Scratched Bicycle/Smell Memory

- This holiday season is bittersweet. We all knew that small restaurants were already feeling the effects of this recession, but even SF's most popular are no longer untouchable. Times are tight - change in purveyors, changes in staff... then there are less bookings and less covers, giving us less to do.... If we're feeling it, everyone must be.

- Thanksgiving: apple pie (cured the slices) + vanilla bean ice cream, creme fraiche ice cream + pumpkin caramel sauce

- 25: The Dining Room (the most perfect soft-poached quail egg of my life). Tartine cookbook! <3

- Bar Crudo: lobster + beet salad, nothing else.

- Ramen + Asahi on a bloody cold night.

- Chewy chocolate mint cookies w/ white chocolate chunks - 5 dozen gone in one day at the office. Simple is always better. I am the best coworker EVER (Jason and Marc are so lucky to sit next to me).

- When I read this article, it reminded me of my friend Jason who lost his sense of smell awhile ago. He really liked the aforementioned cookies, which means I did a good job in evoking his other senses/catering to the tastes he can still detect (the potency of the peppermint, the crispy edges and chewy center, the sweetness of the white chocolate, etc).