dickens

after almost a full week away from the fold, food of a uniformly -- and startlingly -- high quality. at charlie's, it was seafood day and red, steamed crawdads were piled high next to trays of grilled asparagus and mac and cheese. there were rumours also of broiled eel at the asian station but people were piled four-deep around it and it was clearly going to be hopeless. slice served up a smoothie today of spearmint, pineapple, strawberry, and white grape juice. the mint was key, of course.

for dinner, no-name outdid them all with a salad of greens and dried sour cherries and an enormous beef tenderloin stuffed with sauteed bloomsdale spinach and mushrooms. the roast on that had been perfectly done. in section, the slices were ovals of roseate meat studded with mushrooms, with a caramelised exterior, and no blood in sight. it was so tender i cut it with my recyclable corn spoon. raelene, the pastry chef at no-name, threw in a maple syrup and chocolate chip bundt cake splendid in the balance achieved by its moist crumb. this bundt cake was so good, in fact, that it prompted someone at table to remark that it was like sitting in a wingback chair in a warm library on a snowy day, with a cup of hot tea and a cat curled around your feet, reading dickens.