Seattle -- Rugby and Friends

Paul took a short trip to Seattle this weekend. His main reason for going was to watch a rugby game. It was quite an exciting match. Seattle beat Denver by 2 points, and the match ended literally with Denver on the 1 yard line trying to score. The weather was surprisingly delightful -- high around 55, crisp clear and sunny.

That made the vistas just stunning. As always in Seattle, when the weather is good you can look west across Puget Sound to the Olympics and then a few seconds later, you can look east to the Cascades. This was one of those days when you really couldn't ask for better views than this. Plus a nice look at Seattle's iconic skyline and "bingo" you have near perfection.

By far the highlight of the trip, however, was getting to see an old friend, Kevin Wood, his wife, Kelly and their two young boys, Ryan and Galen. You know it is going to be a good visit when the door opens and Ryan greets you with "I have a surprise." You ask "what is it?" and he says "two worms." Perfect.

Ryan is, indeed, a 4 year old pistol -- all boy with energy to match. He looks particularly good in the Batman costume that he wears. Galen, at age 1, is less well defined, but he seems to like laughing. It was a special pleasure to meet Kelly, whom I had not met before. She seems like a perfect fit with Kevin (but I guess they know that already!). They were kind enough to host a dinner at a local restaurant, St. Clouds, where I had a wonderful fish entree. And I highly highly recommend the coconut, chocolate chunk ice cream.

On the whole, a grand time was had.

Sacramento -- Old Town

So, this weekend I was in Sacramento to watch a rugby match. It was a beautiful day in the Bay Area -- temperature in the mid-60s, a cloudless sky, and a beautiful new rugby pitch. The game itself left something to be desired (the final score was 106-0 which even people who don't know any rugby at all will understand is a wipeout), but we can't have perfection can we.

Afterwards, the referee Aruna Ranaweera, and I used Yelp to find the "best bar" in Sacramento. We were directed to the Back Door Lounge in Old Town. I'd never been to Old Town before but the city has a "cowboy" theme to the old town, complete with horses, carriages, hitching posts and a bunch of tourists. It was a hoot and a half.

The Back Door is a "perfect" dive bar. And I do mean perfect. When we wandered in, we were caught up in a "pub crawl" to celebrate St. Patrick's day, amidst a crowd of drunken, singing Irishmen all wearing the green. Great fun.

Aruna and I were joined by two other rugby folks -- Kat Todd-Schwartz and her husband Ray Schwartz, both of whom are larger than life characters. At Ray's urging, I tried a Golden Cadillac, which is a wicked drink made with Galliano, Creme de Cacao (?) and some other stuff. Tasted yummy, but watch the kick. In any event, a joyous albeit slightly inebriated time was had by all.

Katy's in Costa Rica; Paul's Off to Sacramento

Katy is in Costa Rica for two weeks at a Spanish language class. She'll post on that when she returns. Meanwhile, Paul is headed to the West Coast to watch a rugby match -- U.C. Berkely v U.C.Davis in Sacramento. Off to the flight .....

On the Road to Chicago

Well, we've made this trip 3 times in the past month and we've got it down to a science. Door to door from DC to Evanston is 732 miles and it takes us 12 hours and 40 minutes when we work at it. Some highlights and lowlights from the trips:

Highlight: Sunrise over the Allegheny mountains as you head west from DC

Lowlight: The Gateway Restaurant in Breezewood, PA -- why oh why have I 70 and I 76 not been connected with a highway connection?

Highlight: Listening to US history tapes from the Teaching Company

Lowlight: Ohio is very, very flat

Highlight: Finding a Panera Bread outlet in the highway rest stops in Ohio [Yes, not really that high, but the scale is a relative one!]

Lowlight: Gary, Indiana still smells

Really Lowlight: Arriving in Chicago on a Friday rush hour where the express lanes are closed with snow and being at a standstill, totally, for more than an hour

Highlight: Arriving at our own apartment, not a hotel, in Evanston

Real Highlight: Seeing our kids and grandchildren 3 times in the first week.

Rasika -- 3 1/2 Stars

Yesterday was Katy's birthday. We had dinner with her son, Mike and our daughter in law, Debbie at Rasika's in DC. Once again, the dinner was a home run. Rasika is an Indian restaurant that uses a more nouvelle fusion style for its food. You just couldn't have beaten it with a stick!

