Is it food or friends we hunger?

Phil and I were visited by an old friend this weekend and the itinerary was based around food. Brunch at Cuba Cuba. Afternoon drinks at Can Can. Dinner at Comfort. All of our old rest stops. So, it made me think of another layer to food that is not always so obvious. It's the memories that are made around the table. The conversations, laughs, stories that help us savor the moment. So, cheers to Lizzy and Catherine for creating this blog. Let's get a dinner date on the calendar soon -- especially since I missed Lu Lu's!

Food for Thought

Mark Bittman takes a break this week from posting drool-worthy food porn to bring you the article "Rethinking the Meat-Guzzler". Though it flies in the face of my well-documented love for meat, he has a point. Who knew that the average American eats a half-pound of meat a day? He also gives a shout-out to Michael Pollan's In Defense of Food, which is on my to-read list. How can you argue with this wisdom?: "Eat Food. Not too much. Mostly plants." Anyone read it?

The Helmand, Boston

I may be breaking the rule by posting a review of a restaurant that is far from accessible to Richmond but I feel like I would be doing a disservice by not spreading the word. While in Boston a few weekends ago I had an abundance of dining pleasures -- from authentic Chinese to a gourmet Brunch at the Ritz to a French dinner by candlelight. But of all my eating adventures, my favorite was The Helmand in Cambridge. This is an authentic Afghanistan restaurant. The owner is supposedly the brother of Afghanistan's President and they also have a restaurant in San Francisco. Anyway, the atmosphere was perfect and the food was so flavorful I'm still dreaming about it (read other reviews here)! Since you won't be able to venture to The Helmand, I'll go ahead and give you the recipe for one of their appetizers which was truly to die for. Kaddo: baked pumpkin with a yogurt sauce, topped with a delectable meat sauce. Probably doesn't sound too good but just trust me. If you ever get to Boston or San Fran, look'em up. It's totally worth it. You won't forget the sex that happened in your mouth. (I can't believe I just said that!) I'm now on the lookout for any restaurant in the area that might serve up the same kind of food. Any recommendations?

Tandoori at LuLu's

Obviously, my culinary company on this evening was top notch, but this place was just cool. I respect anywhere that can make an open kitchen look industrial, efficient, and appetizing at the same time. While I dont think I would love the open booths in the main room, I enjoyed being tucked around the corner with a big group in an intimate setting.

I have yet to go to a top notch Indian restaurant in Richmond. A good substitute is the Tandoori chicken from LuLu's. It was moist, tender, and amazingly flavorful - no easy feat for a difficult dish that is typically dry and easily overcooked. Literally some of the best I've ever had. I can see why one of the servers eats this every night.

SI! Amigos

A most unlikely yet fabulous spot to enjoy a bit of The New Yorker. A late, rainy Wednesday night. The couch, upstairs, at Si. I needed something to accompany my glass of Spanish red, and vacillated between dates wrapped in bacon and the cheese fondue. Something about the description of Serrano and Fontina cheeses baked in a bechamel sauce with a center of homemade apricot preserves convinced me to try this little $8 gem. I lathered the warm, creamy, sharply sweet mixture onto slices of Billy Bread. An apricot half slid back into the ceramic bowl. I put down my magazine and exhaled, sinking back into the sofa, to fully appreciate this moment of perfection.

Phil You're Crazy

I'm glad you like Bin 22, and I do too....
Just don't expect that you can go there some warm afternoon say around 4pm to enjoy some wine on the porch.... because they'll be closed for the entire beautiful afternoon. How French indeed. They close every afternoon so they can clean up from lunch... and I guess, get a free medical checkup, have a pack of cigarettes and lament over lost love. Quelle dommage!!! I love the place, but when you have outdoor seating, at the very least, give us balmy Saturdays. Maybe they didn't get the memo about the popularity of leisure activities on Saturdays. Maybe they're too existential to care.

One Saturday morning during their brunch, I got Toast there, and it took forever. I don't know the brunch etiquette. Is it table service, or do I get in line at the counter? Okay, I'll get in line, and now I'm watching the guy wait over the toaster, drift off a little, then get startled when the Kenmore Twin Toastamatic pops. An hour later, he's jellying the toast like a sleepy person in his pajamas. He's making swirls in it and staring at it like, "coooool." (At this point there is a line going out the door, and they're rocking two toast slices at a time.) Man this is awkward. Why am I still standing here? You know what, Albert Camus junior? Due to a sudden rush of ennui, I don't care about toast anymore. In fact, everything is absurd. I'm going to the beach to stare at the sun and question all of life. Wait! You were there yesterday! Weren't you the guy burning ants with a magnifying glass and flying a kite in zero wind? I remember now. Yes, exactly! It was around 4pm and I was craving a glass of wine. Well, at least you have all that money from this morning's toast rush. Carry on. I'm not gonna tell you how to run a business.

Bin 22

(posted by Lizzy on behalf of Phil)

As of late, I have been catching the most delicious buzz from bin 22. I can't tell whether its the food, the drink, the company I keep. Maybe its the combination. Don't really care which it is. I just like it. Greg and his crew have created part of what I was meant to do: eat little bits of tasty cheeses, meats, breads, fruits and then wash them down with wonderful wines all the while being held in the nice comfort of the place. mmmm. Phil.

Bacon, Bacon, Bacon, BACON!!

I'm obsessed. In the last 10 days, I've consumed bacon, bacon salt, bacon chocolate, I've even read about bacon vodka. But the one that really made my heart skip a beat (okay, it might have actually seized up a bit) was the lamb bacon at Six Burner. Yes, friends: LAMB BACON. Same part of the belly where pig bacon comes from, but on a LAMB. Not crispy like you'd expect - I'd liken it to the fatty parts of a steak that you push aside when other people are watching, but that you secretly savor when you're eating alone. There was a whole slab of it, served atop a bed of local grits and doused in a strange but wonderful coffee/balsamic sauce. I shared with 3 other people, which is likely the only reason I'm still alive to talk about it.

The waiter said it best when we asked what the deal was with this "lamb bacon" on the app menu: "It's amazing; but you wouldn't want to eat it every day". "Why?", we asked. "BECAUSE YOU WOULD DIE".