Category: Friends

Xmas 2025

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

Fri Dec 19

One very bumpy flight (due to a windstorm which knocked out power all over the province) later, we were on the ground in Halifax. The 20-minute drive to Bedford through rain and wind was even worse than the flight, but we made it. We tried to sleep, but a disruptive cat made it difficult.

Sat Dec 20 – Mon Dec 22

After a bit of shopping we drove to the farm, arriving just minutes after brother #1 and his progeny. Brother #2 was laid up in hospital, but sister-in-law #1 and their kids came over for a big feed. The next day brother #1, my dad, and I drove to the hospital visit the missing brother, then got home for lunch just in time for brother #1 to head back to Halifax. After that, many games of crib ensued. On Monday brother #2 was being discharged so I picked him up and drove him home; afterwards, there was more crib and a movie (Secondhand Lions). A typical quiet time at the farm, less the nightly visits next door to sip some wine.

Tue Dec 23 – Thu Dec 25

On Tuesday we drove back to Bedford, stopping at Truro along the way, which included lunch at the Nook & Cranny, coffee at NovelTea, and a lot of one-way street confusion. A few more errands along the way and we were back in Bedford, eating dinner, drinking eggnog, and listening to East Coast Christmas.

We spent the 24th (mostly) chilling, eating lobster rolls with grandparents, drinking wine, and watching Die Hard.

Then: Christmas! Which looked a lot like Christmas Eve, TBH: eating, drinking, grandparents, games, silliness.

Fri Dec 26

Moving day. I got up and went to a light version of the Dickinson family reunion, this time hosted by brother #1 at his new place. It was fun to see some family, even if illnesses and travel meant the crowd was diminished. Someone even brought a rare curiosity: Cumberland (County) Trivia!

From there I drove down to St. Margaret’s Bay to meet Lindsay and her brothers at their dad’s. Seafood chowder, Dubai chocolate, lots of animal interactions, and a bottle of Piper-Heidsieck.

From there, the brothers went back to Bedford while we drove to downtown Halifax, checking in to our Halifax home: The Muir.

Sat Dec 27

God, we missed a king bed. Best sleep in a while. We eventually headed downstairs to Drift for breakfast, ran out to do a couple errands (nearly freezing to death while doing so), had a coffee at Café Lunette, and went back to the room to relax. I watched the three Stranger Things episodes that came out Christmas Day; Lindsay Stardew’d.

The only solid plan we had in Halifax before we arrived was a dinner reservation at Mystic, recently named the best new restaurant in Canada by En Route. We arrived for our reservation, and things started off a little shaky — our cocktails (Yellow-Eyed Grass for Lindsay, Silverweed for me) took a weirdly long time to arrive, but they were taken off the bill. Once the food started, though, we quickly realized why it’s garnered so many accolades.

Fauna (Lindsay)

  • Snacks (cheese gougère, cheese and zucchini tart, corn crema)
    • 2017 Lightfoot & Wolfville Brut
  • Acadian caviar w/ smoked egg yolk, wild sea flora sea mustard
    • 2023 Seguin-Manuel Aligoté
  • pasta w/ lobster raviolo, lobster cream, NS saffron chanterelles, seaweed brioche
    • 2022 Gachot-Monot Pinot Noir, Hautes-Côtes-de-Beaune
  • tart w/ foie gras, cherry, black apple chutney cured duck salad
    • 2015 Domaine Bott-Geyl Pinot Gris, Furstentum Grand Cru
  • wolf eel fish w/ brioche, scallop, crab, sea asparagus crab hollandaise
    • 2023 JM Boillot 1er Cru Chardonnay, Montagny 
  • [some kind of sunchoke dessert that isn’t on their online menu]
    • 2019 Grüber Roschitz Beerenauslese Chardonnay, Niederösterreich

Biota (Dan)

  • Snacks
    • 2017 Lightfoot & Wolfville Brut
  • Acadian caviar w/ smoked egg yolk, wild sea flora sea mustard
    • 2023 Seguin-Manuel Aligoté
  • tartar of tuna & veal w/ crispy toro horseradish meringue, Jonori flatbread
    • 2024 Le Morette Bardolino Chiaretto Classico
  • arctic char w/ sea asparagus scallop, koji turnip friske, juniper yogurt, ponzu butter
    • 2023 Lucien Crochet Sancerre
  • ribeye w/ beef tongue potato, maitake, kale kombu, tamarack vinegar jus
    • 2020 Osoyoos Larose Le Grand Vin
  • chocolate w/ koji caramel, ganache, pineapple weed cremeux miso, black honey ice cream
    • 20 Year Old Taylor Fladgate Tawny Port

Honestly, every course was amazing. Incredible flavours, perfect balance, strikingly presented. Lovely staff, especially the sommelier, who we ended up chatting with quite a bit (we knew some people in common). I even bumped into a colleague there. Anyway: one of the best meals we’ve had all year, for sure. Maybe the best.

