Too busy eating to post . . .

For only the second time in three and a half weeks, I've had to buy my own lunch at work (scheduled lunch got cancelled at the last minute -- sad!), so I will take the time to start posting about various meals I've had so far.

My first day lunch: Tao
My associate mentor took me out on the first day -- I knew we were well paired when she told me that she and her husband had to go by the butcher shop where Bill worked in "Heat" on their recent trip to Italy -- and I really enjoyed it. If the two-story Buddha were a bit smaller, it would be ridiculously, but luckily it is so huge as to cross over into cheesy-awesome.

We shared the TAO Angry Dragon Roll with Eel & Kabayaki Sauce to start -- not sure what made it "angry," just seemed to be a pretty normal avocado and eel roll, but quite tasty -- and L says I get credit for introducing her to eel, of which she is now a fan. I got the Crispy Filet of Red Snapper with Spicy Thai Peanut Sauce -- pretty much what that description claims it will be, and I really enjoyed it, although I didn't find it or anything else we had to be particularly spicy (and I'm a bit of a spice wuss). Spicy Hoi Yin Eggplant was also good, but the garlicky Asian Green Stir Fry was fantastic. I'm a sucker for garlic + greens. Sugar Dusted Doughnuts with Sweet Yuzu Dipping Sauce were competent doughnuts, and their presentation in a white Chinese food container meant that I was able to take the leftovers back to the office for later-in-the-day snack.

Summer of Food = off to a strong start.

Summer of Food (and Work?)

So on the shuttle down to NYC tonight, I started reading Julie & Julia. (About a woman named Julie who decides to spend a year cooking all the recipes in Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking.) It's actually much more entertaining than I'd expected, and as a pesca-vegetarian who loves to cook, I find her more lurid descriptions of meat preparations -- excavating the marrow from a cow bone, for example -- both horrifying and fascinating. Like the food memoir equivalent of watching a car accident.

But I have a point. And it's almost related. The point is this: Maybe I won't cook my way through a famous cookbook this summer (okay, it's definite), but I'll certainly eat my way through some of the best restaurants in the city. So I am going to pick up blogging again, because how could I not? And the best part? As a summer associate, the majority of these meals will be paid for by my firm!

Stay tuned . . .