Transcendent Experience

I’ve been meaning to write about this for a while, but the hestitation has always held me back. I’m not a professional food critic. In fact, I’m not a professional food anything! Though, I might contest for a professional eater, but my prowess pales in comparison to legends like Joey Chestnut or Tsunami Kobayashi.

In my constant zest to explore everything the world of Food & Beverage has to offer, I’ve been lucky enough to dine at a few restaurants and I feel like these small sojourns into high-end gastronomy always leave a profound impact.

My wife and I recently had an amazing dinner at Birdsong SF. The whole evening was pretty incredible, but this one abalone dish left me speechless. We usually do one vegetarian and one regular tasting and I think we both came out on the upside with our selections and the reserve wine pairing. It was super fascinating to watch the orchestra of that immaculate kitchen play out in front of our eyes. We even had a quick discussion with Chef Bleidorn about the correct ratio of peanut butter to jelly in any good PB&J sandwich!!

I think it was the sheer technique and skill of cookery of the abalone, which was beautifully accentuated by that warm salty broth, that did it for me. In that moment it made me realize why I was having such a visceral reaction to a bite of food - its’ the ability to evoke such emotions, transport you back to a moment in time, make you feel something you haven’t felt in a long time, that’s the magic of food. Being able to share that with someone you love and care about deeply, just elevates it even more.

There’s definitely a few standout dishes and some incredible regulars, that immediately transport back to the moment. In no particular order:

• Gnochhi at Fig
• Ridged pasta at Acquerello
• Everthing Bagels at Saratoga Bagels
• Slice of the original at Scarr’s Pizza
• BBQ at Micklethwait Craft Meats — Hard to pick one thing lol