Sun Dec 28

We didn’t stay in bed too long before ordering breakfast up to the room. After a while we struck out to meet up with Patrick for a quick (and awful) coffee at Cafe du Port, then collected their mom and walked back down the hill to Darya for brunch. We all had their buffet, and left stuffed to the gills with delicious food. Those two left to go about their days; Lindsay and I crawled back to the room and had naps.

Dinner that night was at Peacock Wine Bar, and it was basically a reunion of five of the six people who had assembled Friday night…just with different drivers. Here’s what we had:

  • Shared plates (everyone):
    • Focaccia w/ fermented chili butter
    • Burrata w/ lavender, sichuan, plum, black sesame toasts
    • Local vegetables w/ yogurt herb dip
    • Chicken fried halibut cheek w/ scallion gribiche, pickled cauliflower
  • Mains (just Lindsay and I):
    • Dan: Braised pork belly w/ leek, fingerling, mustard cream, plum
    • Lindsay: Tagliatelle w/ wild mushroom, sage, pine nut
  • Drinks (just Lindsay and I):
    • Dan: 22 Rustenberg Chardonnay, Stellenbosch / 24 Gérard Bertrand Gris Blanc Rosé, Languedoc-Roussillon / 24 Tenute Rade Barbera La Pruma, Piedmont / Madeira
    • Lindsay: NV Blomidon, Crémant, NS / 20 Gérard Bertrand, Genora, Vin Orange, Languedoc-Roussillon / 21 Chateau Escalette, Cote de Bourg, Bordeaux

Mon Dec 29

Got up (not easily), packed (not carefully), ate some breakfast (not bad), checked out (not a hassle), had a quick coffee date with friends and their new baby (too cute), picked up Lindsay’s mom nearby (too easy), saw Lindsay’s grandma (too briefly), drove to Bedford (too fast), ate a donair (too messy), re-packed (too painful), and then waited to find out how long we’d be delayed due to weather (too stressful).

VERY frustratingly, Porter was playing like everything was okay, so we made the very treacherous drive to the airport thinking we were only 40 minutes delayed. Just as we checked in, they closed the runways at the airport, but they wouldn’t officially cancel our flight. Everyone knew the flight wasn’t going to leave, but they wouldn’t formally cancel it, so we couldn’t rebook or get our bags back. A plane full of people sat in the airport for hours, with no information, no updates….just a bunch of meaningless “your flight has been delayed by 15 minutes” emails, stating to times that had no basis in reality. I know the weather was the root cause of this situation, but Porter fell down INCREDIBLY hard on the job when it came to looking after its passengers.

Finally, around 8:30pm, they officially cancelled our flight. The email confirming this wouldn’t arrive until 1am, but right away I could see that we’d been rebooked on a flight the next morning. We walked down to get our bags, which came out at about 9:55pm. Then it took us forever to get an Uber in a brutal windstorm. The driver got us back to Lindsay’s mom just as her power came back on from a 2-hour outage. We crawled into the house, weary, but glad we had a booked flight and a place to sleep. Other people were being booked for flights several days from now, and every hotel around the airport was totally booked.

Tue Dec 30

Woke up to emails saying our flight was already delayed from 9:15 to 10:00 — not exactly surprising, since there’d be such a backlog of flights trying to get out. But then it kept going: 11:40, 12:30, 1:00, 1:30. We got nervous. But eventually the delay notifications stopped, so we went to the airport, and finally got on. Glory be.

2025 wasn’t done with us yet though. Our flight was another half hour delayed, ans then — after a landing almost as bumpy as the one in Halifax that started this trip — we, along with about a dozen other people on the plane, realized our bags never showed up. Most of the passengers got theirs. Us lot didn’t. The Porter baggage desk was uniformly unhelpful — they just told us all to scan a QR code which led to a third party app.

