picked up some chocolate-covered coffee beans and chai mix. Among other things, Mosh got this amazing cheese; I can't remember the name of it anymore. But it was a marriage of three large stripes: mozzarella (I think), pesto (maybe), and sun-dried tomato (presumably; it was red).

It was strange seeing the Stanford campus again; the last time I saw it was in 1999, which was also the last time I had been in California. Being there brought forth feelings of nostalgia and bitterness, both of which muted each other. It was nice seeing buildings I remembered, though, and not feeling as if I was totally on the outside.
- posted by roger @ 1:32 AM (0) comments