Hey everyone. It’s my birthday!
I’m getting old. Not that old, but old still. Old for me. When did you start feeling old?
It’s an awkward birthday too. On a Tuesday, and for the first time in years I won’t be at work. Not really sure what to do with myself all day. People keep saying, “do something fun” or “treat yourself.” But treat myself to what? I’m at a loss. Blank. No idea what activity would be deemed special enough to mark my 31 years. Can a birthday really be a big deal without a party, or a meal with family, or getting dragged to drinks by co-workers? I think it can, especially a birthday when Alejandro cooks for me.
And wait, I shouldn’t say “all day,” because Erin and I are checking out potential spaces for Little Mac in Old Oakland tomorrow. And that’s exciting. It’s so hard to move forward with plans before a lease is signed. Although we did have fun choosing wines in Sonoma–something we can for sure take care of beforehand.
My birthday actually came a bit early this year, with a gift from my new friend Scott, owner of the Sausage Debauchery. Scott knows me well, and sent me Sicilian salted anchovies, Marinella capers and mullet bottarga. Ah, bottarga! It’s cured and dried fish roe that you grate over pasta, eggs, crostini–almost anywhere you would use parmigiano-reggiano. Not as earthy as anchovies, but it has the heady brininess that you only find in preserved sea life. I’ve been waiting to try this stuff for years, but it’s always been out of my price range–one small block can go for $80. Scott has both tuna and mullet bottarga for much cheaper. Check out his ebay store for bottarga and lots of Italian goodies you can’t find elsewhere.
I dished up a bread salad to serve as the backdrop for the salty fish roe. A crunchy sweet batard torn, toasted and tossed with olive oil, pan-roasted butter beans, thinly sliced celery and spicy arugula, all topped with a caper vinaigrette and dusted with bottarga. Freshly filleted anchovies sat off to the side, waiting to be covered in extra dressing.
It was good. It was really really good. Ask Erin, she had some too. And she’ll be writing my next post, so please, ask her if you don’t believe me.
Oh hey, I have a limoncello update. It’s mixed with the sugar, and getting nice and mellow before heading into the freezer. Check out my facebook page later in the week for the recipe.
Get the recipe…
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This is big.
This is so big.
I’ve been gone for a while. I’m sure you noticed. No posts, tweets, facebook updates. But I have a good reason. A very good reason.
You see, for the last few months, I’ve been hiding a very big secret.
I’m opening a restaurant.
Me! Can you believe it? WE, actually. My friend/partner Erin and I, along with our husbands, Uri and Alejandro. I didn’t mean to keep this from you, but I had to wait until I quit my job – and last week, that’s just what I did. I walked up to my boss at my cushy desk job and said, “I quit. I’m opening a restaurant.” It wasn’t quite that dramatic, but it was scary as hell.
After hours, days, months and countless emails to friends, we named our restaurant Little Mac. Cute, huh? Mac for macaroni and cheese, because that’s what we’ll have. All kinds of mac and cheese, using local cheeses and farm-fresh produce. Of course that won’t be all. We’ll also have salads, craft beers, California wines and nostalgic desserts like homemade Oreo cookies. We don’t have a final location just yet, but we hope to set up shop in downtown or uptown Oakland, and if we’re really lucky we’ll open our doors by mid-summer.
Another reason for keeping this secret was that it didn’t quite seem real yet. I’ve been talking about it for years. How one day, when the time is right, I will open a restaurant. And now, at 30 years-old, I’ve been married, and divorced, and married again. I’ve gone back to school for a Masters. And I quit a few credits shy of a degree to move across the country– to a place I’ve never been to before. And once again, I’m changing everything. Putting everything we have into a dream.
It hasn’t been easy. This past week in particular was extraordinarily disheartening. But we’re ready for it. Ready for the ups, the downs, the disappointments, the excitement. And wait until you meet Erin. She’s awesome. Besides being a chef and a lawyer, she’s the kind of friend everyone wishes they had. But you’ll see. In the coming weeks you’ll hear much more about Erin, and maybe I can even convince her to write a post of her own.
So are you ready? Will you follow us for the ride? I’ll keep you posted on landlords, brokers, lawyers, distributors, architects, contractors, city officials and everyone else who will make or break us along the way. And I promise to post more often. My last day of full-time work is Thursday (holy crap!), and then me and my fellow Pisces girls, Claudia and Erin, are celebrating our birthdays barrel-tasting in Sonoma. But after that, I swear, no more disappearing, and I’ll be back to posting at least twice a week. For those who want recipes and who don’t really care about the restaurant, you’ll get that too. Like this deconstructed frittata using the season’s first asparagus. Asparagus, finally! That might be even bigger news than Little Mac!
Actually, no. Little Mac is definitely bigger than asparagus.
Get the recipe…
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