Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Intense conversation

Eastside Road, Healdsburg, May 5, 2009—

THERE ARE THOSE TIMES when no matter where or what you are eating the conversation is so intense it takes precedence. Dinner tonight in the café at Chez Panisse with four friends. Six couples, then, all Berkeleyans or displaced Berkeleyans. We've known them, traveled with them, shared their personal and professional enthusiasms; and it was time to get in touch.

I had a salad I've eaten many times: arugula with fennel and almonds, in a light vinaigrette. Afterward, duck confit, roasted in the pizza oven and served with slightly wilted frisée, artichoke hearts, fried herbs (I'd say marjoram and rosemary: the combined scent greeted us as we walked upstairs: ravishing), and fig vinaigrette.

Dessert? Why not? Dates and tangerines; then flan: after all, it was Cinco de Mayo.
Bandol rosé, Domaine Tempier; Chez Panisse Zinfandel

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