For two weeks I’ve eaten a vegan diet. It was an experiment to see if this card-carrying bacon abuser could dine & be happy. Ten years ago, this would have been unlikely, if impossible. Certainly living next to Whole Foods and a few blocks from Gracias Madre has contributed.
This continues to be an interesting challenge.
Had lunch yesterday with Shawn + Jenny at Out The Door. Daikon rice cakes and duck congee are pretty much the best thing ever. So much so, I made some today at home. Not quite right, yet.
After yesterday’s antics—almost crashed my motorcycle, saw the sun rise from the top of Mount Tam, worked, got paid, had coffee with Tiff, cooked dinner for Krissy, drank wine with her and Garth, exchanged relationship war stories and went to sleep drunk and happy—I took pictures of the sunrise from sea level:
Tomorrow is built for brussels sprouts, mustard grains, pancetta and ahi.
Thanks Anil for the tip: Ramen Setagaya is the best ramen I’ve ever had on this side of the Pacific. Or the country.
I’m not quite sure what won me over—the salt broth, the perfect noodles, the blessedly cooked fatty pork or the mega-kawaii uniformed staff.
One might be tempted to call it fast food, but it was definitely not the former. Reading an old post lamenting dearth of organic/slow (heh) fast food I was reminded of Saturday’s visit to Williamsburg. Amidst the hipster slapfights, between a gallery opening and a visit for second dinner to a sardine-packed Japanese restaurant whose matron assured us that the 45 minute wait was definitely worth it, even if we were not worthy, we paid a visit to Food Swings. Peter ordered buffalo wings, Courtney a pair of onion/ketchup/mustard laced hot dogs, Annica a veggie burger, and YT got the chicken bacon ranch sandwich and a latte. No murder (or milk) around. I kneejerked “that is soy, right?” when ordering the latte.
My inner vegan hipster danced a little that night, I think.
For a bunch of reasons, I refrain from eating at McDonalds, Burger King, KFC, etc. I'm not vegetarian, but the food I buy/cook tends to skew that way, and I generally buy organic produce, eggs, chicken, and whatever else I can.
Sometimes I absolutely just crave the plasticine mediocrity of a Mickey D's burger. There's something about how they've perfected the taste and mouth-feel of it that sometimes just sounds really, really good. I haven't caved into this particular urge in years (score one for standards), but it's getting harder.
What I want is an organic McDonalds. Not vegetarian, not even necessarily the most wholesome of corporate culture either (it wouldn't hurt), and not even having particularly good food. I want to be able to roll into OMcDs, order a couple bacon cheeseburgers, shake (is it too much to wish for soy?) and fries, sit down and stuff myself until that greasy-near-nausea feeling overcomes me. Well, maybe not the last part. Truth is, one of the reasons I don't partake of the McBurgers is just that. The grease overload giveth and the grease overload taketh away. Usually just the memory of my last fast-food binge is enough to keep me on the wagon for a few months.
So refined: a McDonald's clone, with organic beef/buns/produce, soy milkshakes and comparable fries, somewhere in the San Francisco area. I will gladly pay twice as much.
