Category: Friends

Gender dysphoria, new-house euphoria and iambic pentameter

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

Stupid Blogger…I tried to post this Saturday but it didn’t work, so it’s been sitting in a tmp file on my desktop for three days. Also: stupid me for forgetting about it.

.:.

We finally got to see Transamerica (imdb | rotten tomatoes) last night, which was a must-see before the Oscars given what we’d heard about Felicity Huffman’s performance. She lived up to the billing too; it must’ve taken an incredible effort to walk, move, act and react like a man who was trying desperately to become a woman. And for a woman to be confident enough in herself to take a role that requires you to play a man trying to look like a woman…that must be on the rare side in Hollywood. Good for her. If she doesn’t win the Oscar, something is seriously wrong with the academy.

.:.

CBGB moved into their new house today; we went over and had dinner with them. Couple of drinks too, to wind down the day and help GB forget about painting. We got Vietnamese from a nearby place called Mi Mi, which was pretty damn good…pork, shrimp & chicken, beef and chicken, some with rice, some with vermicelli. There were some spring rolls and sugar cane wrapped with shrimp and some other big salad roll-y things. Anyway, it was all good, especially when mixed with a Hacker Pschorr weiss bier.

.:.

Yay, Jen Heil. Boo, Atlanta Thrashers.

.:.

It’s funny how, despite studying Shakespeare throughout high school, it’s only recently that I’ve caught on to what iambic pentameter is.

Wild boar & pork belly. Who knew?

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

Yup, my baby’s 30. We celebrated the milestone in fine style last night, having dinner with CBGB at Luce and spending the night in luxury upstairs at the Hotel Le Germain. Quel decadence.

First of all, the hotel: Le Germain is known as one of the best boutique hotels in Toronto, and it definitely lived up to our expectations. The hotel is gorgeous, from lobby to rooms…far nicer than the Soho Metropolitan. The decor, the raindrop showerhead, the king bed, the high-tech desk chair…the entire room was just perfect. It made for a pretty nice pre-dinner lounge and post-dinner slumber.

And, of course, there was dinner downstairs at Luce. Nellie and I had a drink at the bar while we waited for CBGB to arrive, and once they’d arrived at 7:30 we all sat down to eat. We had a quick look at the menu, but within a few minutes we all agreed that the best option was the tasting menu. And manoman, was that ever the right choice. We tried food that we would’ve never ordered on our own, but hey, what better time to try a whole bunch of new stuff than on a milestone birthday? At the end of the night they were nice enough to print up a quick list of the food (and matching wines) that we were served; it’s incomplete, but I’ll do my best to remember everything we had.

  • amuse bouche: quail egg on a salted potato fingerling.
  • zuppa: Vanilla scented lobster bisque with a scallop on cornbread. The wine was a 2004 Rallo Carta d’Oro from Sicily.
  • antipasti: Cannoli with asparagus, provolone & asparagus pesto, pappardelle with sea urchin and bison steak on a bed of barley and oyster mushrooms. The wine was a Majolini Franciacorta from Lombardia.
  • pasta: lobster-filled ravioli in squid ink with calamari, and quail with linguini pepperincino. Wine was 2003 Cocci Grifoni offida pecorino.
  • pesce: Cod with cod mash and pancetta paired with pork belly, and grouper with radicchio. Wine was a 2004 La Tunella Tibolla Gialla from Friuli.
  • carne: wild boar paired with something polenta-y, and rack of agnello. The wine was 1999 Villa Marianna Salice Salentino Riserva from Puglia.
  • formaggio: something that looked like brie but wasn’t, and a citrus sorbet.
  • dolce: four small blocks of baked chocolate mousse, and ‘Happy Birthday’ written out on the plate in chocolate.

It was easily one of the best meals I’ve ever eaten, and I think the others shared my opinion. I would have never guessed that I’d enjoy lobster bisque or lobster ravioli in squid ink, let alone something called “cod mash”, but enjoy it I did.

The service was fantastic: plates and utensils being placed and whisked in a flash, napkins folded the moment you stepped away from the table, background on each wine from the sommelier. There was a weird mixup with a cheese plate — it was placed on our table, then taken away a few seconds later — after we’d had a few bites — and taken to another table (!) despite our warnings. The servers had a brief but panic attack; we thought it was funny, but I’m not sure that other table would’ve thought so. It certainly weren’t cheap — I’m sure my father felt a chill go down his spine when I signed the bill — but how many times do you get to eat a meal that’s amazingly delicious and completely adventurous at the same time?

The meal had lasted three and a half hours. A final drink at the bar — CBGB stayed out late on a school night just for Nellie’s 30th…thanks guys! — and we retired to that beautiful room.

Pretty sweet.

Walnut

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

We just got back from Noce — the last of our Winterlicious excursions — with T-Bone (as usual) and RC. It was really good, especially the starter (salad with walnuts, pear and cheese), dessert (three kinds of mousse) and wine (some kind of kickass pinot noir). The main — venison — was ok, but nothing special. The service was great, and my wife & RC claimed the gnocchi was pretty rockin’ too, so I’d like to go back on a non-licious night.

.:.

After sucking large for the last couple of weeks, the Canadiens have won two shutouts in a row. I watched the game this afternoon against Philadelphia, and they completely dominated the Flyers. Hard to believe, after some of the games I saw them play even a week ago.