i am nestled back in my cozy room of a suburban town right outside of los angeles. the ringing fire truck sirens are now nothing but faint reminder of the past; what once was of my first year away in college. its 2:10 am and i am surprised that at my alertness despite the true internal clock within me that screams 5:10 am. the last remainders of my unpacking are sprawled out across the floor. i reminisce about my first full day home; (a whole day of eating.. seriously) scallion pancakes prepared by my father, a whole lee family reunion bbq, melrose, fairfax flea market, sprinkles cupcakes in beverly hills, your typical delicious chinese dinner at tasty choice (family style once again), taiwanese shaved ice, & lastly passion fruit slush with pink boba. i hope you guys can kind of understand why i love LA so much...
oh dear i have like 3 days worth of food to blog. so lets rewind to the morning of leaving risd...
i knew that the last morning called for a momentous event. something to really finish off the first year of risd foundations right. and there was no other person i wanted to spend it with than my best friend caroline; we went through so much as kids growing up a block away from each other and the fact we somehow ended up going to the same college is truly a blessing. i have no idea what i would do (my sanity included) if she were not there to really guide me through my entire risd experience.
we originally had plans to go out for breakfast on her birthday the preceding weeks but because it just happened to be on a studio day for me, there was no way of making it happen. she had told me about how she strolled down wickenden and passed by the cutest little almost hole-in-the-wall restaurant perfect for her special occasion. since it didn't really work out before, i took this chance to make it happen on the last day.
making our way out of the quad and down onto benefit heading towards wickenden, we both marveled at our accomplishments, summarized our year, and mused about the future. i just could not believe we survived a full first year at a school that is infamous for giving more work than MIT. the blue skies opened up the morning sun; the stroll down benefit could not have been more perfect for the occasion
we walked a good length of wickenden before finally discovering the restaurant that caroline had seen before; i recognized the pinkish exterior and the menu strategically placed in front; when i had strolled wickenden a few nights before with yung kee when we went for japanese, i recall seeing this little inconspicuous restaurant and having my curiosity peaked; i have never heard of it in my new england food guidebook or see it appear on any of the reviews on urbanspoon/yelp. but once i walked in, i knew instantly that i was going to love this place.
within the pink front, my eyes were immediately drawn by the overall feel of the restaurant. i am a firm believer that the taste of food can always be redeemed by the general atmosphere of the restaurant; it enhances the whole experience of dining the food and i would even go as far to say that it may even make the food taste better.. the mood of the interior was almost a cute english high tea room with a little bit of a new englandesque french influence. i was greeted by an ornate chandelier in one room and white regal cushiony benches in the other.. i was going to be in for a treat.
upon looking in the menu, i was hoping to see good ol fashioned breakfast goods like your standard eggs, potatoes, fluffy pancakes, and the like.. but instead, i saw a long list of well crafted crepes, assorted/typical tea pairings, and a special semi breakfasty list on the back (i think i just saw the french toast with berry compote that really drew me in..) oh and not to mention the HUGE wine list in the menu as well as in a separate booklet. i struggled between deciding whether i was in a salty or sweet mood; i just finally cast my indecisiveness away and made a compromise; i diplomatically choose to split the freshly baked dried fruit scones with caroline, and ordered "the mazzy star" crepe (consisting of portobello mushroom, truffle oil, and fontina cheese) while caroline ordered what i believe was "the tiny evans" (which had duck egg, mushrooms, tarragon, shallots, and gruyere cheese.
when the scones first arrived, i took note of the arrangement of the cream and jam neatly dabbed by the overlapping scones. i could feel the warmth emanating from the scone as i moved it towards my white plate. with a dab of cream and strawberry jam, i placed a bite of the scone into my mouth; what an experience, i had never in my life experienced a more delicious piece of baked good that just seemed to melt and dissolve on my tongue. even the scones i had with caroline in london, could not compare!!!!!! once our crepes came out, we both immediately dug in; i knew the food was more than just amazing; i noticed that caroline and i stopped talking just so we could enjoy the pure bliss of the crepes and scones.
the truffle infused mushrooms in my crepe were just spot on; what was undeniably good through was caroline's selection. her crepe was not too salty and somehow the creamy goodness of the melted gruyere and the duck egg created the perfect balance! we both could not have asked for anything more, completely finished our food, and left the snuggery as content as possibly imaginable.
...and thus we finished our year...
http://www.theduckandbunny.com/
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