Thursday, October 7, 2010

Vietnamese Corn, 5-Spice Pork Belly, and Kevin Bacon

I never pictured myself becoming a "foodie."

I grew up loving TV dinners, mac 'n' cheese and Hostess desserts as a kid, then graduated to fancy establishments like The Olive Garden and El Torito as a young adult. The real culturing of my palate started slowly in my mid-twenties. I discovered that I loved a good, bloody steak with a glass of red wine. Then I slowly began spreading my oral wings into the realm of higher-end ethnic foods and pricier vinos.

When I met Mr. Wonderful, all hell broke loose.

He introduced me to proscuitto and cheese plates and the culinary joy that is Katsuya. He scrambled my taste buds and now there's no going back. We live to try revered restaurants. We watch The Food Network and The Cooking Channel. We are willing to spend $8 on a hunk of taleggio.

Last night we joined Dirty Painter and Southern Belle at Susan Feniger's STREET in Hollywood. My mouth hasn't been so happy in months. Although everything I tasted was absolutely incredible, the highlights of the night were the Vietnamese corn with 5-spice pork belly, hot chili pepper and scallions; the kaya toast—white toast with coconut jam that you dip in a fried egg and dark soy sauce; and the Burmese melon salad with toasted coconut, peanuts, fried onions and sesame ginger dressing. Seriously amazing.

And it might have tasted even better after we spotted Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick dining in the corner. I think Josh Radnor from How I Met Your Mother was also there.

Just when we thought the night couldn't get any better, the server showed up with this:



Do you see why I am ruined?

9 comments:

surrogate big sis said...

You've come a long way from the iceberg lettuce salads with thousand island dressing we used to eat at your mom's house.

Mr. W. said...

You make all the nice dinners that much nicer.

mom said...

We will continue having holiday dinners at our house til I drop. I can't handle any surprises on the Xmas
china.

Sizzle said...

I didn't become interested in food until my late 20's. I grew up eating pretty run of the mill food. I didn't even eat sushi until I was 22! Man, I was missing out.

Nilsa @ SoMi Speaks said...

Whenever we go to a restaurant serving pork belly, Sweets always feels compelled to order it. Top Chef has ruined him. hahaha.

Danielle said...

That all sounds so delish. I need to expand on my taste buds for sure!

Mandy_Fish said...

You said "oral."

I didn't realize this was erotica.

Anonymous said...

You're lucky to have friends to dine with. My friends and I never get much further than pub food!

Melissa Maris said...

Surrogate Sis - It's no wonder I never ate when I was a kid!

Mr. W - You are the cutest cyborg I've ever known. Italy.

Mom - You just sealed the fate for the holidays. I'm going to have to bring a surprise dish now.

Sizzle - I didn't have sushi until my 20s either. Thank goodness we branched out, right?!

Nilsa - That's because it's soooo goood. I knew Sweets had good taste. ;)

Danielle - Beware, once you venture out there's no going back!

Mandy - Food porn, my friend. Food porn.

Geekhiker - At least then you have really great beer to wash it down with!