have you eaten?

Guilt Free, Calorie Free (not quite but still): Quinoa Salad

March 27, 2015March 27, 2015by have you eaten?1 Comment

After eating “dirty chips” (it’s basically nachos. Potato chips are used instead of corn chips with pull pork, gorgonzola cheese and BBQ sauce) at Maison Tavern (nothing to mention here…I am not a big fan of this place) last night, my stomach has not been happy. It was too late to regret it when I left the place.

So here is my “feeling guilty” lunch. I ate oranges and apple for breakfast and quinoa & arugula salad dressed with nutritious yeast, olive oil, lemon juice, champagne vinegar, white wine and salt for lunch. This should even out 5,000 calories that I had last night, right (I am trying SO hard to feel better about myself)? You all agree that I can consume more calories at tonight’s dinner since I was being good all day, don’t you?

Happy Friday 🙂

restaurant

60-degree weather: Il Corvo, Pioneer Square, Seattle

March 26, 2015March 26, 2015by have you eaten?1 Comment

This place seats 38 people. You share your table with strangers. It only opens 4 hours a day from 11am. It’s jam packed and you feel like canned anchovy. They only serve 3 kinds of pasta with a few kinds of appetizers. No desserts, no after lunch coffee. The line gets long at 11:10am. They have rules how you eat there. Be in line for a while, order at this tiny counter, find your table, bus your table, exit. You get tempted to find your table first then be in line. No, you don’t do that here.

It’s mid 60’s today and sunny in Seattle. It was just perfect to get out. My co-worker and I hopped on to the “lunch shuttle” from our office building to Pioneer Square and headed to Il Corvo. We got there 11:10am and there already was a line. We waited in about 15 minutes or so and we were out of there by 11:55am. Inside of the restaurant is rustic and welcoming. Reclaimed wood tables and old wooden floor and vintage pasta machines as interior décor. Totally my kind of place. I had torchiette (short pasta) with house made pancetta, sugar snap peas, and parmesan cheese. Savory, sweet, slightly tangy, delicious. Perfect amount as well.

Thanks to the gorgeous weather and my co-worker Yumi to make me get out. I feel like I had a real quick trip to Italy during my lunch hour.

food

Rika’s Asparagus vs. Dad’s Asparagus: It’s Spring!

March 25, 2015by have you eaten?4 Comments

My mom sucked at cooking asparagus. It’s more like my dad actually. He liked vegetables well done (ugh) and she cooked them the way he liked. I didn’t questioned why my dad liked vegetables cooked that way but I never liked it. He almost eats anything raw. Fish, beef, chicken, beans and so forth. I always thought asparagus tasted like wilted old grass when I was a kid because of this. I was never a fan until I was in my early 20’s.

My friend Rika and I went out to eat and drink a lot. We explored the culinary wonderland of Tokyo. We ate French, Italian, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Thai, Vietnamese, Ramen, Cuban, German, Hawaiian, Greek, Jamaican, Burger, Pizza, Cajun…you name it. One day I saw her eating asparagus raw. I had never met anyone who eats asparagus raw until then. Light bulb moment. Ah! Why the hell didn’t I think of that?? I don’t even have to cook it! Since that moment on, I haven’t cooked my asparagus until they get wilted. Never.

It is spring. My favorite farmers market vendors sell precious green asparagus. They are beautiful. Now this is my favorite way of cooking asparagus – lightly sautée in a bit of olive oil, chopped garlic, salt and a good squeeze of lemon juice. These green stalks have such an ear pleasing snap sound as you bite into them.

Two interesting lessons from my dad and my friend. Dad, I am sorry but this is how I cook asparagus and I hope you would like it someday.

food

Happy Tummy: Happy Clams

March 24, 2015by have you eaten?6 Comments

I found my favorite way to eat clams.

Clams are bathing.

Miso soup made with Haccho miso. I love clams so much and I usually steam with white wine but last night I decided to make miso soup with red Haccho miso. It was just wonderfully delicious especially with freshly made sticky rice.

