A Palo Alto Wedding

I took our 12 year old son to Palo Alto for a cousin’s wedding on March 15.  We arrived in Palo Alto late Friday night (which was made even later with a request for a late-night snack of black truffle French fries).  Once we finally got up on Saturday, we made the obligatory brain-washing visit to Stanford and walked through the Engineering Quad.  It was one of those gloriously sunny 80 degree days that Palo Alto specializes in (what a woman I talked to briefly called “stupid nice”).

the Stanford Quad

the Stanford Quad

an aspiring Nerd Nation member

an aspiring Nerd Nation member

The wedding itself was one of the loveliest ceremonies we’ve been to.  I was only sorry that Jim and our daughter couldn’t be there, too.  And it was wonderful to see my parents and all my relatives and catch up on what they’ve been doing.  (Although our son, after being presented with a plethora of cousins he never knew existed, decided we had too big of a family.  He wasn’t reassured on being told that this was the less populated side of my family.)

the kayak wedding cake

the kayak wedding cake

IMG_2358

note the Chinese Coke cans

note the Chinese Coke cans

Naturally, after a weekend of glorious weather, we came back to DC and had 10 inches of snow overnight.  School was cancelled on Monday, and I suspect it will be July before school finally lets out!

Mamma Mia!

We took the kids to see Mamma Mia! (the musical) a couple of weeks ago at the National Theatre in Washington, DC.  It was a fun production with a very good cast, all of whom looked like they were having a lot of fun.  The lead character (the mother), in particular, had a lovely voice, and the physical humor was quite well done.

The innuendo appeared to go over the head of the 12 year old son (and I comfort myself with the knowledge that if he has any questions about anything in the musical, he will ask Jim and not me).  The 15 year old daughter understood most of the innuendo, of course, but since she knows everything about everything (because she’s a teenager), it’s all good.

The daughter has now also turned into a Mamma Mia/ABBA fan.  I’m not entirely sure this is a positive development, but as with adolescence, I am sure that this, too, shall pass.

Chef Mavro

In our latest visit to Honolulu, we decided to dine at Chef Mavro, a restaurant we had dined at several years ago but had not revisited since.  The first time we ate there, it was a Valentine’s Day fixed menu, and we thought the dinner was good but not great.  However, we revised our opinion after our most recent dinner there.  It was clear that the Valentine’s Day menu of several years ago did not show off the breadth and skill of the kitchen.  Chef Mavro is indeed a spectacular restaurant.

It is black truffle season, and there was a choice of a 4 course, 6 course, or 11 course menu, with black truffles on certain dishes for an additional surcharge.  We picked the 6 course menu, with the addition of black truffles, of course.  (I have no doubt that our entire family were truffle-hunting pigs in a previous life.)

The amuse-bouche was hamachi (yellow tail) with just a touch of sea salt.  The quality of sushi in Hawaii is indescribable.  The only other time we’ve had sushi of this quality is in Japan.

amuse-bouche (hamachi)

amuse-bouche (hamachi)

The first course was a truffle egg, consisting of a poached egg with truffled “osmose”, potato mousseline and Serrano ham ribbons.  The eggs are stored in the empty truffle box, which infuses them with the wonderfully delicate aroma of black truffles.  And this wasn’t even one of the extra truffle courses!  This is a sublime dish, with the truffle aroma infusing every single bite of the dish.

truffled egg

truffled egg

Next up was the foie gras.  This is sautéed foie gras with a poached black mission fig, and a Portuguese sweet bread crouton.  There is never bad foie gras in my book, and this dish certainly fulfilled all the necessary foie gras requirements.  And, as you can plainly see, the foie gras is completely covered with delectable black truffles.

foie gras (with truffles)

foie gras (with truffles)

The third dish was a lemongrass accented lobster tail, served with island avocado, kahuku sweet corn, chipolata, and purple basil.  The richness of the lobster was offset by the slight acidity of the lemongrass, and the dish was beautifully served (with black truffles).

lobster (with black truffles)

lobster (with black truffles)

accompaniment to the lobster

accompaniment to the lobster

The meat dish was a roasted lamb loin accompanied by watercress with an aioli dip.  The lamb was perfectly prepared.  The watercress wasn’t particularly impressive, but the quality of the lamb was such that it didn’t matter.  (Note the addition of black truffles.)

lamb loin

lamb loin

The palate cleanser was a honeydew sorbet (for Jim) and a honeydew gelee that contained alcohol (for me).

honeydew sorbet

honeydew sorbet

honeydew gelee

honeydew gelee

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We substituted the cheese dish for the liliokoi (passionfruit) and vanilla creamsicle, served with an anise coconut froth and macaroon crisp.  It was an excellent palate cleanser, and showed a light touch with dessert, something that isn’t always easily accomplished.

creamsicle

creamsicle

The final dessert was a chocolate cremeux with black sesame seed carmelized rice, orange meringue, hazelnet dragées, and butterscotch sauce.  The black truffles were perhaps unnecessary here, if, in fact, you can ever contemplate a time when black truffles are superfluous.

chocolate cremeux

chocolate cremeux

Overall, Chef Mavro showed a classical French training, high quality (and mostly local) ingredients, and an ability to adapt to local tastes and ingredients.  We were quite impressed and will certainly be back for more!  We highly recommend this restaurant and give the meal a solid A.

You can find out more at their website, www.chefmavro.com.

Hawaii, No Kids

Jim and I had a wedding in the Bay Area last Saturday (congratulations to Anne Craib and Jim Farmer—it was a beautiful wedding!).  Having had to be on the West Coast anyway, we decided that since Hawaii was just a short hop away, we would spend the following week there with NO KIDS.  (Not that we don’t love them dearly or anything.)

My parents were kind enough to fly out and watch the ragamuffins while we took long walks on the beach and ate our way through Honolulu.  (Reviews of Chef Mavro and Town to follow.)  The weather in Washington, DC was cold and snowy, but we had scenic vistas like this:

Waikiki

Waikiki – view from our hotel

view from our hotel

view from our hotel

 

And this:

Waikiki

Waikiki

We returned to DC yesterday, and this is what it looks like today (which, by the way, is March 3 for those who are calendar-challenged):

snowday20140303

I am ready to go back to Hawaii!

 

Book review: The Last Run by Greg Rucka

Queen and Country: The Last RunQueen and Country: The Last Run by Greg Rucka

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The Last Run is the final book in the Queen and Country trilogy (A Gentleman’s Game and Private Wars are the two others). The main character in the trilogy is a female secret agent, Tara Chace. In The Last Run, Tara has elected to retire but is sent on one final mission before her retirement.
I’ve enjoyed all three books in the trilogy, but this one is perhaps my favorite. The characters are well developed by this final installment, and the plot is both complicated and filled with unexpected twists and turns. The pacing is fast and intense. And the ending is satisfying and a worthy concluding book to this trilogy.
While each book can be read as a standalone, it’s best to read the books in order. For a worthy addition to the thriller genre, I highly recommend this trilogy. And I look forward to reading the author’s other books!

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