The appetizers were wonderful: Katy and Mike both had the Wild Mushroom Uttapam (a pancake) with coconut chutney. Debbie went for the Mango tandoori shrimp and Paul had the most unusual fig & lentil combination with marscapone cream. Each dish had the "zing" of India, but put together in a totally new way.

The entrees were even better. Debbie says that her Tandori lamb chops were "exquisite." Tender and succulent with just the right level of spice. Add some paneer cheese over the rice and she was in 7th heaven. Mike had the mixed grill and was especially pleased with the tandori salmon. Katy had a goa fish curry that made the steam come out of her ears -- to her great pleasure. And Paul had a lamb roganjosh that was just the right degree of spicy.

Of course we also had the traditional accompaniments of Naan and Roti breads, but this time with the homemade chutneys -- one tomato; one mango; and one eggplant. These are MUST try taste sensations.

We owe a special thanks to the sommellier. We asked for a good fruit-forward wine that would stand up to all the tastes and spices. He brought us a wonderful gewirtzendaner (I can never spell that right) from Germany that had just the right touch of orange and berry in it to make a statement but not overwhelm the spices of the tandori and curry. If you go, and don't know what you want, you can safely put yourself in his hands.

Dinner was followed with deserts that went to the next level. Katy had the chocolate samosa -- the chocoholic's delight. Mike and Deb both had the apple jalebi (essentially a begniet) with cardomon ice cream. And Paul had a Nougat Kulfi with brandy sauce that tasted like a cross between caramel ice cream and fine liqour.

We leave tomorrow for Chicago, where we hope to have similar gastronomic pleasure with our other kids. This was, however, a nice way to leave DC and we'll remember the meal fondly.

Kaz Sushi -- 3 1/2 Stars

We go to Kaz Sushi fairly often. Its an avant garde sushi place that tries to combine traditional tastes with new ones. And it just keeps getting better every time we go. This time around Katy had a yellowtail ceviche that was a uniquely Japanese take on the Spanish classic. Paul started with a traditional hijiki salad that was just perfect in texture.

As always the sushi selections ranged from the typical (California roll and eel) to the sublimely different. We had one of Kaz's signature dishes -- salmon with a dollop of mango on it -- that we always enjoy. But the surprises were in some of the other, equally wonderful novelties. We shared a seared scallop sushi covered in lemon salt that was just the right combination of salty and charred. Paul had the super-fatty tuna, that had more marbling than we've ever seen on a fish. And Katy had a side dish of shaved brussell sprouts, seared with onion and some kind of sauce we couldn't identify that was as good a veggie dish as we've had in a long time. To top it off, Katy had a wonderful New Zealand savignon blanc that was fresh on the tongue and a great match for the quiet tastes of the sushi.

Nora's -- 3 1/2 Stars

Last night we had a wonderful dinner out at Nora's. Nora's is self=titled the "first certified organic restaurant" in America. Whatever the truth of that claim, it is certainly true that Nora's does fantastic food. It's been roughly 2 years since last we went and our pleasure this time was enhanced by the fact that our daughter-in-law, Natalia, joined us. Natalia is in town for a couple of days on business and this seemed a good chance to share a great meal with her.

And it was great. For appetizers, Katy had a beet salad that was a wonderful medley of fresh tastes. Natalia had a Dungeness crab & avocado salad that looked scrumptious and Paul had a black trumpet mushroom and goat cheese tart that simply sang with sparkling on the tongue. We accompanied the meal with a Freeman Pinot Noir from Sonoma, that was very reasonably priced and had just the right level of fruit, without too much push to it. Delightful.

Main courses also hit the mark: Katy had an Amish Veal Roast with fennel; Natalia had Divers Scallops with cauliflower puree; and Paul had a fillet mignon with carmelized onion mashed potatoes and some bone marrow. Yum. We finished the meal with Chocolate mousse cake; pear & cranberry crisp; and Katy's traditional sorbet.

Nora's never fails to make good on its promise of good food, in a cozy and friendly atmosphere. Our servers were pleasant and helpful. Perhaps best of all, they make their own sparkling water, so the water was free! Talk about great deals.