ichi maki.

I went to dinner alone tonight; didn’t feel up to making conversation. Besides, I had to take advantage of being in California and get some sushi. So I decided to try this restaurant just down the block from my hotel – Ichi Maki. After spending a summer in Ithaca, I have no problems going places and doing things on my own. Dinner, however, has not been one of them. Therefore, I wasn’t quite prepared for the period between ordering and eating, during which there is little to do other than sit when you’re alone.

However, it turned out to be a pretty fantastic dining experience. The staff was super friendly, even though it was quite busy. Additionally, the kitchen was a bit backed up, so the wait for my food was longer than normal. I thought this was just because I had nothing to do while waiting, but after a while, my waitress came to apologize for the long wait with some Edamame. Very unexpected and pretty awesome. The sushi rolls I got – Spicy Tuna, Philadelphia, and Rainbow – were quite tasty. They were also huge – 8 pieces instead of 6, and giant. When I finish, the waitress brings my check. While many Asian restaurants offer orange slices after a meal, Ichi Maki offered half an orange, cut up, with chocolate sauce. It was a very nice touch. And to complete the whole experience, both waitresses and chefs said good-bye to me on my way out.

year of the ox.

Chinese New Year was on Monday. In the spirit of celebrating, Yi and I decided to make dumplings. Neither of us had made dumplings without our parents before, so it was going to be a new experience. We were used to helping assemble the dumplings, but had never participated in making the filling or the dough.

We took a trip to the Asian grocery store to get ingredients, including pre-made dumpling wrappers, in case our dough turned out bad. I love going to the Asian store near where Yi lives, despite the fish smell that covers the whole place. It always amazes me how much there is to buy, especially the amount of pre-made food. And the pre-made foods are always pretty cheap. It makes it almost worth it to just buy dumplings rather than spend the time to make them.

The dumplings came out pretty well. The dough we made was much better than the pre-made wrappers, and it was super easy (flour+salt+water). It took a while to get the pot stickers just right, but Yi got the hang of it after a few tries. I’m going to have to try to make bunch for myself and keep a bunch frozen. I’ll need to find an Asian store in Madison first.

hubbard avenue diner.

The new brunch place this week was Hubbard Avenue Diner in Middleton, WI. Reviews for it online were good and a friend recommended it to me as well. It had a nice diner atmosphere (with booths and a counter), and even though it was packed, it didn’t feel crowded. Also, the ability to have a cup of coffee while waiting for a table was a huge positive.

I had the morning scrambler, which had spinach, feta, tomatoes and onions, and came with hash browns and a biscuit. Everything was delicious. The hash browns were not as good as the potatoes at Marigold, but the scrambler had lots of everything in it.

Lastly, the pies, which Hubbard is famous for, were pretty amazing. Since I was dining with two friends, I got to try three different pies – caramel apple walnut, duo of silk, and after dinner mint. All three were huge and delicious. Definitely worth getting to go since I would never be able to eat one after eating a meal.

trip.

Last week I took trips to Burlington, VT and Virginia Beach, VA. Burlington had its first snow while I was there (only a few flurries), while Madison had its first snow while I was in a hotel on the oceanfront. Since both trips were for work, the main highlights were dinner. In Vermont, I had sushi at the Asiana House and Rodizo at the Brazilian steakhouse Souza’s. Both were huge amounts of delicious food. However, I can’t eat enough meat that the Brazilian steakhouse is worth a second go. In Virginia, I had to get seafood because it was everywhere. The scallops at Catch 31 were fantastic, and the service was very friendly.

And given all my time spent on airplanes, I finished The Art of Deception, by Kevin Mitnick. This book is the kind that makes people paranoid with little advice on how to eleviate the worry. It makes “social engineering” seem easy, like any person could come up with these cons and pull it off. The advice the book gives on how to prevent attacks seems a bit cliche. Overall, I would not recommend reading.

marigold.

After the Farmer’s Market yesterday, Pat and I stopped for brunch at a small little restaurant called Marigold. It was, in short, pretty fantastic. Just off the Capitol, it was a small location, easily missed if not for the line of people out the door on Saturday morning. Despite being packed, the line moved quickly and the flow from line to table was surprisingly smooth. Perhaps with a group of more than four people it would have been a bit of a wait, but for the two of us, we were able to sit right away.

