catching up over katsuya

so i apologize to all of my loyal readers for disappearing from the blog world over the past three weeks! to convey my physical and emotional exhaustion, here's a detailed breakdown of my travels, trials, and tribulations starting on the 13th of june:

6/13 afternoon - happy hour w/the FIT folks @ el cholo - fun folks, never enough time together, didn't even get to order a sweet corn tamale (what a travesty)

6/13 evening - dinner w/jenee & dad @ buddha's belly - our last meal together for a very long time (*sniff*)

6/13 night - friendship miscommunication & meltdown w/a certain miss j (*sniff*)

6/14 - sanja's wedding in LV w/some ice ice baby action (check out TLC's rock the reception on 7/26 - FYI that i may be on TV!)

6/15 morning - brunch @ farm house cafe in SD w/jerry & teresa (& teresa's tummy) followed by my first baby registry trip ever (yeah, yeah, don't get any ideas)

6/15 afternoon - kim's graduation brunch w/kim in full blueberry regalia and most folks in tears

6/16-6/18 - a way-too-long (in so many ways) trip to lake arrowhead, made worse by the thought of not seeing most folks again (or at least not for a very long time), made ever-so-slightly better by a trip to green field churrascaria in west covina

6/19 - a so-not-long-enough day of rest ending w/dinner @ C&O w/eri & camelia, a last-minute run for travel toiletries, & a red-eye (thank god for ambien) @ 2AM to costa rica

6/20-6/27 - a week of heat, humidity, and high schoolers - no comment necessary

6/28 - casey's wedding in menlo park, which was lovely, though i got no sleep due to heavy snoring in my hotel room (totally uncontrollable, but it sucked anyways)

6/29 afternoon - lunch @ cafe borrone w/shilpa & saurabh followed by swimsuit shopping @ the santa clara ross (totally random, i know)

6/29 evening - a nice catch-up dinner w/kel @ tomodachi

6/30 - FINALLY settled back into things, and thrilled by my first swim class @ the SAC pool

7/1 - excited by my first GSO meeting of the summer, but saddened by my last visit to kim & de'sha's apt in palms (*sob*)

7/2 - a way-too-short relaxtation break w/amy (who i've decided is way more tolerant of annoying people than i'll ever be)

7/3 - a way-too-short jamba break w/julie (who's off to help build a church in riverside - talk about humbling the rest of us) followed by my first FIT class of the summer, a long day @ the office, & 2 back-to-back transfer workshops (as well as a frantic call from a stressed SP nixxing my ride to T&D's bonfire @ dockweiler)

7/4 - THANK GOD FOR ALONE TIME (@ cafe 50's) AND POWER NAPS (2x in a day), especially when out-of-town HS friends can't make decisions (though who am i to talk?) and last-minute houseguests roll in at 2AM (damn that holiday traffic)

before i end on today's activities (a happier note), let's highlight some key eats (not mentioned in previous blog entries):

el cholo
http://www.elcholo.com/
relaxing atmosphere, delicious guac & chips, the most amazing sweet corn tamales EVER (which de'sha & i had @ the last TWO taste of SM events)

buddha's belly
http://www.bbfood.com/
yummy asian fusion, nice decor, adorable waiter - this place is running head-to-head w/PF chang's (which everyone knows i love)

farm house cafe
http://www.farmhousecafesd.com/
really creative food for the hungry (including a yummy pain perdu w/lavender honey that tersa ordered and a pretty luscious lobster eggs benedict that jerry inhaled) - if you're not hungry, you're up shit's creek b/c there's nothing light here but fruit salad (WTF?!)

green field churrascaria
http://www.greenfieldchurrascaria.com/westcovina.htm
who doesn't love a good meat buffet? - if you're a vegetarian, no worries b/c this place has an immense (and delicious) salad bar; if you're a carnivore, just make sure not to fill up on all the veggies & carbs before the meat comes (mmm....)

C&O trattoria
http://www.cotrattoria.com/
yummy italian just 10 steps from the beach, made all the better w/delicious garlic knots & random singing of "that's amore!"

cafe borrone
http://www.cafeborrone.com/
huge menu, vast amount of outdoor seating, hilarious order-taker who suddenly had flashbacks to his previous night of debauchery - shilpa & i had delicious omelettes and shared an alice's-teacup-worthy scone (see previous blog entry), saurabh had a fabulous veggie melt that we all decided to partake of (thanks saurabh!)

