Tommy Toy's dinner

Yesterday, friday night, my parents and I went to Tommy Toy's, Uncle Alon's restaurant, and had dinner with the Yu's and the Chao's! It was so nice of the Yu's to invite us for dinner! Dinner was delicious.
Tommy Toy's is a very nice fusion of French and Chinese cuisine. It's really upscale. They would give us towels between the first few courses, and exchange our silverware between courses! And there were SO many courses! Glad they were smaller portions cuz otherwise I would have been WAY too stuffed. After each course I thought the next would be the last but no. It was a 5-6 course meal I'd you count dessert or not.

Robbie, Me & Jon

I sat between Jon and Robbie. Such gentlemen! Lol they'd get up when I returned from the bathroom, and push my chair in. At the end, Jon put my coat on me and Robbie held my purse lol. Fun night. Auntie Margo and Auntie Lily were a bit tipsy/drunk. They were really funny.

You had to be there lol

The first course was two fried shrimp and taro I believe with a small salad

2nd course- seafood bisque in a coconut w/ a puff pastry

3rd- ginger lobsters over glass noodles and a little salad

4th- quail stuffed w/ sticky rice in a noodle bowl and two 2 quail eggs

5th- parchment seabass w/ a few veggies, w/ fried rice

 Somehow, despite all this food, I also ended up eating robbie's asparagus, and finishing some of jon & robbie's desserts haha. not sure how that works... I always seem to finish robbie's food :).

My dessert: peach mousse w/ strawberry coulis!

Very nice and light

Jon's Blood Orange Tangerine Cheesecake

Robbie's Triple Chocolate Cake

I was content after the 3rd/4th course but I got some second winds or something! I was done with my dessert after 1/2 of it, but I somehow finished it cuz it was good. Then jon and Robbie were full of theirs so I helped them! My dessert was the lightest, then robbie's, then Jon's was the most dense. They were all delicious, in very different ways. Robbie's chocolate cake had a full, deep, rich chocolate taste, and Jon's had a tangy, sweet, dense feel to it. I'm surprise I wasn't more stuffed because I ate sooo much but hey i'm not complaining :). It was so good. What a fun 4 hours!

Chez Panisse!

Thursday night, mom, dad, Uncle Daniel and Auntie Maryann and I went to Chez Panisse for dinner! It was my first time there :). Initially, we thought we'd reserved a table in the restaurant, but it turns out we were in the upstairs cafe. I'm actually really glad we were in the cafe because the restaurant had a $75 fixed menu for the night which included porkloin (and I don't eat pork) so that would have been kind of a waste. Instead, we got to select our own entrees, it was cheaper, and try some of each since we all got different ones! Best of both worlds!

Dinner was delightful. I had eaten before coming because I got hungry :) and our reservation wasn't until 8, so I wasn't very hungry at dinner. I went mostly for the experience and seeing what Chez Panisse is like. I'm really glad I went! It's nice, but like most upscale fancy restaurants. It's nice that they cook with good, healthy, organic, local ingredients and produce though.

Dad, Auntie Maryann, Uncle Daniel and Mom

My yummy garden salad :)

Dad & Mom's seafood appetizer

Dad's roasted stuffed quail with spinach

Mom's Seabass

Our yummy blood orange sherbert with candied kumquat

 

Chocolate & Vanilla Ice cream with meringue

huckleberry & blueberry tart with ginger ice cream!

A delicious dinner :)

Working at CPS

So yesterday was my last day working in the alumni office at CPS. It's been fun working there for the past week and a half. I've gotten much more comfortable with the faculty after eating lunch in the faculty kitchen :). It's been great catching up with Julie, Jan Walt, Madame Knudsen, Dr. Jay, Katy, Tina, Jonna, and so many others.

I took this picture on Wednesday looking up at the faculty kitchen. It seems to represent my life a bit--  right now I can see a hint of the sun, but don't know yet what's on the other side. It's kind of exciting, yet scary all at the same time. 

Cafe Gratitude!

