We headed over to The Optimist for lunch. The parking lot was packed which really concerned me, but then the restaurant was about half full. Either all those people drive separately, or they share that parking lot with another company.
The Optimist now has west coast oysters on their menu! So we started off with six each of west and east coast oysters. The easteners (left in the picture) were from Maine. And the westerners were from ... I can't remember.
As one would expect, the west coast oysters were brinier. They continue to be my preferred coast for oysters.
I was drinking some kind of cava cocktail and when I finished that, I asked Michael to make me a sazerac. It was probably this baby that put me under and I ended up napping in a car to recover.
For lunch, I got the blackened cod sandwich, which you'll see in a moment, and I subbed the fries for this smoked fish chowder, which I really enjoy. It was great with nice big chunks of smoky fish in it.
The blackened swordfish sandwich is topped with vinegar slaw. But by the time I ordered it, they were out of swordfish (at lunch?) so it had become cod. Certainly that changed the profile of the sandwich, but I think for the better.
It was quite delicious.
Josh got the lobster roll with the fries. I ate probably half of them.
The lobster roll was good, but I prefer the mayonnaise-based ones so I like the ones at Bocado.
That was it for The Optimist. From there we went shopping before heading over to Holeman and Finch right when they opened.
To start, we got the pork pate. It was pretty good.
From there, I got the bone marrow, which I hadn't gotten in years since the first time I got it, it was too greasy. As it turned out, the marrow was cooked perfectly, though I wish it hadn't been topped with breadcrumbs. I also wish the parsley salad was larger.
Despite my criticisms, it's a good marrow bone. You can see how well it has been cooked (though not served straightaway, as it had cooled considerably when I got it). As I sit here, I debate if I would get it again and chances are ... maybe.
From there, I got the pork skin noodles, which I think is one of the most genius dishes I have had. I broke the egg so it was eggy/yolky. There are no actual noodles in this, but the pork skin slices are gelatinous and so delicious. There were also some shitakes and kale in it. While it's probably healthier and balanced, I thought it would have been fine without it.
Moving on, to the carbonara! It's served with beef bacon now.
Yolky. Delicious.
Josh got the hot dog again which he was so excited for. Still delicious.
What kind of Christmas would it be without indulgence?
Josh got a glass of the Jefferson's Ocean bourbon. It's aged at sea for two years (I think) and is a rowdy bourbon.
Not to be outdone, I got a 1/4 serving of the Pappy 23, which was luxurious and smooth and delicious.
Duck fat caramel. A bit overrated actually. I found the consistency to be a little weird and most of the fruit and veg to be kind of soft. I suppose it was meant to be like that, but I thought it was weird.
And so there was our day of indulgence. It was great.
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