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as for today, i must say that i had a very lovely (and exhausting) social butterfly day. it started w/brunch @ ford's filling station w/soon & michelle -- a last-minute selection stemming from soon's desire to try something "californian" (little did he know that his mention of "zagat" and his questioning of "gastropubs" would bring on my look of severe disdain). we lunched al fresco (which soon considers "californian" enough) and admired the hardwood ceiling w/the rotating fans. i went the lighter route and ordered the split pea soup (w/yummilicious bacon bits) & my favorite lentil salad. soon enjoyed his first baguette-based french toast w/strawberries & bacon. michelle made a nice dent in her flatbread w/shrimp & hummus. both partook of some yummilicious cocktails as well. (damn my intolerance of alcohol!) after our lovely catch-up lunch, michelle suggested some coldstone (which i haven't had in ages), but we were happily sidetracked by gelato @ ugo. i loved being able to get 2 flavors in the kids cup and i decided to try the coffee & conetto. totally delicious w/o being too sweet. a perfect way to end lunch on a hot summer's day. good call, good call.

ugo - http://cafeugo.com/

S&M (oh what a combo) dropped me off just in time to catch seok-kwee & aida @ mr. noodle. it's been almost a decade since i've seen my first piano teacher (and the only one to which i ever had any loyalty). i was procrastinating from working on my dissertation proposal one night several months ago and decided to google seok-kwee in the hopes of locating her whereabouts. after perusing many pages, i realized that she might still be at creative labs (where she started 17 years ago, i found out @ lunch). i emailed the HR director w/my info, asking her to pass it along if seok-kwee was still w/the company. and lo and behold, i got a lovely reply from my beloved piano teacher just a few days later! we've been in communique the past several months and we decided to meet up while she was down from SF this weekend. especially since she's heading back to singapore soon for work! i grazed on some of the chicken from her noodle dish, while she, aida, & i laughed over random stories and updates from the past 17 years. who would've ever thunk?

mr. noodle - http://www.misternoodle.com/fmain.htm

after that, i raced over to border's to find em, who was in the area earlier than expected. we decided to head over to brentwood and catch up over drinks @ coral tree. it's been AGES, so it was great to fill each other in on the latest happenings, including em's decision to stay out west for b-school!! WOOHOO!!

coral tree cafe - http://www.coraltreecafe.com/

after swapping stories for an hour, we decided to walk around the neighborhood to locate our dining destination. i was truly not hungry at all, but as soon as we spotted katsuya, i decided i could definitely eat. i'd heard about katsuya for months now and it was cosmic that our random stroll took us here. it was also cosmic that em needed to eat early b/c the place was pretty much packed by the time we left. (FYI that i've never seen so many teenage guys in fedoras before!) at any rate, the decor was cool & minimalist, as were the waitstaff, who were all dressed in gray jersey outfits. it was really quite fascinating. our waitress was quite reserved, but very efficient, which is key.

i decided to kickstart the night w/a nice cucumber & watermelon fruit elixir. i'm always quite impressed when non-alcoholic drinks are available, especially when they're not just fruit juices. my fruit elixir was highlighted w/a bit of mint, which made it a nice palate cleanser throughout the meal. em & i went family style, picking the eggplant stuffed w/miso & almond (which had a great mix of textures), the miso-marinated black cod (which was perfectly cooked), and the spider roll (which was delicious in all its eel-ness). the whole meal was amazingly delicious and well-presented. em even captured the food on film, so hopefully she won't keep the photos hostage for too long. we decided to end the meal w/a creme brulee trio (coffee, vanilla & hazelnut), w/coffee being my absolute favorite. (em was afraid of having too much, for fear of not getting to sleep.)

one of the things i liked best about katsuya was the fact that anyone could go in. em & i were dressed in summer dresses & skirts, some folks rolled through the doors in sweats, and other folks were dressed to the nines. an older lady had her dog sitting on her lap and pawing the table. there were couples and families -- and tons of kids even! (FYI that i love that kids have been trained to eat sushi. btw, whoever hasn't read ruth reichl's magazine piece about her son & sushi should definitely seek it out.)

katsuya revels in coolness on multiple levels. which makes it a DEFINITE returner. for a more relaxing time (and some good people-watching), make sure to get there early. em & i were able to get in on a whim w/o reservations, but calling ahead of time may be a good idea. we were also able to dine al fresco, which was lovely for summer, though the interior seemed quite amazing, based on quick glances on my way to the ladies room.

katsuya - http://www.sbeent.com/katsuya/