my birthday lunch
Aug. 11th, 2005 02:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
pantryslutI changed my plans for my birthday lunch at the last minute, due to the farmer's market. I wanted to walk through the farmer's market at Crocker Galleria and that took me away from my planned destination.
So when I saw that a new restaurant was having its 'soft opening' at the corner of the Galleria, I thought, what the heck.
The restaurant is called Medicine. It replaces some murky old bar-type place that I never bothered to try.
Medicine is bright, airy, and a bit high-concept. It's a concept that I find mildly dubious, in fact. Medicine calls itself a "new-shojin eatstation." It intends to riff off of Japanese monastary cuisine, in essence, and hook into that whole wholesome, spiritual, good-for-body-and-soul vibe. You can tell from the restaurant's name, after all.
I am so not into that. I am also leery of the selling of spirituality, as if by buying a lunch here, I will be one step closer to enlightenment. Even the whiff of such a thing makes me a bit itchy. So the screen on the far wall, projecting tranquil mountainscapes, and the wooden bench type seating, and the restaurant staff dressed in aprons and t-shirts with some Japanese character or another on it, worried me. But the menu looked intriguing, so what the hell.
Right here, I want to note that I only have a passing familiarity with this cuisine. (Read that to mean: more than your average alt-weekly reviewer, less than I'd like to turn in a proper review myself.)
Since this is a 'soft opening,' there was only a limited menu and drink selection. Which is fine with me. Also, the entire staff was very attentive. And I mean very attentive. As in, I'm glad I didn't tell anyone it was my birthday, or I would have suffocated from the attention. The hostess checked in on me. A spare waitron checked in on me. My own waitron checked in on my only as appropriate, but you could see her hovering in the back corner, ready to leap.
The owner checked in on me, and handed me his business card.
The chef introduced himself to me at the end of the meal.
Oh yes, the meal. By the end of the meal, I decided that my doubts about Medicine's stylistic approach were unfounded. Because Medicine needs a sort of alternative space to signal to diners that they are entering another sort of food-space as well.
Because Medicine's food is challenging. Really good, and challenging.
The first challenge was the cold clear soup. The broth was "shojin broth," which I think is just vegetarian broth, the same stuff that they float their soba in. It was fine. It had some cucumbers and a (not too) sour plum in it. And something referred to on the menu as "junsai," which Google tells me is the name for the plant "water shield."
Junsai are the jellied buds of the water shield plant, then. They're slightly crunchy, but mostly slimy. Not in a bad way slimy, but in a rather startling way (partly because in the bowl, the jelly is invisible).
Maybe I underestimate my fellow ignorant diners, but I can't imagine this particular texture experience becoming a taste sensation any time soon.
I also had a bowl of vegetable pickle (cucumber, bell pepper, turnip, and something small, green, and stem-y), of which my only criticism is that the cucumber slices were on the large side. Very rustic, maybe. Next to that came a block of "artisan" (I'm betting house-made, firm with a rough texture) tofu dressed with wakame and fresh ginger. Both very yummy.
My "main course" was a basket full of tempura. First of all, from now on, all my fresh corn is getting dunked into tempura batter and fried. The rest -- lotus root, yellow sweet potato, asparagus, something with black sesame seeds, and two slices of "sweet apple-peach spring roll" -- was darn good, too.
I decided it was my birthday, and so I deserved dessert. I ordered the green tea tofu, made with matcha powder.
Unlike the side-dish tofu, this was very smooth, and emerald green. If I had been expecting, say, the mild taste of green tea ice cream, I might have been put off. This stuff was strong. Strong like a good cup of green tea. It wasn't really sweet at all (except for the black bean on top -- note the singular here). I liked it a lot.
This is when the chef, who, unlike the owner, is quite Japanese, came by to talk to me. He especially wanted to know about what I thought of the green tea tofu. "You like matcha?" he asked. I said yes. He smiled. "Because I know it's unusual, strong...your people..." I tried not to giggle. "I liked it very much," I told him, truthfully. "I'll tell all my friends about this place. Good luck."
So when I saw that a new restaurant was having its 'soft opening' at the corner of the Galleria, I thought, what the heck.
