It All Comes Down to the Scallop

I went to dinner last night in the city...the city being Philadelphia. We went to a restaurant called Sole Food, which was great despite my poor attitude. It wasn't totally poor, but I had had a concept in my head of what the night was going to be like, and it didn't work out that way and made me cranky.

The food was great, the company was great, the wine was decent...it was a fun evening. Here's the thing. I ate two appetizers for dinner, and one of them was called something along the lines of Pancetta Crusted Sea Scallop. Scallop. I didn't pay enought attention to that word, and when the food came I definitely had A pancetta crusted sea scallop. It had some sort of delicious corn salad with mushrooms and a piece of lobster with it. I'm not complaining about it, but I was just really startled to see one sea scallop. The bowl itself was HUGE, but the rim was about five inches out from the actual bowl part that would hold about a cup. So, the bowl was tiny, the rim was gigantic...like the plate probably had a 15 inch diameter...and in the middle of it was a single sea scallop.

It seems to be the general trend in fine dining. And, frankly, I'm fine with smaller portions (helps with my Weight Watchers, but that's another post). There is no need to feel disgustingly stuffed after eating out, but I did chuckle over my $12 scallop. Like I said, I'm not complaining about it; I could never have made anything that tasty. It did just give me pause when the massive plate came out. I guess the idea is that you're paying for the experience. I'm happy to say we had wonderful service and a very attentive staff, but sometimes restaurants don't deliver. My feeling is, if you are going to be brazen enough to charge $12 for one scallop, you had better be prepared to make it worth it. Fortunately for all involved, Sole Food did.

The rest of the meal was Yellow Fin Tuna Tartare, Brussel Sprouts with bacon and apples, and Chilean Sea Bass. All of it was great, but here is something I am going to complain about. The tartare (news to me that there is an e on the end) was so spicy I couldn't eat it. I will admit, my tolerance for hot is pretty low, and I am often overwhelmed and gasping from things that small children have no problem stomaching, but this was ridiculous. My dining companion ate the tuna with minimal sweating, so it worked out, but if you are going to make something nose-hair-singeingly spicy, then mention that on the menu. I think this is the third time in as many restaurants that the tuna tartare was laced with chili oil and I couldn't eat it. I know what you're saying - if this is happening with any regularity, why don't I ask before ordering? Duly noted, and now I will. The sea bass was amazing, and there were a number of other things on the menu I would have ordered had I been hungrier.

I'll have more to say about fine dining trends later.

The Inaugural What

I think maybe the only thing harder than coming up with a name and URL for my blog, is coming up with something to write. It’s the first post and that’s a pretty weighty thing. Well here it is folks! The inaugural…the inaugural…the inaugural what? Diatribe? Seems a little harsh. Rant? Too negative. Brain dump? I have never really been a fan of that concept however aptly named it may be. I think I need a plan. Are you like this? Whenever you need to do something, something that feels big, you need to do it perfectly. My house is messy because I can’t organize it perfectly. It sounds like an excuse for being lazy, but I assure you my friend it isn’t.

Ok, on to the plan. Or perhaps purpose is a better word. So, on to the purpose of this blog. I am sure you all have better things to do than listen to me talk about myself. Or, maybe you don’t. I don’t really know, but I am going to try to make this more interesting than that. This blog will be about food, wine, movies, books, my likes and dislikes (but I’ll try to make them useful for you too), commentary on current events, my struggle with finding the purpose of my life (you like how I threw that one in there?), things I remember and the ongoing inner dialogue I have around work, life, school, and money. Basically I don’t like to be tied to one thing. I like to have options, so this blog could go in a number of directions, but I hope they will all be at least one of the following – interesting, helpful, funny, enlightening, and relatable. This would all be easier for me if I had one thing in life that I focused on and made my life’s goal, but as the great E. B. White once said “I wake up every morning determined to both change the world and have one hell of a good time. Sometimes that makes planning the day difficult.”

Cheers.