Market in Del Mar

(Disclaimer: I didn't intend for this to be a food blog, but since food is in my "work of art" category when done well, I can't help but post about a restaurant we just went to. And in case you can't tell from this post, I am wildly enthusiastic about food.)

We've had a lot of bad food since we've moved to SD. Don't know what it is. Maybe we just got all the wrong recommendations, or we are now thoroughly spoiled from living in NYC with every kind of food at every price range right at your doorstep. The restaurant scene in SD is growing, but it's young and hard to get anything but chain restaurants or over-the-top pricey seafood or fusion.

It being San Diego Restaurant Week this week, we thought we would treat ourselves a little bit and partake in the $40 three-course prix fixe menus being offered at many of the restaurants around town. Paul and I eagerly made reservations at three different restaurants in town, not intending to keep all of them: one at 1500 Ocean at the Hotel Del in Coronado, one at Sbicca in Del Mar, and one at Market, also in Del Mar. We ended up accidentally eating at Sbicca one evening when we were in the area, and since our 1500 Ocean reservation was not until 8:30pm we thought we'd save it for another day when we could eat during daylight hours to admire the ocean view.

Well, it was a good decision. Market ended up being the best food we've had in San Diego so far. When the waiter welcomed us and told us that all of their produce was from the famed Chino Farms in Rancho Santa Fe, we knew we were in for a treat. We visited Chino Farms recently, and the produce is absolutely out of this world. (I plan to dedicate a whole separate post to Chino now that I have a camera!) Everything at the farm stand is freshly picked and looks like it has just burst its way out of the earth, with dirt clinging to the root vegetables, tiny baby lettuces of all different shades of maroons, greens and purples, and a whole variety of huge funny-looking squashes that look like they could be mistaken for small (funny-looking) children. We came back from Chino once with a few vegetables that we had literally never seen before- a Jerusalem artichoke which looked like a gangly mess of ginger and tasted similar to water chestnut with a little more bite, and a skinny, green, Italian vegetable with a bitter flavor whose name I can't remember and had to be blanched in icy water before eating. (Here is a blog about Chino Farms from Bay Area Bites so you can see what I'm talking about.)

For starters, I ordered the bleu cheese souffle, which came with a very wintry grapefruit and beet salad. I've seen the beets at Chino farms and they are so beautiful with so many varieties of color. On my plate were a mix of golden and maroon beets that were dressed perfectly with some oil and small crumbles of bleu cheese. I love bleu cheese passionately, and in a souffle it was perfect- not too eggy, not too salty or heavy, but a fluffy, light texture that nearly melted in my mouth. It was paired perfectly, the sharp flavor of the cheese offset by the tangy sweetness of the grapefruit.

Then for our main course, Paul had the skirt steak and braised beef short rib combination which came with an incredibly delicious potato puree dressed with truffle oil and bacon. (Is there anything that doesn't taste good with truffle oil and bacon?) The skirt steak was unbelievably tender for the cut and the short rib gave the dish a hearty touch. I had the miso glazed Japanese white bass over udon, topped with some colorful micro-greens. The fish was cooked perfectly and unlike other Asian fusion that I've had in CA, didn't taste like soy sauce dumped all over it, but retained the authenticity of the miso flavor. I'm not a big fan of Asian fusion, but if ever there was an example of what it could be- here it was. Authentic flavors used in traditional Asian cooking paired with the presentation and ingredients found more commonly in Western cooking.

For dessert, I had a delicate creme fraiche panna cotta with a raspberry puree sauce drizzled on top of it, with cylindrical pieces of sage-infused marzipan on the side and a tangerine sorbet to boot. Paul savored every bite of his cheese plate, a handsome cut of a Spanish cheese similar to Manchego. The plate came with some green grapes and a dollop of fig preserve and some small slices of baguette.

We both agreed that we wish we'd ended up at Market sooner, it being less than 15 minutes away from our apt. Apparently the menu changes daily depending on the ingredients available. Paul joked, "Want to come again tomorrow?" as we finished up our meal, and I laughed. Then looking at his facial expression I realized he wasn't joking, and laughed even harder.