So we’re home. But our luggage isn’t. Bianca’s happy though, and that’s all that matters.

UPDATE 1: bag #1 arrived around 5pm on Jan 1. No sign of bag #2.

UPDATE 2: bag #2 arrived around 5pm on Jan 2. Much to our relief, the bottle of Lightfoot & Wolfville 2017 Brut sparkling inside had not broken or exploded.

Wood Owl

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Last night, with Patrick & Maeve in town, we finally visited a place that’s been on my list forever: The Wood Owl.

First, the decor: really beautiful inside. Luxurious wood. Heavy drapery. Indie concert posters and old wine bottles on the wall. Basically, how my basement looks in my dreams.

Anyway: the food. To sum up: absolutely fantastic. We had:

  • shared appetizers
    • crispy potato rosti & manchego w/ guindilla aioli, mojo rojo, green onion
    • fried brassicas w/ whipped tahini, pumpkin seed dukkah, mexican chili oil, charred jalapeno pesto, pickled onion
    • yellowfin tuna w/ aji amarillo, cara cara orange, cucumber, lime leaf oil, thai basil, red chili
      • a bottle of Baia’s Wine 2023 Krakhuna, Imereti, Georgia
  • mains
    • cavatelli w/ smoked parsnip, butterkin & kouginut squash, leek top cream, king oyster mushrooms, watercress
    • seared rainbow trout w/ leek soubise & wasabina, butterball potato, horseradish salsa verde, dill oil, hakurel turnip (x2)
    • grilled pork chop w/ five spice glazed apple, shaved fennel, chicories, orange sesame vinaigrette
      • a bottle of Domaine Baud ‘Rouge Ancestral’ 2022 Côtes du Jura AOC
  • dessert
    • plum & cardamom cake in custard
      • glasses of Jurançon and Sauternes dessert wine

Side note: this dinner completed the little mini-resolution I gave myself this year, which was to have visited at least once all the Michelin-recognized (at the time) spots east of Yonge. The most recent edition added some new restaurants to the list, so I think I already know what next year’s plan will be.

Tipsy

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Last night four east enders — me, Lindsay, Ricky, and Olivia — ventured west. Given all the hype (top bar in Canada on one list; rated one of the best in North America, and the world, on others) we were all excited to try Bar Pompette. Well…excited, but also wary. With those kinds of accolades the potential for douchebaggery was high.

Luckily, it was fantastic. Impeccable vibes. Immaculate cocktails. Even their ice cube game is world class. I had two cocktails, but their menu isn’t online so I can’t really remember them, but one tasted like chicory coffee and the other tasted like a cinnamon roll. Everyone else enjoyed theirs as well, including the two special cocktails that were meant to pair with the jazz trio in the corner. Seriously, cocktails and jazz — Lindsay was beside herself. We had just enough snacks to tide us over, then went out in search of proper dinner.

We thought we could walk into Dailo, but it was full, so we just reversed around the corner to Martine’s. Only when Olivia mentioned that it used to be Woodlot did I remember (I think?) that I’d been there once. Anyway, we had a wonderful meal:

  • Food
    • mortadella butter & anchovy on toast
    • steak tartare, button mushroom, fennel hot sauce
    • smoked mackerel Welsh rarebit
    • cavatelli, fennel sausage, rapini, pecorino
    • roasted eggplant, ezme, red pepper
    • wood fired whole chicken & fries
  • Drinks
    • Fülöp The Phenomenon Dry Tokaji
    • Bodegas Sentencia El Indulto La Fuente Bobal
    • Digestifs: glasses of Madeira, PX sherry, and Vermouth

I know some people (*cough cough Lindsay cough*) think it’s boring to order chicken, but goddamn it was good. I mean, everything was.

A lot of food, a lot of drinks, a lot of good laughs. The kind of night that rejuvenates the soul, even if I am a it too old for it. 😐

Duck duck duck cow

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We just spent a long weekend in Ottawa. It got built around a single concert, but we ended up packing in a wonderful few days.

Friday

What a beautiful drive. There was no traffic to speak of getting out of Toronto, and we had smooth sailing – not to mention some beautiful fall colors – the whole way. Google Maps suggested we take a different route into the city, so we got to drive up the Colonel By and explore a little on the way to meet Lindsay’s brother Patrick.

