Year of the Tiger
It's not every year we get to celebrate Chinese New Year and Valentine's Day together over Presidents' Day weekend. On Friday, we invited my co-residents over to wrap some home-made dumplings and watch the opening ceremony for the Winter Olympics. The show turned out to be a long, drawn-out hodgepodge of cultural and environmental themes which really only piqued our interest when the flame-lighting mechanism in the finale malfunctioned. Over the weekend, we returned to NYC to play with the many babies that my married friends have been popping out, and also to ring in the year of the tiger at home with the traditional tea ceremony, red envelopes, and our favorite coconut-milk nian gao. Back in Boston, the continuous coverage of the Vancouver games have kept us hooked like junkies. Somehow, the folks at NBC have managed to infuse enough drama and suspense to make even a game like luge addictive to watch, assuring our lack of productivity for the two weeks to come.
Who Dat in New Orleans?
When we chose the Crescent City for vacation this year, we did not realize that it would coincide with the biggest football game of the year - especially when the Saints would win its first Super Bowl ever. Restaurants closed, parades were planned, and even the elephants got in on the excitement. On Saturday, we explored the
Insectarium near our hotel, then chased it with crabmeat maison & shrimp remoulde, seafood gumbo, trout amandine, and shrimp etouffee at Galatoire's, the classic NOLA establishment where the menu never changes and the waiters have served for decades. Chicory coffee and beignets from Café du Monde dusted our coats and wrapped up the night. On Superbowl Sunday, we awoke early for a quiet walking tour of the Garden District, and even managed a last minute reservation for the Sunday Jazz Brunch at Commander's Palace. A detour to visit the furry inhabitants of the Audubon Zoo, however, left us stranded without a cab. We walked for nearly an hour before sharing a cab with a flock of LSU Saints fans, arriving 30 minutes late for our reservation but just in time for the last seating. The gumbo Ya Ya, turtle soup, and pecan-crusted gulf fish were yummy, but the Eggs Cochon de Lait and creole bread pudding soufflé with whiskey cream sauce stole the show. After some lightning-fast service and a restaurant tour by the waiter, we were rushed out the door for the staff to make the kickoff. At dinner, our lone waiter kept deserting us for the TV in the kitchen. The Saints won moments after we left the restaurant, and we were swept along to Bourbon Street to participate in the celebration. We spent Monday touring the Honey Island Swamp, where we spotted one round nutria but no 'gators. A po'boy from Mother's kept our hunger at bay as we perused this year's floats at Mardi Gras World before dinner. At Mr.
B's Bistro, their tender Mississippi rabbit was no match for the barbequed shrimp, easily the best shrimp dish I have ever experienced. On Tuesday, we toured the French Quarter and feasted on fried chicken at Willie Mae's Scotch House - supposedly the best in the world, but not worth the adrenaline rush of traveling through that dangerous neighborhood when we attempted to walk to Parkway Bakery for their award-winning po'boys (and we found them closed!). An afternoon visit to the Aquarium and a snack of sweet Louisiana oysters kept us busy until dinner at August, John Besh's flagship and New Orleans' finest restaurant. With a view of the parade from our table, we enjoyed excellent crabmeat gnocchi with black truffle and another decadent cochon de lait, despite a disappointing tasting menu. Our flight home was thrwarted by snowy weather, leaving us stranded with a "distressed passenger" stay at a nearby Holiday Inn overnight. Like our trip to Montreal, our journey through Creole cuisine in New Orleans reminded us that French gastronomic influence simply opens doors to foodie heaven.
Busy Month
January has been a packed month. The drudgery of daily glaucoma clinic and an unhealthy overdose of ED shifts were interspersed only by moments of reprieve with the department holiday party at Hotel Marlowe and the fellow lectures and dinner at the Taj. Last weekend, we returned to Flushing for Taiwanese pulled noodles and to Brooklyn for dim sum with my parents. We even got to check out the Tim Burton exhibit at the MOMA. The small but packed gallery featured an eye-popping collection of sketches, models, and concept designs from the artist's darkly humorous imagination.
For my birthday weekend extravaganza, we had our usual seafood feast with friends in Chinatown, and also a higher-end Italian dinner at Mama Maria. The hearty meal was marred only by the lofty price tag, including a $20 cake-cutting fee and perhaps even part of our cake, as our friend pointed out that none of our 8 slices came close to a 45 degree angle. Now who ever said that high school geometry was useless?
A New Decade
Having the honor of being on call for Thanksgiving, Christmas, AND New Year's Eve, we ended up ringing in the new decade at the Mass Eye & Ear ED (or as I call it "the dungeon", since it has neither windows nor cell phone reception). Fortunately, the night was quiet, and Melody got to come in to work to join me as we raided the cafeteria for chips and ice-cream, and watched tons of people in Times Square jump for joy on Dick Clark's Rockin Eve. Sadly, another big snow storm struck after my week of night float. We spent the weekend stranded at home - eating, sleeping, watching TV, and playing video games - what a great start to the new year!