Today, mom took me to Cafe Gratitude for lunch! I'd never been there before, so she told me I had to try it out! Cafe Gratitude's message is "Cafe Gratitude is our expression of a world of plenty. Our food and people are a celebration of our aliveness. We select the finest organic ingredients to honor the earth and ourselves, as we are one and the same. We support local farmers, sustainable agriculture, and environmentally-friendly products. Our food is prepared with love. We invite you to step inside and enjoy being someone who chooses: loving your life, adoring yourself, accepting the world, being generous and grateful every day, and experiencing being provided for. Have fun and enjoy being nourished. Welcome to Cafe Gratitude! 'Let food by thy medicine and medicine be thy food'- Hippocrates".

Cafe Gratitude!

It's a cool place. Different than your normal restaurant. There's a bit of a hippy, laid-back, nice, calm atmosphere which I really like in the restaurant. Colorful photos on the walls. Mom says in the room connected to the one we were in, they have games on each table. Mom got me a t-shirt with "What are you grateful for?" on the front since that question really resonated with me. I'm definitely going to be wearing that shirt a lot because it just makes you think and appreciate everything even more, at least it does for me. I liked that they ask you the question of the day after you order, so you can contemplate it and/or discuss it. Today's was, "who do you love?"

The food was delicious! Mom and I shared three dishes: an appetizer, "I Am Insightful", and 2 main dishes, "I Am Elated" and "I Am Awakened".

"I Am Insightful" Spring Rolls

"I Am Insightful" spring rolls: avocado, seasonal fruit, carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes, beets, sprouts & fresh herbs wrapped in blanched collard greens. Served w/ thai coconut-almond butter dipping sauce & coleslaw.

"I Am Elated" and "I Am Whole"

"I Am Elated"- Special Enchilada Del Dia: freshly made spinach  tortilla (no wheat!) w/ today's sprouted seed filling, topped with spicy salsa verde & cashew sour cream (asked for on the side). Served w/ Mexican spiced coleslaw & brown rice. Today's seed filling had red bell pepper, kale, etc I believe. so GOOD! My savory favorite dish of the meal.

"I Am Whole"- Macrobiotic bowl: shredded kale, sea vegetables, quinoa, house made kim chee & sprouts with garlic-tahini sauce & teriyaki almonds.

"I Am Awakened"

"I Am Awakening"- Key Lime Pie: Creamy avocado-lime custard topped with coconut meringue in a pecan-macadamia date crust. So delicious! Mom and I were each only going to have one bite. Guess how that turned out. I ended up eating more than half of it! Each mouthful was like heaven. It has the texture and creamy-ness of the avocado tapioca drink mom got at tapioca express in the past, but better! It had great mouthful. Each bite made you close your eyes and savor each texture. The spoon, slicing into the custard felt like it was slicing a cloud. Each piece was so light and silky. It's like frozen yogurt, it doesn't really feel bad for you! The crust had the crunch of nuts and was a great contrast to the smooth, creamy avocado-lime custard. mmm, so tasty! I definitely recommend these dishes!

Such a delightful meal! Thanks mom! I had so much fun, and it was so healthy and tasty :)

Zao's! Another restaurant... CHECK!

We (Mom, Mason and I) went to dinner at Zao Noodle Bar (I always thought it was called "Zao's" until now, so i'm going to continue calling it Zao's) yesterday with Kelcie and her parents. It was really nice seeing Kelcie since I haven't seen her in so long. I'm really glad she and Mason are still such good friends. They're really cute together, giggling or laughing in Mason's case cuz I don't think he'd appreciate it if I said he giggled... heh). They've been friends for 3-4 year now. Time really flies!

Kelcie & Mason: goofy as always!

I love Zao's! I guess it can best be described as a thai/asian-fusion restaurant. I used to always get their Shanghai Beef & Chicken noodle dish, or one of their big soup bowls, but this time I thought I'd try something new. I got a yellow eggplant curry with chicken and mixed vegetables (I switched out the beef for chicken). So delicious!

 

Dinner & Dessert (delicious fried banana and coconut ice cream)!

Dad & Daughter :)

On Saturday, dad asked me if I wanted to see Avatar IMAX 3D with him. We'd already seen it in 3D the week before, so initially I was hesitant about how much I wanted to sit again for another 2:30-3 hours. But I wanted to keep him company and it was an incredible film, so I said yes. I expected the huge round IMAX screen, but it was actually not that different than the 3D version. Maybe slightly more vivid, with louder surround sound, and the film is digital rather than analog or something. But after a while though, you get used to and numbed to the 3D-ness which is sad. The first time was definitely better since we didn't know what to expect, and the technology blew us out of the water. The second time, our expectations were higher. But it was still really fun, the movie was still great, and I got to spend time with dad. I'm so glad I went with with you dad. Thanks :)!