I got a scrambler – three eggs scrambled with smoked salmon, scallions and spinach – with sourdough toast and Marigold’s potatoes. It was a lot of food and delicious. Pat got buckwheat cherry pancakes with vanilla bean marscarpone. Both our meals were under $10, which makes it even better.

Unfortunately, they’re only open Monday – Saturday, which really means only Saturday for me. Will definitely be back though.

wisconsin.

Labor Day is the first holiday for most people I know who just started working. Given the long weekend, two friends from Cornell came to Madison to visit. It was their first visit to Wisconsin, which inevitably means they get to experience as much Midwest culture as I could find. This included the farmer’s market, a brewery tour, a German bar, and a food festival.

For the brewery tour, we headed into Middleton to visit Capital Brewery. It was much smaller than I expected, which resulted in an extremely short and somewhat unsatisfying tour. I had expected more given it was 49 in the top 50 craft brewing companies (according to the Brewers Association List). Either way, the tasting they gave at the end was quite good.

We stopped by the Essen Haus after our dinner at the steakhouse. People love this restaurant/bar, and truth be told, I’ve only been in there once before. It had been a Tuesday night just before they closed, so we got cheap pints and headed into the Come Back In. This time, it was completely different. We walked into a nice crowd being entertained by a very loud polka band. To top things off, people were dancing and singing along with the music. It was beyond stereotypical Wisconsin, but quite amusing and good for a laugh. To top things off, it was my first time seeing a woman with a baby in a bar.

Last for the weekend was Taste of Madison, an annual food festival when the restaurants around the area offer “tastes” of their food. It was fun, although heat and crowds never make for the best time. While a lot of the food was pretty standard, I did get to try a couple of interesting things. Probably most interesting was the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Eggrolls and Butterfinger Wontons from Bluephies. And of course, deep fried beer battered cheese curds (from the Old Fashioned) were a must and very delicious.

labor day.

Tomorrow will be the first Labor Day I’ve had off in four years. Although it’s a major national holiday, Labor day seems to be relatively nonexistent if you don’t get vacation from work or school. And because Cornell, for some reason, allows its administration to take the holiday, class is still in session. Professors and students must labor alike.

Either way, it’s my first three day weekend while I’ve been working. And I had a very nice meal last night with friends who are visiting. We went to the Capitol Chophouse, which is attached to the Hilton in Madison. Dinner started with bread and three different types of spreads: regular butter, a sun-dried tomato and caper tapanade, and a tomato and herb butter. Then, to my surprise, we got an amuse-bouche, which was made with beets. I’ve decided that amuse-bouche are the key to having a fancy restaurant. I had a good clam chowder to start my meal. It was a bit salty, but lots of clam and potatoes. The entree itself, 12 oz prime rib, was just that – 12 oz of meat. It was huge, so huge I could only finish about half of it, and delicious.

In addition to the food, everything else was extremely nice. I still feel that my age puts me at a disadvantage in fancy restaurants in terms of service. In most cases, I don’t get bad service, but I still expect it. At the Chophouse, our waiter was very pleasant and checked in an appropriate number of times. Also, the manager (at least who I assumed was the manager) stopped by to check in on us too. This is another thing, like the amuse-bouche, that I really love. It makes me feel special. Atmosphere was typical of a fancy restaurant – dim lighting, with lots of candles. And they had complimentary parking, which is always handy. I will definitely be back here.

alfresco.

It was finally nice enough to eat alfresco tonight, like my house has been planning to do ever since we discovered there’s a park two blocks from the house. To make things even better, it was the perfect summer meal: salad with chicken, bread & brie, lemonade, oatmeal cookies, and this wonderful orange couscous with blueberries. The couscous dish was cool, sweet, and delicious. So I thought I would share the recipe (which comes from my housemate, Emily).

Orange Couscous with Blueberries

2 cups raw couscous

1/2 tsp salt

2 cups orange juice

1 tsp orange zest

1 can mandarin oranges

1 pint fresh blueberries

Combine couscous, salt, & 2 cups boiling water. Stir; let stand 2 minutes; add OJ 1 cup at a time stirring. Allow couscous to absorb liquid for 10 minutes. Taste; add juice or salt if necessary. Add zest, oranges, & stir. Add blueberries; stir. Serve at room temp.