zen eatin'

i know that this is usually the topic of foodie blogs, such as that of my friend ehrrin's "now that's good eatin'!". but i must gush about my delicious dinner last night.

kurly and dyl procured a sitter from their baby sitting co-op (isn't that a rad idea? that kurly is an innovator) and we met for dinner and sake at zenkichi.

zenkichi is an intimate and beautiful ninja lair of a restaurant in our 'hood, marked only by a glowing orange light on the outside of a building with a wooden facade (a very strange, organic contrast to its industrial surroundings). as you walk in, you give your name and then are directed to a rock garden waiting area, complete with bamboo stalks in the center and smooth gray stones underfoot.

the roped-off dining room is up a set of stairs, and each booth is sectioned off with wooden slats and a rolled shade for total privacy...should you need anything, you buzz a little buzzer that is attached to your table! radness.



here's what we had (all tapas-style, for sharing):

miso soup for kurly and dyl
sake sampler for me, bdub and dyl
tuna carpaccio
miso roasted eggplant
shrimp tempura with camembert
scallop tempura with green tea salt
grilled rice ball
wild mushroom gratin
truffled egg custard
age tofu in broth
black miso cod

everything was fantastically fresh and delicious, like a little japanese tea party in my mouth! an explosion of flavors! a plethora of harmonious new tastes! as we descended the stairs, we were met with many gracious bows from our hosts, a welcome change from the too-familiar uber-hip restaurant staff brush-off one can encounter in our little hamlet (i'm not hatin', i'm just sayin'...). places like zenkichi definitely heighten my enjoyment of where we live.

as for tonight, the word on the street is that shoop is in town with his lady! hooray! hopefully we will get to hear the lovely sounds of rosie thomas (aka shoop's lady) and hang with our delight of a friend.

europe with le dub: an epilogue

i feel compelled to add these extra tidbits of the peculiar and the odd, the strange and perhaps the kismet. these are a few examples of some things which we encountered on our trip....asides, really, that may not warrant an individual post (or may they?) but which i believe deserve a mention.

i must also add that all of my euro-posts have now been edited to include photos! sweet!

on to our encounters and oddities:

first off is "milky drink", because if you're anything like me, you just never know when you may have to dropper feed a kitten:



shoop's got "panach"!


bdub's dream woman:


oh, and what's that? at the rest stop? no big woop. just an EM EFFIN' GOLDEN EAGLE!!!!

what are you when you're on the toilet?

paris was, of course, spectacular. le dub, shoop (the bass player for the tour, whom i adore) and i went out exploring. we didn't go the louvre or le tower eiffel, but we did see some pretty incredible sights. i stocked up on embroylisse (the best face moisturizer ever) and elnett, both products which are not available in the u.s.



the club, la maroquinerie, was amazing....the room where MBD played was in the downstairs part of the building, and lined with semi-circular rows that came out of the floor and were part of the structure (hard to explain, but real cool).





my friend dina was in paris for the fashion shows, and met us at the club. it was fun to see a familiar face! dina and i schemed and schemed about the possibility of staying longer in paris and taking the train to amsterdam together, but, alas, it was not to be. after all, i am tiny dancer, seamstress for the band, and i felt like my peeps ("peeps" meaning bdub) needed me.

we had a very fun drive to amsterdam, and arrived in the city relatively early. amsterdam RULES. definitely my favorite place of the trip, which surprised me. i seriously love it. i miss it. i want for it to be my home. i love the canals, the bikes, the coffee shops, the international flair.



in fact, i have compiled a list in my head of many of the things i love about europe:

-many of the lights are on timers. they turn on when you walk in, they turn off when you leave. i mean, duh.
-your choice: big flush or little flush. sometimes you don't need a big ole' flush (sometimes you do). again i say: conservation. think about it.
-they treat their animals right. both the animals they eat and their companion animals.
-free healthcare.
-the coffee. oooooh my lord, the coffee. the worst coffee i had was at a starbucks (what can i say? i needed me some free wireless).
-the bread.
-the "little" things. little spoons, little egg cups, little cubes of sugar
-children and their parents are very affectionate. i saw little boys reach up and give their mamas kisses on several occasions.
i hardly ever see that here with children over age four.
-clean. clean clean clean.
-the public transportation. easy, clean, and punctual.
-the civility.

the only thing i did not like, really, is the prevalence of smoking. that was hard on nowlzie.

i departed from amsterdam yesterday and i am back in my apartment, missing the dub and trying to sort out my jet lag. i don't think i have given proper credence to how much i loved nuno, the tour manager, and jeff (shoop), the bass player.

nuno, my little portuguese friend, took care of everything, and kept it real (like when perhaps there wasn't ample time for us to do the thing we were considering doing...like training it from paris to amsterdam). i appreciated his candor. plus, he's vegan, he loves pandas, he's into hardcore, he's "straight edge, dude", and his favorite bands are minor threat (of course) and cut the shit (with their song, "cut the bullshit"). nuno rules.



jeff shoop (the bass player) was, simply put, a kick in the pants. a spinner of many tales, he kept the van rides most amusing with his collection of stories. he suggested that, as thirty-something as it may sound, it would have been so much fun to have a "couples tour" with his girl, rosie, along for the ride(s). those words immediately made me feel like this is someone who likes me, and dammit, when you are out with people who are somewhat still strangers to you and driving for days in a sprinter through europe with them, there's nothing better to hear than that little bit of validation. plus, he convinced bdub to rock a 'stache.

shoop with 'stache:




bdub with 'stache:





i will miss my friend shoop, and hope to see him and rosie soon. feed that moustache, son.