of salmiakki and shiraz

Okay, that was a nice long break but it's time to get cracking. (I wonder where does that phrase come from…)

First up, best wishes to Peter, Vesku, Raimo, Jari, and the rest of my finnish friends on Independence Day. Hey, why don't you guys get your blogs up for the holiday? Such an auspicious day to declare your allegiance to the future ;-) Same good wishes also to bloggers of a feather Matt and Chris, with admiration for your works and your fortitude against the deep Nordic winter ;-) And apparently, it’s also appropriate to say happy birthday to Foe :-D Is it true that birthday cake goes well with a bit of Salmiakki? I really love Finland in winter, it matches the color of my mood so well, and I am so jealous of all of you…

Next, if you have any ’86 Ridge Montebello Cab hiding in your closet, please drink it. It’s well past its prime, and it was a fairly light vintage to begin with. The nose is still pleasantly fruity and peppery, but the color has gone to brick and the tannins have fallen away, leaving very little there there. You know, some advancy-schmancy sensor network tech would have been useful here, digital sommelier alerting system or something, n’est-ce pas?

Finally, if you like good seafood and rumbling trains, you might want to try Pisces in Burlingame, sister restaurant to the more famous Aqua in SF. It’s right next to the CalTrain tracks which is a little weird for a fancy bistro, but the occasional heart-stopping roar of an express train makes for a good conversation piece, heh. Our antique friends Irene and Lesley introduced us to this fine jook joint, and we’ll undoubtedly be back again soon. The grouper with black trumpet mushrooms in parchment was great, and the wine list is a nicely eclectic mix of California, French and world. We had an elegant Stony Hill chard, 2001 I think, and an Aussie Shiraz called Sheep’s Back with huge fruit and a minty eucalyptus note that reminded me of Bonny’s Vineyard. Mm-mmm good.

Ahh, there’s nothing like a coherent, well-integrated blog post to fix you right up...

Posted by Gene at December 6, 2004 04:26 PM | TrackBack