Photoblog :: Happy things

Aiko tries out her scholarly side and falls asleep.

Dinner I made last night: mache salad with citrus vinaigrette,
pork loin with caramelized fuji apples and vidalia onions, rosemary polenta

Watching the gliders over Torrey Pines

Dreaming of being as free as this seagull sailing over La Jolla

Sharing my calling

Yesterday, I was invited to Point Loma Nazarene University here in SD to play and speak about my "life journey" to a meeting of 50 music majors and faculty members. I often find myself in situations like this (last month I had the opportunity to speak and play at Pepperdine), although I have no idea what qualifies me to speak to a bunch of very impressionable college students and was pretty nervous about the whole thing beforehand.

So I played a few pieces (Verano Porteno by Piazzolla and Elegy by Mertz) and then began to speak. Basically, how did I find myself as a free-lance classical guitarist living in Southern CA? There was a very pivotal moment for me in which I decided to become a musician. It was in 2003 when I went to the Crescendo annual conference in Basel, Switzerland. With the encouragement of some CCC staff, I flew to Basel by myself in the middle of midterms during the fall semester of my senior year in college. (Crescendo is a network for Christian classical musicians that has had a lot to do with my development as a musician and a person.) At the conference, the speaker shared this verse from Song of Songs: "My dove in the clefts of the rock, in the hiding places of the mountainside, show me your face, let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely." (2:14)

Upon hearing this verse and the accompanying message, I knew that there was something that God delighted in in my playing and in my struggle to use my talent- something in which only I could bring to him. I had a voice on my instrument that was special and important to Him, which could bring beauty and truth to his ears and to those around me. I felt a strange sense of peace as I realized that this was a sort of "calling" for my life- to make the most of the talent given to me and to give glory to the Creator in the process. I shared this with the class and then closed by playing a few of my arrangements of "Were You There When They Crucified My Lord," followed by "What a Friend We Have in Jesus" and a beautiful arrangement of "Day by Day" by Oscar Ahnfelt, which will forever remain an old friend in my repertoire.

Well, I'm paraphrasing all this here, but the reaction of the class was pretty overwhelming. A few people were in tears, including a piano professor from the school who came up to me and told me that my playing was somehow "anointed" and that she could sense that it was an act of worship from start to finish. One girl said that she loved my playing, but loved even more that she could sense my spiritual journey in the way that I played. A few asked if I had a CD. Others asked questions about grad school, about living in New York, about their various struggles as musicians. As I walked back to my car later, admiring the ocean view of the campus, I couldn't help thinking- Wow, what just happened? It was all God, that's for sure. I hope there will be many other opportunities to be a mentor and blessing to music students in the area.

The value of an album

So I'm in the process of recording a CD. This is a project that has dragged out for about 2 years now, and at times I wonder if it might drag out for 2 more years. There is just way too much to think about. Picking the music has proved to be one of the harder things for me. I have decided and changed my mind a million times and finally I think I have the right combination of pieces. I'm trying to create an album that sounds somewhat cohesive, but at the end of the day, I think this album is just characterized by having some of my favorite pieces on it. Well, the ones I like playing the most. Recording is such a nit-picky process that I know I must play music I love, or the process will take longer than I can afford.

Since everything is so accesible now, it's easy for any independent artist to put an album together and distribute it without the help of a label. Easy enough, that is. Along the way, there were a few things giving me a headache. First, it was having the finances to start the project off. So I went home one summer and played a concert at my home church and the donations were generous. Unfortunately, that nice little installment went to paying my rent that summer since I was broke at the time. But since then, the fund has been somewhat restored. Next, I had to find a professional recording studio. This fell into place easily through a recording engineer that Paul met at one of my friend Victor's shows, who had helped him with some editing in the past. I booked a few days with him in the studio in New York on a sweltering, sticky week last June. Unfortunately, we moved before I could finish the rest. Assuming it goes well, I'll be finishing the rest of the album next month in NYC with the help of a JetBlue sale and some credit from a delayed flight I had leftover.