Then we ate at asqew for a late late lunch at 3 pm. It was really slow (you'd expect faster service when you order at a counter but oh well), but really yummy after we asked them to heat up the food again!

Like father, like daughter :)

We had fantastic kabobs. I've never been there before, but the food's delicious, even if the service could be a bit better/faster. I got a mango ahi tuna kabob and a seasonal vegetable kabob over a pear, walnut salad with asian vinaigrette. MMMM! Dad had a thai salmon kabob and some kind of sante fe chicken kabob over the same salad as me.

I'm really glad we did this outing since I got to spend time with my dad. We used to go on 1-on-1's a lot when I was younger, but somehow, over the last few years, we haven't had many. I'm very grateful for the trip to New York we took together a month ago during reading period, and today because we got to catch up. I hope you had fun too dad!

"Places I Want to Eat At"

Ever since I left home in early August, 2009, I've created a "Places I Want to Eat At" list of restaurants and foods (listed in the side column if you'd like to see).

I've been craving Khana Peena's lunch buffet for about 4 months now so it was amazing when my mom took me to there for lunch last thursday! I ate soooo much there. My favorite dish there is their Chicken Tikka Marsala. INCREDIBLE. If you haven't tried their buffet, GO (5316 College Avenue Oakland, CA 94618). SO GOOD. mmm it's making me hungry even thinking about it now. I should have taken a picture of it so you could see just how delicious it was. I like to put the curries over salad, with a little bit of basmati rice. And of course you can't forget about their nan. amazing. I also like their vegetable korma, lentil curry, aloo saag (spinach/potato dish-- but i just like the spinach), etc. mmm such a delicious meal. I was full after about 1 1/2 plates, but nope, I couldn't stop because it was just that good. So I had at least another plate! After that meal, I felt more full than I had in ages. But it was very satisfying :). ahhh.

It was nice catching up with mom at lunch because we've both been really busy with work. I'm at school and she's busy with all her meetings! I'm glad we finally could spend a lunch together talking. We brainstormed a lot about my amazon book selling business and how it could help CPS. I might write a Pepsi grant soon! I'll write more about this later, perhaps. But thank you so much for taking me out to lunch mom! I really loved spending that time with you, and eating that delicious food :).

Usually I get hungry every 3 hours, but not today. I didn't need to eat again until 6:45 when Mas and I went to Zachary's (another amazing place which was on my list!).

Zachary's makes these delicious Chicago-style deep dish pizzas. Mason and I shared a small (serves 2-3 people so I guess we're each about 1 1/2 people!) spinach, mushroom and pepperoni pizza. Well, mason's side had the pepperoni. Mine didn't cuz I don't eat pork. It was so yummy. We had to wait about 40 minutes for the pizza but it was worth it. The wait was also nice because it allowed Mason and me to catch up a bit, when he wasn't doing his Chinese homework :). I'm glad we had a chance to have dinner together because we've both been really busy these past few days/weeks: he has homework and school and studying for finals which are next week, and I am working in the alumni office at CPS most of the day and spending time with other friends. So dinner was very nice.

So on Thursday, I've satisfied my cravings for 2 more restaurants on my restaurants-to-go-to-list. YESSS!

The next night, Friday, I checked off another place: Old Emeryville's Public Market! I've been hoping to go to the Afghan restaurant there for ages.

Mom, Mason and Dad at Old Emeryville!

I love their spinach chicken curry and their yellow curry so I was delighted that we finally went. Usually, they give me 2 kinds of curries over saffron jasmine rice and a bit of salad. This time however, they were really nice! I went there earlier, because we were waiting for dad to come before we ordered food, so I went over to check out the food. I promised the servers I'd be back, and they said that they would give me 4 different dishes for the price of 1 or 2 or something. I just laughed and didn't think they actually would do that for me! Thus, I was very surprised when they made my plate with 4 different chicken curry dishes :). I asked them to put the curries over salad, and a little rice, because I like the salad as a bottom now. It adds a nice crunch to each mouthful. They gave me my two usuals, a spicy chicken and another good chicken dish. I was SO happy!