Fish; soup

Eastside Road, January 12, 2017—

NOT FISH SOUP: Fish last night; soup tonight.

The fish was snapper, bought Tuesday at Monterey Fish in Berkeley -- a shop we know we can count on: utterly reliable; utterly fair. Snapper's not my favorite fish; it seems often a little bland. I like salmon, tuna, cod, and for delicacy the flat fish. But there's nothing wrong with snapper, and Cook did it nicely, breading it and frying it in butter, then strewing it with parsley. With it, just about my favorite vegetable, Swiss chard; and as you see a slice of buttered toast. Delicious.

White blend, Rhône style, "Madam Preston", Preston of Dry Creek, 2014: I've always loved this wine

---

THEN TONIGHT we finished the bean soup we began the other day. As is so often the case, the flavors had merged and deepened. Another slice of buttered bread as a croustade: we eat a lot of bread in this house, and it doesn't seem to hurt us.

I had another slice, as I always do, with my green salad. How else are you going to get the last of the vinaigrette out of the bowl? And then a special dessert, a quintessentially American one I think, and one I haven't had in years: Vanilla ice cream with sliced bananas that had been tossed in cinnamon sugar. Heaven on earth.

the rest of the "Madam Preston"

☛RESTAURANTS VISITED, with information and rating: 2016
(2015 restaurants)