I've also started thinking about the album cover and what I want it to feel like. This is very important to me as I often judge a book by its cover and can't help but do so. I also have a deep appreciation for good design. I had some headshots taken by our wedding photographer last year and was fortunate to meet a graphic designer at our current church who has agreed to design the cover and insert. I got really excited when he showed me what he had started working on- there was little I had to explain about what I had in mind since somehow his design style was something I was drawn to right away. The next thing to do is make sure all the copyright stuff is in order- this is a thoroughly annoying process that will probably take longer than I want it to and end up costing some, too. After that, getting it reproduced won't be difficult, assuming I can front the costs, and figuring out the best way to distribute should be pretty easy since cdbaby.com is great and so are many of the online music services.

The funny thing is that CD's might be outdated in a few years. In fact, I can't even remember the last time I physically bought a CD from a store. After Tower Records went out of business, I didn't even know where to buy CDs. And why have all the clutter of jewel cases when you can buy it on iTunes and have the album art too?

I need to continue believing that the music on this album will be worthwhile for people to listen to, that it will inspire them and give them new perspective on things that are beautiful, meaningful, and real. This has been challenging lately as part of me is losing steam. The inspiration seems to come and go daily. Hopefully at the end of it all, it will have been worth all the effort!

Some good reads

One of my biggest problems in life is that I am very easily bored. I thrive on a constant stream of stimulus and busyness, and I'm always trying to multi-task and do a million things at once. I guess the same is true of my reading habits. I usually start about 3 or 4 books at a time (usually this is only the case when it's not fiction) and get through all of them at a pretty slow pace. In fact, the trend has been that I'm lucky if I get all the way through any of them at all. It's a bad habit and hopefully that will change.

Well, here's what is on my coffee table lately.

The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan
I don't think I will ever look at red meat in the same way, or anything I'm eating for that matter. This is a great book for anybody who shops at a grocery store, or anybody who has ever thought twice about the type of ingredients you want to use in your cooking (which is most of us nowadays). I am now constantly thinking about what I am eating came from and how much corn is in it- if I dare to even find out. This book would make you become a vegetarian just by telling you about the amount of petroleum is needed to get your beef on the table. The truth is that we certainly do live in a society where our food is now at the mercy of science and legislation. I've never wanted to live on my own farm so badly.

The Artist as Citizen by Joseph Polisi
This is a collection of speeches by Joseph Polisi, the president of Juilliard. Some of them are inspiring, funny, at times repetitive, but overall a great collection of short writings that comment on the situation of the arts world today and how we as artists need to engage in our society to fight these problems rather than sit idly by and complain that there is no work. I took a class with Polisi while I was at Juilliard and have great respect for what he has done for the school and about his viewpoints on arts education in general. This book is a great way for me to stay inspired about what I do while not being a part of an academic/artistic community like a school.

This is Your Brain on Music by Daniel Levitin
This book revolutionized the way I think about music- not just classical, but all kinds of music, especially pop/rock. I mean, we never do sit down and ask ourselves what it is that makes something fun to listen to and why it makes us feel good listening to it. How do a series of pitches at different frequencies attract us, inspire us, commiserate with us, to the point where many of us are just plain addicted to music? A great read for anyone interested in the intersection of science and music. The science side of it was a bit technical for a non-science person like me, but it is explained well enough by Levitin so that it doesn't go over your head.

"Starting Out in the Evening"

The other day, we were deciding whether to see "I Am Legend" at the AMC or "Starting Out in the Evening" at the independent theater. (Yes, two very different types of movies- the only thing they had in common was the show time.) After reading a few reviews, we thought we'd skip the flesh-eating virus-infested zombies that appear with Will Smith and go for the lesser known independent film- and we're so glad we did.

