Not quite around the corner

We arrived for dinner around 20.30, when only tourists are eating in Buenos Aires. The restaurant was almost deserted; another party of two (yes, tourists) was a few tables away. As it filled up, the service never slackened and the maître d' continued to dote on us as if we were the only table.

I don't recall what we ate or drank, except that it was delicious, but I will never forget the service. Example: My water glass was a little low, so I took the bottle of "con gas" from the service table. As I was about to pour, the maître d' flew across the room to pour it for me, apologizing profusely. Our waiter was only two seconds behind him and experienced his quiet wrath.

If only it were closer to home ... Lola restaurant in Buenos Aires.

Poisson avec passion

We dined the other night at Passionfish in Pacific Grove, where they have a very civilized wine pricing policy. This lets us try more (and more interesting) wines without breaking the budget. For us, it is mandatory to start with the fried oyster and arugula salad. My dinner was scallops with tomato truffle butter and thyme risotto; the Princess had sea bass with tomato aïoli and niçoise style vegetables.

I ordered the wine because it was a rarity: Tokaji Furmint 2005 from Gróf Degenfeld. How often do you see a Tokaji, let alone a dry one? It was crisp and somewhat aromatic; we smelled peaches and apricots. Happily we had enough to take home.

Next day: I felt like having something truffly again, so I did pasta with truffle oil. No recipe, just feeling my way through it. Soaked some dried morels in a little warm water, sliced them, strained the soak water and added to the pasta water. Whole wheat penne, butter, black truffle oil, shavings of Parmesan. At the table, we decided the truffleness was lacking, so rather than getting up for more oil, we grated more cheese on top. That did the job - the extra salt amplified the flavors.

The remaining Furmint was ... yum.