After a slight detour, we parked and met him at Black Squirrel Books. I left with one book (a novel by Kevin Patterson, whose book The Water In Between was important to me when I read it 25 years ago) while Lindsay left with…well, many. I had a cortado, too, which was served in the right glassware, but fell prey to the same pitfall that most coffee shops do: they made it too hot.

We left there and drove to our hotel, The Metcalfe. A new boutique hotel downtown, I’d never stayed there…except, once I stepped in, I realized I had stayed there. Sixteen years ago, when it was the Indigo. Anyway, it’s much nicer now.

We needed food, so we turned on our heels and went straight to Raphaël, which Patrick picked. We had no reservation but they plopped us at the bar. It was really delicious too:

  • Amuse bouche of some kind of fish consommé with ají limo tiger’s milk
  • Pulpo al Olivo: Pacific Octopus Carpaccio, Botija Olive Sauce, Chimichurri, Capers, Tapioca Crackers
  • Causa Vegetariana: Beets, Peas, Carrots, Avocado Mousse, Ají Amarillo Potato Terrine, Botija Olive Sauce, Ají Amarillo Aioli, Crispy Plantain
  • Tamalito De Pato: Sous Vide Duck Thigh, Mote Corn Tamal, Salsa Criolla, Ají Drizzle
  • Anticuchos: Ají Panca Flank Steak Skewers, Mini Potatoes,
  • Brussels Sprouts, Chimichurri, Rocoto Sauce
  • Dessert: petit fours of some kind of tiny cookie and Peruvian flan

It was all excellent. Nice Ontario-forward wine list too.

Afterward Lindsay and Patrick went to a concert at the NAC; I fell into a protest march up Elgin for a while before wandering back to the hotel and catching the end of the Jays game.

Saturday

Boy, did we have a lazy morning. The room was too big and comfy not to. Eventually I went out for coffee, but found that the local Morning Owl is closed on Saturdays, so I got coffees from the lobby cafe instead, and regretted it almost immediately.

Eventually we walked down Elgin to The Manx for brunch. I had fond memories of it when I used to visit in the…mid-to-late-90s, I guess? It hasn’t changed much, which I loved. I had the banana bread French toast; Lindsay had the eggs benny. We both had a Caesar and a beer.

We walked back along the canal on a perfect fall day, and relaxed in the room for a bit before walking back down Elgin for an early dinner with Patrick & Maeve at TOWN. It was fantastic:

  • Apps
    • house focaccia w/ whipped brown butter
    • butterbean, date and apple salad w/ arugula, toasted walnuts, dried cranberries, herbed goat feta, Greek yogurt dressing, wheatberry
    • glass of Rosehall Run Chardonnay for me, and a cocktail for Lindsay
  • Mains
    • Dan: cumin-honey glazed and grilled pork chop w/ confit carrot and roasted pepper purée, polenta batonettes, shishito peppers, chai pickled peach, charred corn salsa
    • Lindsay: house-made cavatelli w/ saffron, corn and miso cacio e pepe, cornbread pangrattato, pickled jalapeños, pecorino, chives, ½ tare glazed duck breast
    • two glasses of Saumur Cabernet Franc
  • Dessert
    • tiramisu
    • glasses of Frankovic Luna Blanca for Patrick and I

Then, the reason we were in Ottawa: to see a symphony playing music from Stardew Valley, aka Lindsay’s favourite game. I’ve heard her playing the game enough that I recognized some of the music, but wasn’t as in on the jokes as everyone else. But she loved it, and that’s what matters.

Sunday

Up quite a bit earlier, as we were meeting CBGB for brunch. I pre-gamed with cappuccinos from Ministry Of Coffee. Side note: early Sunday morning in downtown Ottawa is an unexpected mix of dead quiet and aggressively weird.

When they texted that they were en route we drove out to Hintonburg and met them at a Bridgehead nearby. After chatting and catching up we walked to Chesterfields. Lindsay had a jerk chicken benny; I had a classic breakfast. Mostly we were just there to catch up with friends, who I miss so much. After brunch we went for a group stroll, then said our goodbyes and headed back to the hotel.

We weren’t there long, though – we had stacked some plans. We walked to Majors Hill Park to meet Patrick and Maeve again, on what had turned into a very sunny and warm late-October day. We had plans to spend it inside though, at the National Gallery of Canada. We NAGged it up for a few hours.

