Yo's Sushi Wild Pepper
For weeks if not months Vida has been wiggling her loose front tooth. The obsession went into overdrive last week with her bending it back and forth to the point where it was really hanging by a thread. Last Friday I was thinking we would go out for dinner but the loose tooth changed everything. When I went to pick Vida up after school she was still playing with her tooth. It had turned gray and looked so weird that I hoped it would come out as soon as possible. As we were leaving Vida approached her teacher J notorious in those parts for tooth removal. We had heard rumors of her skill but Vida had stayed away in fear that her tooth would be removed for her. I don’t think she was thinking much about it as she showed J her tooth for what would be the last time. Vida pointed it out and J reached in and plucked it out—tears of shock and surprise started to come to Vida’s eyes but in a split second her face became one big smile. J handed her the tooth and she ran back into after school to show all her friends and teachers. I however was in a panic—the tooth fairy was not prepared. It was getting late and I couldn’t envision gracefully stopping at an ATM and then going to a store break the $20. I gratefully accepted a dollar from J and we went home.
Vida who is usually so reticent on the phone gave elaborate descriptions of the event to grandma, grandpa, Ra Ra and B. It didn’t hurt and it didn’t bleed and it was hands down the most exciting thing to happen in years.
Dinner out had to wait until this week when the excitement about the tooth had died down. Last night M called to get together. We planned to meet at Homestead, previously known as Dylan’s bar. I miss the soccer jerseys on the wall and the crusty Irish bartender. The pretense by which children could come into the bar, some kind of meat pastry was gone and that evening we bought possibly the last bag of Miss Vicki’s salt and vinegar potato chips. I’m not sure why they let us in with our kids. As we were driving over M called and told us that Ra Ra was also visiting the Homestead. We walked in the bar and surprised Ra Ra and many of her friends. The girls had brought their scooters so they went outside the bar to play and we took turns watching them. I taught them how to toss coins against the wall keeping them busy for quite awhile. Soon we were ready for dinner. Vida and G decided they wanted sushi so M suggested Yo’s Sushi on Mission Street across from Safeway--Yo being an old friend of his.
We walked into the small sushi bar and joined a lone gentleman in the restaurant at the sushi bar. He was a good sport about us disturbing his peace. Yo-San started the girls off with paper umbrellas and their usual rolls—salmon for G and avocado for Vida. I decided to go all out and eat whatever M thought would be good—completely ignoring my usually proclivity toward avoiding all raw fish. We had hamachi nigiri, a scallop hand roll along with a tempura roll. The girls bantered with Yo and demanded little treats. He rolled up small strips of seaweed with plain rice and dipped them into tobiko. The only thing I couldn’t handle eating was an ikura nigiri or salmon eggs. I don’t mind the eggs in small amounts but I couldn’t eat the entire piece. Luckily Vida helped me out with the large orange eggs, eating some and sucking a few up a straw to Yo’s tolerant chagrin. After eating the girls went behind the sushi bar to “help” Yo. They pretended to make sushi while we “ordered” and generally made me extremely nervous that they were treading on forbidden territory. M reassured me that after raising two girls Yo was indulgent of such behavior. We finished with some Pocky’s generously provided by Yo and everyone left happy.
The next night I was held up at work and couldn’t even think about making anything decent for dinner. Close by to Vida’s school on 26th Street is a place that has been a series of Chinese restaurants for years. I first knew it as an outpost of Yuet Lee famous in San Francisco for its more prominent China town location. I first went to the Yuet Lee in Chinatown many years ago with my friend K who was visiting from Seattle. We were searching for something similar to the incredible salt and pepper crab we first had at Rose. We settled for a wonderful salt and pepper squid. When Yuet Lee opened on 26th street I was constantly bringing people there for the squid along with sautéed pea sprouts. It’s most current incarnation Wild Pepper is a straightforward Chinese restaurant of the “for here or to go”” variety. You know when they great you at the door with that refrain that not many people stay to eat in the actual restaurant. The empty dining room and the endless ringing of the telephone confirmed my diagnosis. Soon Chinese restaurants will go the way of pizza takeout and not even waste money on much more than a storefront. We sat down and Vida complained that we weren’t meeting any other people for dinner and that it would just be us. From the extravaganza of the previous night I was ready for a break but Vida’s sociable nature wants every night to be a party.
At Wild Pepper some care had been taken with the dining room. There was a fish tank with a couple of fish that Vida went to go visit soon after we sat down. The friendly server apologized for the poverty of the tank and told Vida “next time you come there will be more fish.” That was wishful thinking . . .There was a cabinet separating the restaurant from a table full of people plucking green beans and taking orders. It had a selection of wine, beers, sodas and an Amy Tan book.
Vida was happy with her less than elaborate fried rice. I ordered baby bok choy perfectly cooked to my specifications i.e. no “garlic sauce” in fact no sauce at all along with a Schezuan beef. It was very tasty but a bit too much food for one.
Restaurant Total: 203
