healthfest

we had an author and his wife in for a talk about healthcare and i brought them in to no-name for lunch. they were (rightly, i think) blown away by the food. the salads are always interesting and tasty. today, the best of them was raw tatsoi with matchsticks of carrots, golden beets, and parsnips -- three different kinds of crunch, and the particularly woody taste of parsnips -- dressed with a creamy hempseed dressing and topped with soy-toasted pumpkin seeds. these last were thin-shelled, like double-fried potato puffs. to balance this healthfest, there was also a tray of pork and veal swedish meatballs in white gravy, thin slices of yogurt and cumin marinated leg of lamb, and buttermilk biscuits of startling delicacy.