Adventures of Brooke and Van: We're still alive!

No, we haven't been burned to charred crisps by the still-blazing Gap Fire. We were fortunate enough to have had out-of-town plans, avoiding the worst of the fire. It was nice to see the fire had receded and the air quality had improved when we got home. We're still suffering from rolling blackouts though. The first power outage occurred on Wednesday night between 7pm and midnight, and I think we've intermittently lost power every day since. In fact, if it weren't for my battery-powered laptop, I wouldn't be able to continue writing. The power just went out 2 minutes ago.

Brooke and I were in San Jose visiting our high school friend, T. T and his wife just had their second child and bought a new house.

When visiting friends with two young children, you're really restricted to doing only family-friendly activities like going to the zoo or beach. So when we got a brief 4-hour break from the kids on Friday night, we took full advantage by going to a fancy French restaurant, Chez TJ.

Brooke and I each had the 12-course tasting menu, but we shared one wine pairing (even though they’re small pours, 8 glasses can really add up). The food was only average,
considering the price. Some dishes were great, while others were nearly inedible. I’m no expert on food preparation, but here’s what I've learned…A dish should taste like its ingredients. The foie gras was one of the better dishes, because it had the flavor and texture of foie gras, which is naturally delicious. On the other hand, the "scallop mousse" was awful. Instead of serving a simply prepared scallop, the chef chose to turn a scallop into the consistency of soft tofu, then topped it off with a scallop-flavored foam. The result was a slimy, frothy, slightly fishy tasting mess.