Off my feed

Eastside Road, August 26, 2013—

IT HAPPENS TO us all, I suppose, everything's going so beautifully, life is beautiful; then i numi slap us back just a bit. Seems to happen to me every couple of years. I won't go into it further, just that I was off my feed after those three fine dinners centered on my birthday.

Not a result of the dinners, I hasten to say! but Thursday was fast day, and Friday was chills and fever, and Saturday shivered, and only on Sunday did I take a little bit of delicious frittata my nurse and cook provided; and only today do I feel like eating again.

Fortunately I was in Berkeley in the morning, so lunch was a rocket salad with hazelnuts and parmesan cheese — nothing mind-blowing, I'll concede, but nice and pointed and salty. And then dinner was these penne, with fresh-tomato-and-anchovy sauce and, of course, more Parmigiano reggiano grated on top. Back to basics, and thankful

Lunch: Chez Panisse Zinfandel (Napa County) mixed with water; dinner: Rosé, La Ferme Julien, 2012

• Chez Panisse Café, 1517 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley; 510.548.5525