"Starting Out in the Evening" is the quiet story of a retired teacher and novelist Leonard Schiller, played by Frank Langella. He is struggling to finish his last novel and as he is doing so, a graduate student played by Lauren Ambrose approaches him about doing his Master's thesis about the other four novels that he has written. Their relationship takes on a strange form- not exactly romantic, but definitely not a respectable professor-student relationship. I won't give the rest away, but there is great insight about the process of writing and the power of literature over readers. The movie also follows Schiller's daughter, Ariel, a former dancer in search of a committed relationship and motherhood. All the characters are entangled up in their own personal journeys, seeking out what's next for them in life, struggling to create art and act on their ideas while not giving up their own happiness. It is overall a beautifully done movie that is full of subtlety, which the cast does a fantastic job of bringing out and making the characters believable. Definitely recommended for a quiet, contemplative, rainy evening in which you want a thought-provoking movie that will hold your attention without the help of any explosions , aliens, or nudity on screen.

The Metropolitan Opera in theaters near you!

I'm fortunate to be married to someone who loves opera as much (or perhaps even more) than I do. In fact, our first date back when we were 19 was to the New York City Opera. Paul was trying to finish a Music Humanities paper at the time and conveniently asked me to go see La Traviata with him for the assignment. Of course, I couldn't resist the opera or the date, and the rest is history. Very convenient indeed!

Well, for our one-year wedding anniversary, he did a little research and discovered that The Metropolitan Opera has been pioneering a new way of disseminating their performances to the public. Today was the first production of the Met that was recorded live in HD and shown at 600 movie theaters all around the world. I often complain that Paul goes over the top with presents or nice gestures for me- so when he told me that for our anniversary we would be seeing the Met live, I almost began scolding him about spending too much money on plane tickets and opera tickets- until he explained to me that we would be watching the Met from the AMC movie theater down the street from our apartment here in SD! Yes, living down the street from a major strip mall has its perks. Although I don't count CPK as one of them. The movies ain't bad though.

The day finally came today, and we joined a nearly full house in the theater for a production of Romeo et Juliette by Gounod. It was a pretty rowdy crowd, which was amusing considering that nearly everyone there seemed to be of the older concert-going public that frequents the La Jolla classical music scene. We were by far the youngest people there. Everyone yelped and hollered when they showed Hollywood action movie previews while we were waiting for the HD broadcast to load. About 20 minutes after the scheduled starting time (10am PST/1pm EST), the opera came on the big screen and we were watching the fabulous Anna Netrebko and Roberto Alagna live from Lincoln Center in HD.

We've been to the Met Opera several times over the years and usually we were only able to afford the nosebleed seats, so the opera viewing experience wasn't exactly optimal even though it still sounded great from up there. Every visit to the Met was always a privilege and we knew it was one of the things we would really miss about New York when we moved. But I have to say that being able to see an opera from so close up and so many different angles was a completely different experience, and almost topped physically being there if we were to get our usual third tier balcony seats. There was also funny backstage shots of the singers chugging water, joking around, warming up, waving at the camera, and live interviews with Placido Domingo, who was conducting, and the two leads. The performance was absolutely phenomenal and what really got me was being able to see the facial expression of the characters so clearly, which helped conveyed all the tragic emotion of the characters and story. By the end of it, I was bawling my eyes out- and I have honestly never done before while watching opera! I felt pretty silly feeling all of the dark tragedy of Shakespeare and trying to collect myself as we walked out to the smell of buttery popcorn and cheesy movie posters.

This idea has given me a lot of hope for the future of opera and classical music. Though it wasn't reaching a new demographic in La Jolla today, public schools students all over NYC were watching the broadcast in their school cafeterias for free. (An official blog about the broadcast is here.) If kids in the Bronx and Queens can be captivated by opera for three-hours on a Saturday afternoon, I think there is hope that opera can be made accessible to all demographics of the population. There is no reason that a work of art with universal themes like love, betrayal, and rivalry needs to remain beloved only by the upper class, despite the high-brow stigma opera has as an art form. I'm so glad that the minds behind the Met are taking advantage of technology and bringing all of their hard work to the masses in and outside of New York. Being the first broadcast of its kind, it wasn't well advertised around here unless you were looking for it- but I hope in the future that the audience in our theater will become a little more diverse. Plus, everything looks good when its in HD!

Check out the upcoming Met HD broadcasts coming up in your city!