Eiji Izumi
At least half of the new restaurants Vida and I try are sushi places. She loves it but I always feel a little guilty because I know that most likely the only food she is going to eat is avocado roll—not exactly a complete meal. I usually have to feed her again when we get home. Last week we were on our way to our other favorite meal, fried rice, at a new Thai place but driving down Sanchez I saw parking in front of Eiji a sushi restaurant in the former Izumi location.
My friend L.G. and I used to go to Izumi regularly. The food was o.k.--but tended toward the expensive side. We went there more for convenience than for the food or ambiance. Their regular customers—we were never quite elevated to that level—would get special treats such as Joseph Schmidt truffles. It always felt like we were B-list
The owner of Eiji didn’t do much to change the décor it inherited from Izumi—an old cash register still had pride of place on a side table next to a classic 1960’s refrigerator with an usual clear compartment jutting from the front door. The restaurant was empty except for a couple of dads and their baby just finishing up. There was a lone man in the kitchen and one woman running the entire front of the house. Eiji features various kinds of housemade tofu. I was intrigued but since they were a bit pricey and tended toward softer styles I decided to pass. A few weeks ago Warakabune was closed so we went across the street to No Name. I wanted to order something more nutritious for Vida so I ordered gomaae the spinach salad tossed with sesame. She loved it so I ordered another spinach salad at Eiji along with some edamame. I ordered Vida’s avocado roll and a tataki salad for myself. Having already branched out Vida was in an adventurous mood and asked about my tuna. I gave her a small piece and two seconds later she said, “I want that.” When I tried giving her another small bite she continued, “No, I want the whole thing”. We ended up sharing it along with the lightly dressed salad it was served with.
Halfway into the meal Vida suddenly decided to burp loudly. I didn’t think I could be more mortified until she did it again a couple of minutes later. The restaurant was empty of other patrons by that point making it even more embarrassing and disrespectful of the restaurant. I should have some kind of instant threat to intimidate her into stopping such behavior but I was too tired. A few minutes later I heard a familiar sound. One of the quirks I remembered from Izumi is that the toilet could be heard loudly flushing throughout the restaurant. The sushi chef had taken a restroom break. In such a familial atmosphere surely Vida could be forgiven.
Restaurant Total: 211
Aziza
Summer is half over and I haven’t written Dinner with Vida since the last day of school. I knew that summer would be far more hectic for me than the school year but it has exceeded my expectations. Since there is no morning care for any of the camps I have to schlep Vida to work with me almost every morning and then frantically drive her to camp and back to work. She is a pretty good sport about it—I get only the occasional “I hate your work” and this morning she straight up insisted that she wouldn’t go—but usually she helps me put the money out and gleefully eats and drinks whatever she wants. She has had cheese puffs for breakfast more often than toast or oatmeal combined. If I’m really stressed she works on me for a second bag. Some mornings she has eaten three packages of seaweed before 8 in the morning. Mangos, peaches and strawberries are popular choices if I have the patience to go wash and cut them for her—cheese puffs are just so much easier when I’m counting money, doing orders and answering the phone in between “what can I eat” and “when are we going to go”.
One of those busy days we headed out to a Thai restaurant, Tranh Tam II, for fried rice. I don’t know where Thanh Tam I is but TTII is on Valencia near 17th. When we first walk in I notice a rack of to go menus featuring a photo of an attractive Vietnamese woman in traditional dress on the front. I was curious about the unusual come on until I realized that only guys ran the place. America’s Most Wanted blared on the T.V. and there was a definite bachelor feel to the place. I ordered a “BBQ Meat Vermicelli Noodle” with egg rolls and grilled beef. I couldn’t have been happier—noodles, meat and fried things. Vida was happy with her chicken fried rice—with just enough left for lunch the next day.
On Thursday I mistakenly double booked our evening. I was invited to a Bonny Doon winery tasting at the Moroccan restaurant Aziza that I was very excited about—but I thought it was on Friday and planned to get babysitting rather than Thursday when we had a work dinner at Naan and Curry planned. I was loath to cancel the Bonny Doon engagement when I thought of all those fantastic bottles of wine lined up in front of delectable food. But, we had already rescheduled the work party once already. I decided to try and hit both.