After that we spilled down Sussex to the market and found a table at Beyond The Pale. P+M ate lunch; we snacked on duck drummies and beers and many bottles of water. After sitting and laughing for quite a while we parted ways; Lindsay and I walked back to the hotel, stopping along the way at Little Victories for some fuel to get through the evening.

A teeny rest in the hotel room later and we were ready for our dinner at Arlo, which ended up being fantastic.

  • Starters:
    • Tomatoes + rosamarina w/ fresh coriander, capers
    • Scallop tartare w/ black garlic, kohlrabi, cilantro, mushroom vinegar
    • Dan drank: Crémant de Loire (Les Athletes du Vin “Gardien des Bulles” NV) and Garganega (La Biancara “Masieri Bianco” ’23)
    • Lindsay drank: House Martini (gin, apple eau de vie, dry vermouth, manzanilla sherry) and a Gruner Veltliner that isn’t on their online menu so I can’t remember what it was
  • Main:
    • Porcini Crusted Ribeye For Two w/ frites, marrow, chimichurri-stuffed portobello, arugula
    • a bottle of Sangiovese (Pacina Donesco Toscana Rosso 2020)
  • Dessert:
    • Lemon Posset
    • A glass of not-quite-Tokaji Hungarian Furmint for me

The steak was cooked perfectly, tip to tail. The scallop tartare might have been one of the best things I ate all year. The wines were all delicious. The vibe was loud at first, but pretty great. In a weekend full of outstanding meals, this might have taken the prize.

Monday

Clearly we used up a lot of our driving luck on Friday. After packing and scarfing down some room service breakfast we drove back to Toronto, and the rain started almost immediately. Several times it escalated to the point where we could barely see the car in front of us, which made for some pretty tense driving. Luckily it cleared up around Gananoque, and we had clear weather all the way into Toronto. We arrived home to find a very happy cat.

All in all: pretty awesome weekend. Perfect weather. Time spent with family and old friends. Incredible food. Memorable experiences. Good birthday trip all around!

Thanksgiving25

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

After recent friend hangs with Mike & Heather (at Godspeed) and Upasana (at ours) I was off to Moncton for some work time. No new spots visited as I was too busy, but I did manage a quiet beer on the Happy patio and a few coffees from Brix.

After work wrapped up for the week I drove to the farm for plentiful turkey, family, and dog time. The leaves have most definitely changed here.

We even drove to Gilbert Mountain where our maple trees are, drove up some roads I’d never been up before, and saw some of the reddest blueberry fields we’ve ever seen.

I didn’t get pictures, but when we drove up even higher we could see clear across the bay of Chignecto to New Brunswick.

M+LK / R+O

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Last night we coaxed M+LK to come east for dinner at Ricky + Olivia, and it didn’t disappoint.

  • Cocktails
    • 2 glasses of Malivoire Che Bello
    • a glass of Malivoire Pinot Gris
    • a Ring My Bell…Pepper cocktail
  • Food
    • special: sugar cube cantaloupe, salami, cucumber, burrata
    • carrots + ice cream
    • Caesar salad
    • turnip cakes
      • bottle of Kelly Mason Blanc De Blancs
    • steak tartare
    • R+O burger x 2
      • bottle of Westcott Pinot Noir
  • Dessert
    • sour cherry granita
    • stone fruit pudding
    • secret dessert: chocolate mousse w/ deep-fried crackers
      • glasses of Drea’s Rosato

After that we walked back to our place and finished off a bottle of Grange of Prince Edward Pinot Gris on a perfect evening in the backyard.

Great nights are becoming more and more scarce for me in Toronto, but this was one of them.

Tasty, mild aftermath

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

I was hoping for a quiet couple of weeks following my return from Europe, but that it not what I got. There’s been stuff keeping me busy (in a good way, like a conference or lunch with a friend or visits from family) but also distracting me (a cold, everything in the house breaking at once).

Right after I got back I had a couple days’ work sprint and then went right into a conference — here in Toronto, so no travel, but it definitely consumed all of my intention for 2+ days. Always good to meet new people and re-gain some perspective (and have a nice dinner at Cafe Boulud), but the re-upping of the work to-do pile really made it feel as if I’d never even gotten back from vacation. I did wrap up the week over lunch with Matt at d|bar though, which was great.

