Verona Pizza
And Greek Restaurant Upper
Noe Rec shoeless
Restaurant Total:126
Sushi Time
A couple of weeks ago I unexpectedly received a gift of some money. Vida and I went out for a real sushi dinner at Sushi Time on Market and Noe. Instead of calculating the prices of rolls I just ordered what I thought I could eat. In my excitement I ordered so much that the waiter encouraged me to give up one of the rolls. This happens to me quite often at sushi restaurants. I am always surprised when a restaurant would prefer to make sure that I didn’t order more than I could eat then sell me the food. Sushi Time also has a “Happy Hour” with two-dollar sake and beer.
The restaurant was completely empty except for us. Although it was relaxing not to worry about Vida’s noise level it was sad to see so much effort put into a restaurant that didn’t seem to have a chance. I have actually visited this location before but since it is under new ownership I decided to consider it fair game for dinner with Vida. The restaurant is downstairs in the mall between Harvest Market and Books, Inc. Its opaque plastic windows make the place look more like a greenhouse than a restaurant but I became quite fond of it before Vida was born. I used to go there with my friend L. It was there that I told L that I was pregnant. I ate most of the sushi that evening, as she was more interested in digesting the information than the food.
As my second sake kicked in I started feeling nostalgic about the first and last time I attempted to eat out by myself during my pregnancy. Being pregnant and single, I spent a lot of time alone considering the fact that I was about to have a baby. Although I had great friends helping me through this time, in many ways I was on my own. One evening I decided to embrace this reality and take myself out for dinner. I admire solo diners in restaurants but I can’t usually bring myself to go alone. People who eat at restaurants while holding a book in front of their face seem to confirm rather than compensate for the conspicuous position of eating unaccompanied. I sat at the sushi bar so as to not be forced to look at people and smile self-consciously. I continued to muse on my pregnancy until I saw the server dart for our table. Vida was threatening to topple her glass of orange soda with the straw.
Orange soda has been Vida’s favorite beverage ever since she decided that orange was her favorite color. Whenever Vida sees anything orange, a car, flower, shirt etc. she usually yells “there’s orange” followed by “orange is my favorite color and my mom’s favorite color”. It all started with a pair of shorts. One afternoon last summer Vida peed her pants and they gave her a pair of sporty orange “KMS” shorts to wear. Usually when we borrow clothes from school I return them as soon as possible but Vida insisted on wearing these shorts for the next few days. While they were in the wash she kept asking for the “orange shorns”. It was clear that they wouldn’t be going back to the community clothes bin at school anytime soon.
At the end of the San Francisco summer, last October, the orange shorts disappeared into the bottomless bag of laundry. Even though it was too cold for shorts generally Vida kept asking for the “orange shorns”. I kept telling her they were in the laundry until the weather turned this spring and she could wear shorts again. I was certain that in the intervening months she had gotten too big for them. I was somewhat afraid to dig them out and face her disappointment. When the shorts reemerged from the laundry she grabbed them and asked if she could wear them to school the next day. Fortunately she could get them on. Unfortunately, it’s not what I would choose for her to wear—particularly when an orange shirt that “matches” accompanies them.
Dinner was very good. Vida ate her avocado roll and sang “Tomorrow” for the server. He brought over a Hello Kitty savings bank and she spent half of the meal putting coins into it and taking them out again. There was also a large red ceramic cat by our table that she spend some quality time with. I enjoyed my rolls—nothing spectacular but a notch above our usual sushi meals.
Restaurant Total: 95