I picked Vida up and whisked her home to change and get her Dragon Tales fix. It was difficult to get her dressed--she was determined to wear her Sponge Bob T-shirt—but it was already a little weird that I was bringing her; she could at least be nicely dressed. We then rushed out of the house and down to 21st and Geary to Aziza. I was feeling guilty about dragging her around when she fell asleep in the car around 13th and Geary. I woke her quickly after we parked and carried her into the restaurant. It was deliciously fancy with lots of blue velveteen upholstery and hanging lights over comfy banquettes. We were ushered to a back room that had more natural light and was not quite as luxurious. We started with Cigare Volant Rose, Big House Pink and Big House White and then Pacific Rim Riesling and Chenin Blanc etc. etc. It’s a good thing we were compelled to pour them out before finishing the glass. Vida had a Seven-Up in a classic bottle that she loved. The food luckily started coming before she could play with the ice in the glass too much—most importantly the lentil soup that Vida was interested in. I poured a couple of ice cubes into the soup and she dug in. She quickly finished the bowl as we ate giant beans baked in tomato sauce and feta, and pita with various Mediterranean spreads. I was thrilled with all the locally grown organic vegetables and local cheeses featured on the menu. Vida whispered to me that she wanted more soup—the host didn’t seem to mind so I ordered her another one. She finished that and was so emboldened that she just announced “more soup” and I sheepishly asked if she could have a third. They were good sports about it—since we couldn’t stay for the entrees I didn’t feel too bad. I tasted couple of reds before we rushed out the door to our next engagement.
For a sort of “team building” event at work we planned to go out for dinner at Naan and Curry on Irving. The restaurant was chosen because it is a favorite of one of the employees and relatively cheap. These events usually happen on the down low—I don’t want to risk looking like an idiot for asking the corporate office and then possibly told no or later or I’ll think about it.
When Vida and I arrived almost everybody was there happily digging into chicken tikka masala, saag paneer and a slew of other items served on Lilliputian dishes. If you weren’t careful your share could take the entire dish. Vida can’t stand Indian food so I was relieved that she had already eaten plenty. It would have been painful to get her to try the relatively spicy dishes of non-descript vegetables and meat buried in sauce. I wished that I could have eaten the couscous at Aziza but I made the best of what looked good out of what generally didn’t look so good. Almost anything is palatable with fresh naan bread. Not long after we arrived Vida of course had to use the bathroom—given the décor of the restaurant I was not thrilled to be checking out the facilities. We had been so impressed with the bathroom at Aziza with its lighted candles and EO lavender soap in the dispenser.
Relatively recently the health department has required all restaurants to not only pass their inspection but post their score prominently in the restaurant. It seems a little draconian—with restaurants, what you don’t know mostly won’t hurt you. Some upscale places such as Tartine Bakery and Delfina post perfect 100% scores. Even modest places can have nearly a perfect score making me think that the grades are generally inflated. As we walked toward the bathroom I saw Naan and Curry’s posting of 87%. I was a little shocked. I had never seen such a low grade in any restaurant I frequented—they had to be really bad to get such a rating and I suddenly didn’t want to eat another bite. The messy open kitchen with cooks flying through dozens of dishes every 5 minutes confirmed this. The horrible bathroom experience behind us we went back to our table. One of my co-workers brought her son along with various Spider Man toys. Vida and T each ate a bit of plain rice and then played happily until it was time to go.
POSTCRIPT: A couple of weeks ago I noticed that Bonny Doon Winery was selling its Big House wines at Safeway. I was shocked that a winery so concerned with its image would sell to the mass market. Our host at the wine tasting alluded to creditors and infighting. On Friday the rep from Bonny Doon’s distributor came to tell me that the Big House Wines had been sold and that they had fired 80% of their staff. So much for fancy dinners.
Restaurant Total: 209