The restaurant is called Medicine. It replaces some murky old bar-type place that I never bothered to try.
Medicine is bright, airy, and a bit high-concept. It's a concept that I find mildly dubious, in fact. Medicine calls itself a "new-shojin eatstation." It intends to riff off of Japanese monastary cuisine, in essence, and hook into that whole wholesome, spiritual, good-for-body-and-soul vibe. You can tell from the restaurant's name, after all.
I am so not into that. I am also leery of the selling of spirituality, as if by buying a lunch here, I will be one step closer to enlightenment. Even the whiff of such a thing makes me a bit itchy. So the screen on the far wall, projecting tranquil mountainscapes, and the wooden bench type seating, and the restaurant staff dressed in aprons and t-shirts with some Japanese character or another on it, worried me. But the menu looked intriguing, so what the hell.
Right here, I want to note that I only have a passing familiarity with this cuisine. (Read that to mean: more than your average alt-weekly reviewer, less than I'd like to turn in a proper review myself.)
Since this is a 'soft opening,' there was only a limited menu and drink selection. Which is fine with me. Also, the entire staff was very attentive. And I mean very attentive. As in, I'm glad I didn't tell anyone it was my birthday, or I would have suffocated from the attention. The hostess checked in on me. A spare waitron checked in on me. My own waitron checked in on my only as appropriate, but you could see her hovering in the back corner, ready to leap.
The owner checked in on me, and handed me his business card.
The chef introduced himself to me at the end of the meal.
Oh yes, the meal. By the end of the meal, I decided that my doubts about Medicine's stylistic approach were unfounded. Because Medicine needs a sort of alternative space to signal to diners that they are entering another sort of food-space as well.
Because Medicine's food is challenging. Really good, and challenging.
The first challenge was the cold clear soup. The broth was "shojin broth," which I think is just vegetarian broth, the same stuff that they float their soba in. It was fine. It had some cucumbers and a (not too) sour plum in it. And something referred to on the menu as "junsai," which Google tells me is the name for the plant "water shield."
Junsai are the jellied buds of the water shield plant, then. They're slightly crunchy, but mostly slimy. Not in a bad way slimy, but in a rather startling way (partly because in the bowl, the jelly is invisible).
Maybe I underestimate my fellow ignorant diners, but I can't imagine this particular texture experience becoming a taste sensation any time soon.
I also had a bowl of vegetable pickle (cucumber, bell pepper, turnip, and something small, green, and stem-y), of which my only criticism is that the cucumber slices were on the large side. Very rustic, maybe. Next to that came a block of "artisan" (I'm betting house-made, firm with a rough texture) tofu dressed with wakame and fresh ginger. Both very yummy.
My "main course" was a basket full of tempura. First of all, from now on, all my fresh corn is getting dunked into tempura batter and fried. The rest -- lotus root, yellow sweet potato, asparagus, something with black sesame seeds, and two slices of "sweet apple-peach spring roll" -- was darn good, too.
I decided it was my birthday, and so I deserved dessert. I ordered the green tea tofu, made with matcha powder.
Unlike the side-dish tofu, this was very smooth, and emerald green. If I had been expecting, say, the mild taste of green tea ice cream, I might have been put off. This stuff was strong. Strong like a good cup of green tea. It wasn't really sweet at all (except for the black bean on top -- note the singular here). I liked it a lot.
This is when the chef, who, unlike the owner, is quite Japanese, came by to talk to me. He especially wanted to know about what I thought of the green tea tofu. "You like matcha?" he asked. I said yes. He smiled. "Because I know it's unusual, strong...your people..." I tried not to giggle. "I liked it very much," I told him, truthfully. "I'll tell all my friends about this place. Good luck."
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no subject
Date: 2005-08-11 10:00 pm (UTC)I think this was the only part I understood.
I just had a Twix bar. It was yummy.
-your hick of a boyfriend
no subject
Date: 2005-08-11 10:03 pm (UTC)I like Twix bars too :)
no subject
Date: 2005-08-12 01:02 am (UTC)happy happy birthday!
Date: 2005-08-11 10:16 pm (UTC)