Back on the Chain Gang...

I know I haven't posted in a while, but I've been busy with the whole graduate school phenomenon. I've also been busy eating and drinking, obviously, so let's hear the good news first, shall we?

Just had the chef's tasting at Ten Tables, a fine little restaurant in Cambridge. This intimate and elegant setup has a few more than ten tables, and the quarters are rather tight for the ones they do have, but the place wins points for out-of-the-way charm. I must admit that I was slightly disappointed that many of my 'tastings' came straight off the menu, but I can't fault the kitchen on execution. I started with a French lentil soup with house-made chorizo, proceeded to a frisee salad (I can't figure out how to add the appropriate accent, but I want you to know that I know that it needs one) with sauteed (again with the accent) baby mushrooms and pigs-ear jelly, pork-cheeks with roasted baby vegetables, and finally a sticky toffee pudding.

The lentil soup was such that I would like to eat it on any frigid evening, and the smoky flavors of the chorizo complemented it perfectly. The earthy mushrooms, paired with the crunchy salad and the richness of the jelly (which was, not surprisingly, extraordinarily delicious) made for a balanced plate. My only concern here was that the dish lacked some needed acidity. Pork cheeks were fall-apart tender, though the vegetables seemed like a bit of a throwaway. By the time I reached the pudding, I was quite full, though I did eat enough to find that it was everything sticky toffee pudding should be. So the tasting was well worth it, even if it did not surprise as much as I had hoped. Take your next date here, and you won't be disappointed.

I've mentioned Gargoyles before as the best place I've found for a martini, but now I can thoroughly recommend the food. I ate a roasted shrimp carbonara with liquid nitrogen peas, a hamburger with horseradish cheddar, and a bite of my friend's Salmon Wellington. All of these are delicious, but there is practically no purpose to the nitrogen peas besides the exoticism. I didn't notice them adding anything but a bit of texture to the dish.

In any case, the food on the bar menu is excellent, as is the bartender, but I must admit that a pass through the dining room (we were seated in the bar area) made the place seem a bit oppressive for a formal dinner. Too much fabric, too little light. I like to able to see my food, and I prefer no-nonsense, convivial environments. You can eat from the dinner menu by the bar, and you can face some windows. I'd stick to that.

For my birthday (yes, my birthday is coming!) I'll be headed to a diamond in the rough in West Medford recommended to me by Laurence Senelick, one of my professors at Tufts. The place is called Bistro 5, and it looks promising. I'll let you know about this one later.

Now, how is the graduate school part going? Well, the class I am teaching (Introduction to Acting) seems to be going well. My students are motivated and smart, with the added plus that they are willing to work with the concepts without getting easily frustrated (the ultimate trap for young actors). The class in Non-Western Performance I am taking is very interesting. At the moment, I'm still warming up to it, but I anticipate it getting more fun once we get into Indian and Balinese performance. My thesis has paralyzed me completely, and I haven't even been able to start writing.

Additionally, I'm trying hard to keep my spirits up through this, the worst part of the winter, and the most difficult part of thesis writing: the beginning. My thought is that, if I keep eating good things, perhaps I will be able to conjure the inspiration and motivation to continue? Who knows...Anyway, that's all for this post. Now...about that thesis....