Crudités; bean soup

Eastside Road, November 12, 2015—

LAST NIGHT we ate out in San Francisco; Tuesday we fasted; Monday was a special event so interesting, idiosyncratic, and convivial I despaired of telling you about it — I'll just mention that we have a couple of friends who go every September to France for a couple of weeks, and come back every time burdened with a number of cheeses. Generous and convivial as they are they ask friends to drop in to share the cheeses, and that's what we did Monday. When immersed in sparkling conversation I think it rude to take notes: let it be said simply that the cheeses were delicious, the stuffed duck neck amazing, the white truffles shaved onto little potato puffs a perfect amuse-gueule, and the wines freely flowing.

So tonight was our first meal at home in a number of days, and Cook began it with this plate of crudités, I'll call them: late-season little cherry tomatoes, with that deeper, musky flavor tomatoes seem to take on in November when the sun's weaker; and cauliflower florets in a lemon-juice vinaigrette.

Next, the bean soup I mentioned a few days ago, even better for having aged a bit, and with its float of Lou Preston's deliciously fruity olive oil. Then the green salad, of course, which I dressed with lemon juice tonight in lieu of vinegar.

Garnacha/Monastrell, Laya (Almansa), Old Vines, 2013

☛Restaurants visited in 2015 are listed at Eatingday's Restaurants