Maybe because I have too much free time on my hands these days, I've acquired some pretty "granola" habits. They're sort of fun so I'll share:
Thanks to this Add an Egg post that was featured on Tastespotting, I found a Gourmet mag spread featuring some simple Japanese food recipes. Everything looks mouthwateringly tasty and easy to do. I'll definitely be trying the shrimp and daikon salad (ume-shiso! YUM) and the spicy glazed eggplant, and the black cod recipe adaptation in the Add an Egg post also sounds amazing.
There are a lot of things I miss about Japan (hello, suddenly a full-time job seems like a glorious thing), but I'd say the food ranks near the top. This is not so much the food that's available for you to purchase and prepare at home, but the options that you have when you go out to eat. It's not like you can't find good Japanese home-style food here, but it's really hard to get it on the cheap. And forget sushi and sashimi - that's not what I'm talking about. Sadly, unless you go to a pricey "Asian tapas" -style place, your other options are often limited to a mediocre slab of misoyaki fish, pork katsu, or teriyaki chicken. BUT, I guess we have a pretty fantastic selection of Japanese food here, in California, compared to the dearth of any decent ethnic food in Japan.
Traditional Japanese cooking is quite light and healthy, and ingredients shine for their freshness and subtle flavors. If compared to, say, typical Chinese food, it can seem rather subdued, but it's also much easier to stomach on a day-to-day basis. Hm, then again, Chinese food is nectar and ambrosia if you haven't had it in a while. Maybe what I'm saying is this: Japanese food is to Chez Panisse as Chinese food is to Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles (...drool). Both definitely have their strengths.
After settling back in, first on my agenda was to try two of the most-hyped establishments in the area: Barefoot Coffee Roasters and Mama's on Washington Square. (Really, if I don't end up working, this is a clear indicator of how the next year will pass for me: deliciously.)
Barefoot was a kitschy little cafe with some really nice-looking coffee roasts...although the ennui-struck teenage/early-20's crowd leaves something to be desired, and the dead-sprawl-suburbia location isn't great.
Because I don't have a grinder, I typically get 150 grams (~2 weeks-worth) of fresh-roasted beans, and have the roaster grind them up for me (in Japan). Unfortunately, Barefoot only lets you buy huge 1-lb bags of roasted beans. I guess you can only specify small amounts of beans/grounds at larger chain stores like Starbucks or Peet's. SIGH. So I didn't buy beans, but the cappuccino I had was delicious, and you could see the barista putting a lot of attention and care into the cup (not just the foam art!). The register guy, though, was bizarrely friendly - TOO friendly. It was exactly like the weird uber-polite-service-robots you'd get in Japan, except this was an uber-casual-jive-talking-best friend-service-robot. JUST TALK TO ME LIKE A NORMAL PERSON! I can see how it would be a refreshing change from your typical disgruntled 'bucks barista, though. I wasn't overly impressed with the overall atmosphere, but I'll be back for the coffee.
Mama's was pretty good. It was my first time being back in the city after two years, and it was a great way to get reacquainted...except for the wait. It was 10am on a Thursday, and we had to wait an hour-and-half from line to food. It's such a tease - you wait in line outside, then you get in only to have to wait in line to place your order, and then after you order you wait some more to get seated. Then, you wait a good while at your table for the food (although the drinks come fast). It's not unlike waiting for a Disneyland ride, when parts of the line are hidden from you and you keep thinking the end is JUST around that bend.
All the horrible waiting aside, the place is an adorable, homey corner shop with an all-day breakfast menu and a pretty enticing lunch menu. My spread was a heart-attack-inducing eggs benedict with prosciutto and tomatoes, with red potatoes on the side, and my sister had chocolate cinnamon french toast with seasonal berries. My dish was perfectly seasoned - no alterations/additions necessary - and the textures were sublime. I really enjoyed the meal...but I think it was 45-minute-wait-great, not 90-minute-wait-great. It's not stuff you couldn't make at home with a little practice, and it's a bit pricey for what you're getting. But, if you love breakfast and you're in the city, I think it's worth considering.
FOOD! AGH! The sheer number of tiny eateries and cafes in the city was making me hyperventilate (with joy). I want to move out there so I can be in food heaven...I plan to get some stupid job downtown just so that I can take fabulous lunch breaks.
This has been an amazingly productive week. With naught but an expired license, and dubious insurance to boot, each day I've had to pester some poor family member or friend (thanks, guys) to drive me to the DMV, mobile phone store, electronics store, post office, grocery store, or bank for random errands. Random errands essential for reestablishing me as a real card-carrying American, that is. (And let's not forget the occasional pizza-and-gelato run!) I've probably gotten more done than if it had just been me hauling my lazy ass into the driver's seat. And I finally feel like I've got all my little life details back in control, which is a really nice feeling.
And yet, I also feel like I'm now a guest in my own home. My sister and I are sequestered in the loft while some friends of my father live in our room. I think I'll be living out of my luggage from Japan far into the foreseeable future. With much less space and the same number of responsibilities and expectations, family-home-life can be kind of rocky (only occasionally). I worry, because after our last move, the two of us had our rooms combined. If we move again to Colorado, I'll probably be thrown in a spare suitcase and left there.
I saw the new Miyazaki movie - Ponyo on a Cliff / 崖の上のポニョ - yesterday. It was, as you might expect, extremely adorable and heartwarming! Sigh, awww, too cute.
Thankfully, we have Miyazaki Hayao back working on this one, despite his previous hints at retirement and the last Ghibli film put forth by his son (Tale of Ged / ゲッド戦記 - definitely lacking, IMHO).
Also thankfully, it was extremely easy to understand in Japanese. There's something giddy-exciting about seeing a Ghibli movie debut in its home country...even if that means being surrounded by 5 year olds and their parents and extended families who reserve whole rows of seats such that you and your friends threaten to be separated to far reaches of the theater.
Good movie, but definitely aimed at the under-10-or-rabid-Ghibli-fan set.
So, a strange thing happened to me this morning. I was having a rather adventurous dream about being held hostage and then setting a huge fire to thwart my captives. As the fire in my dreams was blazing, I was woken up in real life by the blaring alarm of my smoke detector. It was signaling fire, but groggy inspection revealed no smoke, flames, or even high heat around my apartment, much less the detector. It persisted even after I tried the disabling switch, and I ended up having to take the batteries out to stop the grating noise.
It seems fine now, but here's hoping I don't dream about The Big One tonight.
