Months after hearing about Melody’s dining experience at Momofuku Ko, I just had to try the experience myself. Meaning “child,” Ko is the smallest of David Chang’s restaurants in NYC, and features an online-only reservation system. We waited at my computer at 9:59am exactly 7 days before our planned reservation, and crossing our fingers that my DSL connection is stable, successfully scored 2 spots for dinner last night. Our spectacular meal began with an amuse trio with tiny sweet corn raviolis, crispy Mirin-soaked black pepper buttermilk biscuits that oozed oil from below, and airy chicharron with Togarashi salt. This was followed by a refreshing diver scallop sashimi with pineapple vinegar, fresh water chesnut and crispy ham. The cold dashi soup was accompanied by raw sugar snap pea pods (with the peas shelled and replaced!), pea pod stems, cucumber, Santa Barbara uni – one of few rare instances where urchin does NOT taste like sewage. Next was a warm, richly-flavored concoction of lightly-smoked egg with Hackleback caviar, onion soubise, fingerling potato chips and purple sweet potato vinegrette. This was followed by a satisfying suped-up congee – a saffron Korean jook with Louisiana crawfish, chinese sausage, fresh chopped fennel, dill, and lime zest. We also witnessed the impressive live preparation of a soft-shell crab, coated with flour and pan-fried, and served on a bed of curly celery ribbons (raw but soaked in ice water to curl them) and hearts of palm pickled in lemon juice with an old bay brown butter sauce. Then, the famed shaved frozen foie gras over lychee, Riesling gelee, and pine nut brittle, which Melody said at first glance looked like saw dust, then when stirred looked like a hot mess, but when ingested was an amazing blend of flavors and textures that’s like “a party in my mouth and everyone’s invited!” The main meat was a beef short rib (cooked sous vide for a few days and then quickly deep fried for a crust, producing a texture of tenderness with epic proportions) with “spring allium” (a.k.a. onions) – grilled scallions, leeks puree, raw sweet onions, and sliced pickled mini red onions topped with a red wine sauce. Our desserts were a cantalope sorbet on lemon verbena ice, and rhubarb with olive oil creme fraiche sorbet, black pepper crunchies, and black pepper ganache (which tasted like a paste version of the buttermilk biscuit). The overall atmosphere was a pure celebration of food and its creation – bar seating with 12 stools around an open kitchen with no fancy decor, three chefs taking turns to describe each dish, and a mixture of music from country to rock to Beach Boys. We walked away, happy and smiling.

Last night seemed like any other nights on call – 5 admissions, 2 event notes for acute chest pain and a BP of 60/D, checking blood gases for someone desatting, and the usual “need Tylenol STAT” page. Except this was not just any call night – it was my last night as a medicine intern. We celebrated our swan song, so to speak, with cake, pastries, and sparkling cider in the house officer’s lounge at midnight. This morning, our residency director put a discharge sticker on my white coat before I signed out my list for the last time, passing the torch to the next poor bastard taking over the service. There was a great sense of relief as I joined the post-call crew for brunch this afternoon. Our evening concluded with Melody’s graduation from fellowship at ye olde Harvard Club, marking the end of another chapter in our academic careers. Now before residency starts on July 1st, we’ve decided to spend our week off recuperating – with food, sleep, and relaxation.

Last weekend, we drove out to Braintree for some BBQ ribs and discovered along the way the huge Asian grocery store Kam Man in nearby Quincy. We’ve been looking for an alternative ever since our old staple for Asian goods began slipping into the dumps in terms of selection. It was a relief to find that this place had all five kinds of soy sauce we use, Shao Hsing rice wine, Neoguri noodles, soba/udon tsuyu, and even vegetarian chicken. We bought nearly a hundred bucks worth of groceries, including a 2-pound striped bass for steaming. Among the goodies were also ingredients for banh mi. In case you haven’t already discovered the awesomeness of this Vietnamese sandwich, check out this NY Times article. Our version included cha lua, Canadian liver pate, pickled carrots, cucumbers, cilantro, and crispy baguettes with mayo and Maggi sauce to round out the flavors. Yum!

We’re still a week away from the end of internship, but year-end festivities are already abound. Today was our graduation ceremony, which I almost missed as we were back in extreme census and the cardiology service continued to bulge at the seams. The ceremony was nice, though the oversized diploma did not do justice to the guts and glory that went into surviving this year. We also got a framed print of the old hospital building, as well as a reproduction of the resident guidebook from 1940, perhaps to remind us how lucky we are nowadays to not actually reside in the hospital as residents. Yesterday evening was the department dinner, highlights of which included our poet laureate (i.e. the resident with the most outstanding discharge summaries), the senior slideshow, and year-end videos. Our class did not disappoint with our share of funny skits including a guy with his ringtone set to the Code Blue alarm and a patient code status discussion with an Applebee’s-styled menu (our favorite being an option for chest compressions but no shocks, “which is great for relieving guilt”). Our other accomplishments this week included finally completing our bobblehead collection from Fallout 3, as well as our 300-page Japan album from Blurb. Hopefully, our Vietnam/Cambodia album will be substantially slimmer.

As the weather warmed up, we decided to bring the heat back to our kitchen with noodles galore – from linguine with clams in white wine sauce, to a big pot of pho bo which we learned to make in Vietnam. Even our friend Leo fired up his backyard grill, and invited us to share his excellent burgers, ribeye steaks, artichokes, corn, and my first taste of s’mores. In return, we cooked up our own Indian buffet dinner, with egg curry, saag paneer, butter chicken, and cumin-flavored cabbage. Toss in the basmati rice, chai tea, and a decadent strawberry Napoleon dessert, and we’ve got ourselves some satisfied house guests. Meanwhile, although recent news remind us that we still live in a mad world, the exciting rumors trickling from E3 has gotten me hyped up with anticipation. Just take a gander at what EW calls the most amazing animated commercial … ever.