Diner brunch

Blanca

I scored this reservation while sitting in a meeting, in a conference room whose walls were so thick my phone kept bouncing between 4G, Edge, and No Service whatsoever. It was stressful. 

We went to Blanca last night, my birthday gift to Kev. We got the drink pairing, as did 9 of the other 10 diners at the seating. Everyone had a great time, and at the end, happy and drunk, Kev got an impromptu Happy Birthday serenade from 10 strangers. It was wonderful. 

We were instructed to put away our phones, which came as somewhat of a relief, allowing us to focus simply on the moment. We lost count of the dishes early on because of it, and that was all right. 

The portions, the pacing, the pairings, all thoughtful and merciful, restrained. It is a rare thing to feel energized at the end of a long meal, especially one involving abundant alcohol, but that's what this meal did. 

Some memorable dishes were the corn pudding (cold) and tomatoes (warm, tiny, perfect spheres), the dessert of cilantro sorbet and watermelon, the raw littleneck clam served with myriad ingredients all melding into one briny bite, the ridiculous grapefruit orechiette absolutely drenched in citrus about which my drunk self proclaimed "There are 16 grapefruits in every bite," the fresh from the oven Hawaiian roll, the beef, the lamb, the crudo...

I'm realizing that every dish was impressive.