Dinner Out
I have a new cousin!
Actually, MMM is an existing 2nd cousin who I have never met before. I grew up in the land of igloos, she grew up on the dark continent, and our paths never crossed until tonight. She is here on business and contacted our mutual 2nd cousin (yes, my family life is replete with 2nd and 3rd cousins 2ce removed on our distaff uncles side - this remaining in contact is a result of wwII and the dissipation of the family to all corners of the earth), and we all met up tonight. I didn't get to spend lots of time with her, there were other people at the table, but I do hope to stay in touch with her and hopefully, over time, get to know her better.
On top of that gaining a new cousin tonight, I got to see me already existing, and dearly beloved cousins, and we all went to dinner at Manta Ray. As usual, the dinner was excellent. They don't understand this blogging thing, they think I am a bit obsessed, so I only took 1 picture of my dinner. But as usual, the mezzete were oppulent and delicious. We had avocado with freshly marinated sardines, tzatziki with fried eggplant, grilled eggplant with labane, grey mullett ceviche with sumach, their excellent balkan bread (like a foccacia) and a really good Israeli wine from a boutique winery called Ella Valley Wines. I didn't get a chance to look at the bottle, but it was a lovely rich red wine, not too tannic and with good legs.
My main course was sauteed shrimp and scallops in a tomato cream sauce. I could have lived without the sauce, it tasted rather like a buttery, watered down thousand island dressing, but the shrimps were juicy and sweet, and the scallops were perfectly seared, with a golden crust and a melting interior that was hot without being overcooked and still tasted of the sea.
Upon my recommendation we finished with a crunchy chocolate decadence. The name says it all!
4 comments:
hey — mazal tov! that's fun. did u get along well?
i laughed about the photo snapping of food. oh yeah, i can see one eyebrow going up and them thinking: "what exactly is this chick doing?" between moments of you forbidding anyone digging in until u get the perfect shot! now that's funny.
So we both had dinner at Manta Ray last night. :)
Lisa
Hey BB,
Thank you, yes it was a fun evening, it is always nice when I get a chance to see my family (family is family no matter how distant the relationship). I think we got on well. She is a very interesting person who has led a very interesting life.
I am slowly training my friends to get used to me snapping away. I do their plates first and try to be quick about it. My plate often is no longer steaming by the time I get to tuck in. Mind you, my friend Cactus looks out for me and actually stopped Sass from eating until I had finished! It is funny and at the same time, fulfilling when things turn out looking like a magazine layout. I even had my dad turning plates for better shots 8^)
Hi Lisa,
Wow, that is too cool! How was your dinner? Did you take any pics? I wonder whether we saw each other but just don't know it? Hmmm, existential possibilities on that one... Maybe next time? 8^)
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