Around the world

Thankfully children’s choir practice was cancelled, so I got to spend most of the day with Jim. Since tomorrow is “D-Day,” it was definitely nice to get the extra time. We ended up going to Solano Avenue in Berkeley again, this time to Zachary’s for some deep dish pizza. The pizza thing was my idea. I started craving pizza last night and I had my heart set on eating some today.

I’ve never had deep-dish Chicago-style pizza before. If I hadn’t seen it on the Food Network, I would have been completely taken by surprise. We ordered a medium 12-inch spinach and mushroom pie, which took about half an hour to arrive.

The wait gave us plenty of time to relax and take in the whole scene. Even though we got there at 1:50 (Jim decided he wanted to park over a mile away, so it was a 20+ minute walk from the car), the restaurant was still busy. We only had to wait for them to clean off a table, though, so the wait was minimal.

Zachary’s is celebrating their 25th anniversary this year, and so they have a commemorative pint glass that they were selling Hard Rock Café-style. So Jim got a pint of Fat Tire and I got iced tea in mine. It ended up being $2.75/glass, which wasn’t a horrible deal. I was very glad that I got tea, because their water was pure crap that even lemon couldn’t mask. The restaurant itself is nothing special. It’s too small, too crowded, and too loud. The walls are covered with artwork depicting Zachary’s in movie scenes and their various awards. We were seated in the middle of the hubbub, which wasn’t my first choice, but Jim didn’t mind.

Anyway, we were both pretty famished and so we were beyond stoked when the pie finally arrived. The pizza sauce was slightly spicy, chunky, and super flavorful. I absolutely loved it. There was way too much cheese for my tastes, but I was able to cut and pull most of it out, although some of the fresh spinach got sacrificed in the process. Man, that crust is amazing. Flaky, crispy, and light, I tried to enjoy it without thinking about how much fat was in it. I wasn’t so successful, but even so, it didn’t stop me from eating three slices and enjoying every bite. Jim ate his four and then the remaining slice from my half. The pizza was supposed to feed 3-4, but we tore it up. And by “we,” I clearly mean Jim.

The only downfall to Zachary’s is the not so good service. We were pretty much on our own and had to ask twice before we even got water. But oh well. It’s not going to stop me from returning someday.

After lunch we walked around Solano Avenue for a bit, buying some bread and a couple of cookies from the French bakery. We got a wheat sourdough baguette, a Jezebel cookie, and a lemon oatmeal cookie. I was 100% kid in the candy store, immediately having to take a bite of each cookie to try ‘em out, even though I was ridiculously full. I was a little disappointed. I guess I can’t compare it to Bouchon, because Bouchon’s cookies are the most amazing things ever.

We went to Ranch 99 afterwards. For the non-Asian population, Ranch 99 is an Asian grocery store that carries just about everything a good Asian needs to cook a meal. I got some spices, sauces, tofu, and a few veggies and herbs. I think I may have scared Jim a bit. He was by far the tallest person in there and one of the lightest colored.

Jim’s dad needed help installing their new water heater, so after a second stop at Costco for gas and a few other necessities, we headed over to his parents’ house. While Jim helped out his dad, I drove back to Jim’s house and unloaded all of the groceries before going home to take care of Midget. I got a call from her vet today, and so things seem to be going better. We shall see. I like this vet better than her current primary vet, Dr. W. Dr. H seems to be more on top of things and genuinely appears to care about Midget, which is always a plus.

Jim and I originally planned on going to see Indiana Jones, but the water heater took forever, so our plans needed some revamping. We ended up going to Lucky’s to get some groceries, Taco Bell for half our dinner, and Matsuri for the other half of our dinner. We ate at Jim’s parents’ house with them. It’s probably one of the last dinners Jim will be eating with his parents anytime in the near future, so I’m glad we got to do one more meal with them.

I got a veggie roll and a veggie hand roll and Jim got a Lion King, supplemented with a bean burrito, cheese roll-up, and cinnamon sticks from Taco Bell. I took a couple of bites of each, and was pretty happy with how they tasted. I don’t know how much fat they put in their tortillas, but they are awfully flavorful and soft. I really like ‘em a lot. And even the cinnamon sticks were a pleasant surprise—light, crisp, and not overly sweet. The cheese roll-up was basically a rolled up cheese quesadilla. Not too shabby, but then again, how can anyone mess up tortillas with melted cheese?

My sushi was awesome, as per usual. Jim’s parents were pretty wary of the sushi and not at all interested in trying Jim’s Lion King, although he definitely tried.

After we ate dinner, we headed back to Jim’s, where I went military on Jim and ripped through a lot of very necessary housework. I really just wanted to get him more or less caught up since with the new schedule, I know there’s no way he’s going to get on top of his laundry and cleaning. Four loads later, I was ready to go home. I left Jim with a load finishing in the dryer and a load in the washer with instructions for him to finish up. But now he’s got clean bedding, boxers, and jeans to wear, and his hampers are practically empty now. But I also got set up for this week’s cooking. It’s going to be a brand, spanking new thing for me to deal with cooking ahead for him. But with his new schedule, it’s impossible for me to cook a fresh, hot dinner on his work nights. So other than getting a slow cooker, he’s going to have to microwave his meals.

So it was quite an interesting food day today. We started with Chicago-style pizza, which is vaguely Italian and ended with sushi and Taco Bell, which almost counts as Mexican. The Bay Area is awesome like that. I feel so lucky to have access to all this great food.