Happy tummy.

Personal

Story of Shotgun Trip to Seoul & Tokyo: over Via Tribunali in Georgetown

March 23, 2015by have you eaten?2 Comments

March 12 Thursday left Seattle

March 13 Friday arrived Gimpo Airport, Seoul, South Korea

March 14 Saturday flew from Seoul to Haneda,Tokyo

attended concert of this Jin YiHan dude in the afternoon in Shibuya, Tokyo

flew back to Seoul from Tokyo in the evening

March 15 Sunday Facial, city tour, massage, body scrub, shopping in Seoul

March 16 Monday flew back to Seattle from Seoul

Who does this?

She and I have been friends since May 2000. She is unique and I am quirky so we make sense together. She is the one person whom I don’t feel uncomfortable seeing after not seeing each other for a long time and we can go back to where we left off. We got together last Friday and we did not have any awkward moments whatsoever and we started our non-stop 3-hour conversation as soon as we met in Georgetown.

We went to Pizzeria in Georgetown in Seattle called Via Tribunali. They have 20 descent kinds of pizza and some pasta dishes. We ordered one pizza with prosciutto and mushroom and linguine vongole. To be honest with you, I don’t even remember how they tasted. It must not have been bad because I didn’t notice. I was too busy catching up with her whirl wind, insane travel story and it was way more interesting than the food we ordered. She told me that this trip was her 10- year wedding anniversary gift from her husband, while he stayed behind to take care of his business and their 5-year old daughter. I have no intention to be criticizing their decision. I’d rather embrace how understanding her husband is and how hard Amy works every day by working full-time, being a mom and being a wife at the same time. I guess her mom was so upset hearing Amy was traveling alone and leaving her daughter behind. I understand where her mom is coming from but she should know already by now that Amy is spontaneous, curious and a determined person, which makes Amy so unique and interesting.

So, I have photos of what we ate that night but I don’t have any comments on them. They were good.

Really, who would do this kind of trip? My crazy friend Amy does. I am so glad that I have such an insane friend who makes my life way more entertaining and fun.

Embrace your craziness, Amy. This is a huge compliment.

food

Maria Kotchetkova: Celebrate with Soy & Honey Grazed Chicken

March 22, 2015by have you eaten?Leave a Comment

This is only my opinion but Maria Kotchetkova is one of the most beautiful human beings alive in today’s world. She’s a principal dancer with the San Francisco Ballet Company. As I am writing right now, I can barely contain myself because of my over excitement of joy

I set my alarm to wake up today (Sunday!) at 5:30am. What for? Well, because American Ballet Theater’s Swan Lake was going to be on sale at 9am EST today. 9am EST means 6am PST! There are millions of gorgeous ballerinas in the world but this petit Russian, somewhat quirky dancer, is my favorite. Last time I was in San Francisco to watch Giselle, I was hoping to see her dance but the principal that night was not Maria. It was a beautiful stage production regardless of course (it’s SFB after all), but I still want to see Maria dance.

I follow Maria Kotchetkova’s FB page and Instagram. One post said “Swan Lake June 26^th, American Ballet Theater” I freaked out because that means she will be a guest principal dancer of American Ballet Theater production of Swan Lake. What an unreal combination! I really can’t even handle this. When I saw the post, I called Archie right away and asked him if he wanted to go to New York City with me (again). I wonder how many men are willing to travel to NYC from Seattle just to watch one production of ballet, completely based on my taste. He didn’t even hesitate to say yes. He even asked me, “do you want to go back to Joseph Leonard for dinner?” He knows me so well and he is the best man alive.

To show my gratitude to Archie, I decided to marinade chicken (one of his favorite food) with my soy & honey sauce with ginger and sake for a few hours and grill them. I hope he will enjoy this with his Fremont Interurban IPA.

The most gorgeous ballerina, the best friend I could ever ask for and soy & honey grazed chicken. What a satisfying Sunday.

