Julia is currently on a housesitting stint that should last a while. You know how I feel about the north end, but I can obviously make the exception for Miss Eckels. Also, housesitting is the very best gig ever. I could probably write a whole book about all the fantastic shenagagins that have occurred while housesitting or staying with someone who is housesitting. Man.
Anyhoo, I joined Julia in Wedgwood and we sat in the yard for a bit. We perused Yelp (I am an addict) and decided on an Italian joint that ended up being closed. Continuing down Roosevelt, Julia spotted Divine. Open until ten on Sundays, we lucked out. The heavily accented waiter recommended a bunch of dips and fresh pita (12 bucks). He didn't have to. Dipping is one of my favorite ways to eat. It was essentially the same sort of spread they do at Lola only for a lot less money. Our second choice was perhaps one of the tastiest things I'd had in a while. Seared scallops atop sweet potato croquettes mounted with a coconut harissa and peanut sauce. And the whole plate scattered with arugula--$13. Lordy. Our third choice was forgettable (as in I forget it) next to these freaking scallops. Unfortunately, this dish was to be trumped by an entirely random bite of toast I had the following night.
Rach, Ilana and I have been trying to get ourselves to Poppy Hour for weeks now. Finally committing to going before the Square Dance, we only at the last minute discovered it was closed Mondays and that Rachel had to bail. Bummed, La and I headed to Ocho. I'd been there once before and really liked it but this particular visit had to be one of the most perfect dinners--ever. Ilana ordered the sangria and I went for one the gin concoctions (shocking). Foodwise, we were differing in preference a bit and as we are both "pleasers," I was honestly a bit concerned that we'd over order in an effort to please. Ilana wanted the sherried mushroom toast and I wanted the Catalan tomato toast. We agreed on the Croquetas Borrachas (goat cheese croquettes), fried potatoes (a bit over paprika-ed for me but w/ a tasty artichoke aoli), and finally, broccoli and escarole with lemon, garlic, chili and pine nuts. Everything was perfectly cooked and came out gradually while we sipped out drinks. Tapas done right. Also--gin and broccoli, again an ironic reference to a title that I thought would never come up except as "Why did you name your blog that?"
I don't actually like mushrooms. I recently discovered that I LOVE to hunt them. Look at how sneaky and elusive this morel was!
But honestly, just not a huge fan of that earthy flavor...what do you call that? Oh uh huh, dirt. So Ilana ordered her toast and I ordered mine. Her's came way before anything else in the meal and I literally saw something like ectasy in her eyes when she tasted it (similar to Julia's face when she ate those scallops). I think they were crimini mushrooms, with chopped arugula (clearly a trendy and tasty garnish). I tried a little cautious bite, tasted sweet sherry, shallots, garlic, copious amounts of butter and yes, earthy meaty mushrooms...then ordered two more.
*To be fair, we ordered two more of the tomato toasts too...but this wasn't so surprising. Cheese, garlic, sea salt and crushed tomato. Sounds awful, right?
Perhaps the best thing about this meal was the fact that I didn't feel like I was going to die when I left the restaurant and proceeded to dance the rest of the evening away at the Tractor. It's so easy to overeat when you go out, I was sort of dreading the sideaches to come while twirling around the dance floor. But they never came, perfect satisfaction. I'll be back in two weeks.
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