4 Bells - December 21, 2015
(There was supposed to be a trip to Heyday for brunch on Sunday, December 20th, but as I alluded to in my Saint Dinette post, something didn’t sit well and I didn’t consume much beyond ginger ale and saltines that day.)
I’ve touched on it briefly before, and it’s a theme in one of the projects I’m writing, but social media makes it difficult to be enthusiastic about new things. If you like a new album that comes out and you mention it, the people that are really into music will jump in and tell you why it’s not as good as the first album, unsolicited. If you are excited for a new movie, or enjoyed it and want others to enjoy it, contrarians will try to spoil it, or once again say why you shouldn’t like it. Food enthusiasm is similar; people will deride the enjoyment of a certain restaurant and say which ones are better, people will say you enjoy a certain food too much, or that you’re somehow less for enjoying a food less than the norm. I fully realize that things can be problematic, but I think any consumer of any product needs to be able to look beyond those problems and then see if the thing is enjoyable on its other merits, the exception being if its problems outweigh any other merits, then I fully understand the condemnation based on its flaws. But, I don’t think anyone gets the right to legitimately criticize another human for liking things that don’t cause harm to other people, animals, etc. Educate that their faves are problematic? Sure. Seriously say that they can’t like something or that they like it too much or too little? Get out of here.
As mentioned above, food enthusiasm is a lot like other enthusiasms. In music if you find an established band you enjoy, you might go nuts and listen to their entire discography. In movies if you discover a director or actor that engages you, you might look for all of their movies. With food it might be a cuisine or it might be a singular item. For me my obsessions have been numerous things; Cuban sandwiches, various noodle based soups from Asian cultures, and pizza, to name a few. For my friend Kat the latest obsession is oysters, on the half shell specifically. To me, seeing people enthusiastic about things is cool.
To display some of the random trivia in my head and in my weird desire to overlay the norms of one thing onto another, entirely different thing, entirely unsolicited I tried to explain oysters to Kat by way of wine. The short version, I’m not sure there’s a long one, is that just like a vine has terroir, so does an oyster. If you consider the column of water’s temperature, the pressure at depth, the current, the nutrient content of that region, etc., it seems that all of those would play almost as much into the development of an oyster as the support of a vine. At least that’s my non-scientific spitball of an analogy. (Googling for the information about the oysters we had sort of confirms this, yay logic.)
That new found enthusiasm for oysters is what made us come back to celebrate the end of the semester a few days after we’d dined at 4 Bells previously, and also Kat’s curiosity about Oyster shooters. It’d been a while since she’d seen or eaten with our friend Shawn, so he was invited too.
(Kat’s Pic - Shawn’s Pic)
Oyster Shooter with Chilled House Infused Dill, Garlic, Chile, Black Pepper, Mustard Vodka Served Up with A Raw Oyster, & Sweet Watermelon Pickle (online menu says Spicy Pickle): Confession? This was my first oyster shooter too. I usually like my mussels steamed, my clams fried, and my oysters on the half shell. I have to admit this was an interesting experience and I could see myself doing it again for future celebratory experiences, but I still prefer half shelled. The pickled watermelon rind played really well against the spices in the vodka and the rind’s sweetness went well with the salinity of the oyster.
(Kat’s Pic - Shawn’s Pic)
Oysters On The Half Shell: On Friday we did 6 for 6 of us, tonight we did 10 for 3 of us. This variety was quoted as “Big Dams” but I think they probably meant “Dam Bigs” from Maine (coincidentally, the “Flavor Influenced By” section at that link is what I’m considering my sort of confirmation of oyster terroir). These were a fair amount larger than the ones we had Friday, still a great taste and totally satisfying.
Instead of settling for just oysters, we decided to eat too.
Baby Octopus with Achiote, Serrano, Orange, Pepita, and Hearts of Palm: Yes we got it again. Shawn had to try it.
(Kat’s Pic - Shawn’s Pic)
Snapper Ceviche with Leche De Tigre, Chili Relish, Pine Nuts, Yogurt, and Mint: Yes. Again. Still great.
(Kat’s Pic - Shawn’s Pic)
Grilled Skirt Steak with Braised Cipollini, Roasted Mushroom, Preserved Fig: Great again.
(Kat’s Pic - Shawn’s Pic)
Olive Oil Poached Steelhead with a Spinach Oyster Emulsion, Fingerling Potato, “Furikake”: Something different. Looks like salmon, tastes like trout. The spinach and oyster emulsion was tasty and had a great consistency. Potatoes were roasted great, had a good salty and crispy skin. The furikake (rice) added a nice textural and flavor component. Overall very tasty.
We also had the biscuits, gingersnap bread pudding, and just the cinnamon ice cream component of the apple pie dessert. (See prior 4 Bells post for pics and thoughts on those.)
Overall a great chance to celebrate Kat’s end of semester, catch up with a fellow food enthusiast, and try more of 4 Bells’ menu.