Day of the Foodie

food·ie n. (informal) a person with an ardent, refined, or particular interest in food; a gourmet.

I had five kinds of apples over the course of the day: Red Delicious, Fuji, Granny Smith, Ambrosia, and Braeburn.

Breakfast included some kind of extra-tasty bagel; it had a thicker, crunchier crust, so I can only presume that the bagel-maker boiled it a little longer than your off-the-shelf grocery bagel. I topped it with some kind of gourmet chive-and-onion cream cheese.

For lunch, I had a leftover salad made of organic mixed greens, chunks of gorgonzola, asian pears, and honey roasted walnuts in some kind of mild vinaigrette. I may have also snuck a bit of Gallo Italian dry salami.

Dinner. Ah, dinner. We went to a place called Tarpy's Roadhouse. I can't speak to the wine, but we had two kinds of bottled water- still and fizzy. Evidently the water here is so hard, not only can you eat it with a fork and pick it up with a magnet, you'd overall rather drink bottled water.

One of the back waiters brought the table some extremely creamy and tart butter for a half-loaf of very fresh sourdough. The fantastic waitron, Lara, brought us our appetizers "family style," so the kitchen placed each of our appetizers (Calimari, fried artichoke rings, five spice asian barbecue ribs that literally fell off the bone, and bruschetta with garlic spread and goat cheese) on a central, raised platform.

After that, the main course arrived: Venison in a cherry-port reduction, a mound of mashed potatoes with garlic and chives, and a handful of very crisp asparagus with a smidge of butter. I had never had venison before, and I loved it. I could instantly taste the distinct flavor and understand why folks hunt deer, though I don't think I could put my finger on the precise difference in the meat. It reminded me somewhat of the flavor of buffalo, only leaner in texture and somehow with a harsher taste. I've heard people talk about "the wild taste" when talking about venison before, but I don't have anything else to compare it with... yet.

Desert appeared in the form of a Tres Leches cake with cream and sliced strawberries. If you've never had this kind of cake, imagine a moister, creamier pound cake- almost the density of sponge cake with a thick, rich texture reminiscent of flan or creme brule.

All in all, a most excellent day for the palate.