Month: December 2006

Went to dinner yesterday with P- at Noodle Pudding, a classic “hidden spot” at the northern end of the North Heights. We were there courtesy of the moot court team that I was coaching – they gave us a very nice gift certificate. Fantastic Italian food (yes, it’s Italian, not Jewish) – you might think it’s crazy to say that it brought back flavors of childhood, especially with my Chinese background, but it is true. Appertisers: Grilled octopus and Spanish white beans, fried fresh anchovy and calamari. Pasta: Tagatelli Bolognese, Gnochi al Pomodero. Mains: Osso Buco with spinich and polenta, sliced lamb with pumpkin. The grilled octopus reminded me of octopus that we used to grill over the stove, my dad’s fried fish, and the marrow filled bones that were in stew. They passed my gnocchi test with flying colors – soft, pillowy, completely cooked and flavored. Everything is actually very affordable — no credit cards, no reservations taken. Highly recommended.

Because no reservations are taken at Noodle Pudding, there is often a wait. We waited for 45 minutes, so we went down the street to The Blue Pig, which is a boutique ice cream shop. We shared a combo Pumpkin and “Pig Food” which is a dark chocloate ice cream with fudge and cookie pieces. We could only make it through half when massive winds and rains came down – it was literally a typhoon for a good 30-45 minutes. That just made the dinner that much more rewarding when we got a very nice table against the back wall, where we could see everying feasting.

Thursday night’s Grey’s Anatomy – wow. I don’t think it was the kind of episode where the promo (“You have to see it to believe it!!”) – sorry, not that kind of gripping – but it was the emotionally strong sort that I expect from Grey’s Anatomy. None of the kooky excessive romantic relationship stuff – at least, not tonight – but more about what is friendship and family? Meredith’s mom, the ex-great surgeon Dr. Ellis Grey is succumbing more and more into the Alzheimer’s – probably as result of realizing that Chief Webber wasn’t going to visit her anymore – and the fact that she doesn’t remember Meredith – and hurts Meredith by reminding Meredith of the miserable childhood she must have had with Ellis as the workaholic-not-there mom. Dr. McDreamy and Dr. McSteamy have a moment of remembering how they were once friends. Meredith has to deal with the other Grey relatives – people she can’t emotionally accept as relatives. Cristina Yang deals with the fallout of exposing her boyfriend attending Dr. Burke; Dr. Burke – well, he’s pissed, but he has to deal with the fallout too. Maybe McSteamy isn’t a total jerk (although he has a lot to go to grow up). Oh, and George – uh, the raw emotion of his helplessly trying to help his sick dad -that made me teary eyed. Bailey’s anger over Burke and Yang – and her moment of inspiring McDreamy. Meredith’s decision that what she considers family – well, it’s what she chooses for herself.

Missed the season premiere of Scrubs. NBC certainly bolstered its comedy night on Thursdays by placing Scrubs on. But, man, to be up against Grey’s Anatomy and CSI? Tough luck, even if NBC’s sort of endorsing you to do the job (considering how NBC treats the show like crap by placing it in so many time slots over the years). I’m so glad to be able to at least kind of catch up on Scrubs by watching the syndicated reruns (but then they don’t even bother trying to show the reruns in correct order!). Funny show anyway – catch it while you can!

Time’s Perry Bacon explains how Gov. Tom Vilsack (Iowa, D.) might actually have a shot at his Presidential candidacy thing. I do confess, I found the announcement a little dubious – who outside Iowa knows who Vilsack is? But, then in reading this article, I remembered watching Charlie Rose interview Vilsack and thinking that Vilsack was impressive. He seemed to be serious about improving the country and it sounded like he’s doing well in Iowa – and, these days, apparently doing time as governor helps with the path to the presidency. Well, we’ll see; 2008 is still awhile away.