Uncategorized

food+coffee+books+travel+dogs+music: my life

March 21, 2015by have you eaten?Leave a Comment

Weekends are great. I usually have insane weekdays so I love to have little moments make me realize I have such a fruitful and joyous life. Food, coffee, books, travel, dogs, and music make me happy and I realize that I have it all. I do.

Seattle offers such wonderful coffee joints like Stumptown Coffee Roaster which is from Portland, OR

My stubborn, overweight Chihuahua waiting for Archie to return to his car. We were waiting outside of Stumptown while he was getting coffee for us.

I am reading this book to prepare for my trip to Kyoto in April. The title of this book is “Alleys of Kyoto”

While I am writing this, I am listening to Damien Rice (one of living geniuses)’s raw and heart wrenching voice.

I cannot be happier. Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

personal view

Complicated Times: Simple Reminder

March 20, 2015March 20, 2015by have you eaten?2 Comments

All I need is a very simple reminder when it feels like my life is getting complicated.

WAKE UP – yes, I did that. I got out of the bed this morning. Barely, but I did it.

KICK ASS – I am not sure I did kick ass truly but at least I tried.

REPEAT – OK, I will see tomorrow.

Only three things. I think I can handle that. I would add one more here, “Stay Humble.” I look forward to welcoming tomorrow.

japan, travel

In Three Weeks: 1200+ Years Old City – Kyoto

March 19, 2015March 19, 2015by have you eaten?Leave a Comment

I called our dog sitter today and she told me she was going to take care of my overweight Chihuahua. Right after getting off from the phone with her, a flush of excitement went through my body. It was quite strong.

I am leaving for Kyoto exactly in three weeks. My parents and my brother’s family still live in Tokyo and I am not telling them that I am coming to visit Japan. This is a huge deal. Please don’t get me wrong, I enjoy visiting my family every time I go back. I have to admit however, I don’t feel like I “travel” when I visit my family. I enjoy the food, hanging out and catching up with them but it is visiting my family, not a travel experience.

Kyoto’s history starts in year of 794 when Emperor Komu stated Kyoto as the capitol city. It is 1200 years old and there are over 3,000 temples in the city. Millions of old buildings are still intact. Not like in Seattle (ugh! Ugly new developments!), they don’t demolish old architecture. During World War II, the Allies actually did not bomb Kyoto because of the conscious choice not to destroy tons of historical sites. In a way, it is like Paris. Kyoto tries very hard to preserve the way of living and Japanese historic culture. It does not mean they are not open minded. It just means they embrace and respect its history.

My grandma was born in 1906 who passed away in 2004. She had been through a lot. She was a strict Asian grandma yes. I remember she never wanted to do things in a convenient way. For example, she taught me how to make bonito/kelp stock (dashi) from scratch instead of buying ready-made packets at the store. She showed me how to filet a fish yourself instead of buying fileted fish. Those thing take time. To me, people in Kyoto in general seem that they choose traditions over convenience.

I am beyond excited. I have my passport, Green Card and the bestest travel companion that I can ever ask for. I am all set.

What would you like to do if you have a chance to visit to Kyoto?

japan

Sakura: Cherry Blossom

March 18, 2015by have you eaten?2 Comments

Every year I experience this bitter sweet feeling. I grew up in Tokyo, Japan. I had been waiting for getting out of that country since I was five even though I am very proud Japanese. I felt like I was living inside of small box and there was no way to go and I was dying to search for my independence and freedom. Now, I love Seattle. This beautiful city has been treating me so wonderfully and it has been delighted to be here.

It is spring and cherry blossom (sakura) season. I think sakura is very special to majority of Japanese people and the most admired flower/tree in Japan. I see gorgeous sakura trees in Seattle as well. Every time I see it, my heart aches. I feel slightly homesick. It is interesting indeed to feel that way because I always tried to be away from Japan.

When I retire, I want to go visit Japan every spring to see these sakura trees. Then I die, I want my ashes to be spread underneath of my favorite cherry tree. It would be nice if the tree is one of these in the photo (this is very near to where I used to live).