Another consequence of that conference is that I developed a cold, my first in over a year as far as I can remember. It laid me low Monday through most of Wednesday. Fortunately it had mostly faded by the time brother #2 and sister-in-law #1 arrived. They were here for a visit, partially with us, partially with their daughter who lives just east of Toronto. On Friday they retrieved said daughter and we all had dinner at La Paella…

  • Medjool dates wrapped in bacon, stuffed with goat cheese, glazed with a guindilla sherry reduction
  • Croquetas
  • Tiger shrimps, garlic, guindillas, olive oil and sweet sherry wine
  • Artisan Sourdough Bread from Petit Thuet
  • a Paella which is not on their menu but which contained an extravagant amount of pork (ribs, pork belly, chorizo) along with red peppers, green beans, and butter beans

…followed by heaping bowls of ice cream procured from Craig’s Cookies, of all places.

Yesterday the three of them went to OssFest, then we played a game of Pandemic before they drove my niece home. We were all a bit tired, and the weather had turned to rain, so we just ordered some pizza and drank some wine and had a quiet final night together. This morning Bianca finally decided they were worth hanging out with, just as they were about to leave.

I could do without the cold or the work backlog, but I’ll take a nice family visit anytime. See you next year, guys!

Chula Volo 7

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It’s been a week of slight nostalgia, restaurant-wise.

A few days ago Lindsay had to go to the U of T library, so I tagged along and we went to Bar Volo for dinner. Or, rather, we tried to — it was much too full when we arrived. We figured we’d eat somewhere else and come back, but quickly remembered that stretch of Yonge is populated by nothing but cheap noodle and bubble tea shops. Out of a tiny bit of desperation we ended up at 7 West for cocktails and a few snacks. Both places (well, the original Volo, anyway; I’d only been once since it relocated) used to be regular haunts for me when I loved around Yonge & Bloor.

We tried our luck at Volo again, and this time got stools at a barrel-top. We sampled beers off the menu (I forgot how much easier it is ordering by letter) and sharing a mortadella pizza.

Then, yesterday, we met our friend Kirsten for lunch at Chula Taberna on Gerrard. We’d been ordering from this place for years but had never gone in — who knew they had such a great back patio? Not this guy. Anyway, I smashed some chilaquiles.

Afterward we went to Home Depot and bought a temporary fridge. More on that in a future post.

Sicily & Bulgaria

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A week of tiny firsts.

I had a work-related dinner at Bar ARDO (Ardo’s trendier sister spot, presumably?) for the first time earlier this week. Food (Mediterranean grilled octopus w/ cucumber, cannellini beans puree, mint; Golden beets w/ red endive, baked ricotta, dates, pumpkin seeds, micro cilantro, Ardo’s vinaigrette; Sua Maesta’ Rigatoni w/ brasato sugo, Sicilian pecorino, parmigiano; Branzino w/ chimichurri sauce) was pretty good, and the BTG wine list was pretty solid.

Then, later in the week, I met a friend at East End Vine where we sat in the window and availed ourselves of their funky list. I had a nice Melon, an excellent Sylvaner (which my friend liked so much she doubled-down on), an Italian rosé, and a Bulgarian cabernet (which the owner dubbed the “party wine”). As far as I can recall, it’s my first time trying wine of any kind from Bulgaria.

Stretch

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The last time I had dinner in person with T-Bone it didn’t get much of a write-up because of how busy the week was. If I’d known it would be the last time we’d see each other in person for nearly eight years, I’d have elaborated.

It used to be nothing for us to share a meal — we had breakfast together every Friday when we worked a desk or two apart — but kids and job changes and a pandemic and just life have made it tricky. To wit: we’ve been trying to schedule this since our birthdays last July.

This week, though, we managed to keep the date firm, and T-Bone booked Nobu. It was my first time there; it was her fourth. We had:

  • Cocktails
  • Yellowtail Jalapeño
  • Crispy Rice with Spicy Tuna
  • Salmon wrapped in some kind of pear (special)
  • Black Cod Miso
  • Lobster Tempura with Tamari Honey (half order)
  • A5 Wagyu Dumplings with Spicy Ponzu
    • CB Champagne, Grand Cru, Blanc de Blancs, NV
  • Buttermilk Donuts
    • glasses of Laurent-Perrier Champagne & Suntory whiskey

All of it was good, but the lobster and yellowtail were the stars of the show in my opinion.

Mostly, it was just good to see my friend and catch up.