Sei

The challenge of being an amateur food critic is that you actually have to eat and write fairly frequently. Other associated attributes include regular (not pirated) Internet, a small pool of disposable cash, rolls of quarters for parking in DC, free time, and an apartment that is not being relocated in its entirety a floor down (characteristics I have not possessed this month). I have eaten in the month of May; specifically, I have only cooked once in my new kitchen, so the issue isn't a dearth of dining out. I have could have raptured about how the glory of the Greeks' invention of democracy took a backseat to their execution of comfort food at the St. Sophia Greek Festival:

And I could have written paragraphs about eating food like this all day, washed down with foam-melting-down-the-sides-of-a-squishy-plastic-cup draft beer, at the Chili Cook Off:

I had brunch with Mike's sister in Chicago at the Bongo Room, a blog first:


There there was the restaurant where my friend Allison was proposed to, where I was too busy finishing glasses of wine, learning about our friend Andrea's butchering skills, talking about cooking schools, and celebrating Allison and Kris to take pictures of the food:


There was the ridiculously good Rick Bayless cafe, also in Chicago, XOCO, where I had chips, salsa, and guacamole for lunch, chocolate to drink, and churros for dessert.


My croquetes de xocolata at the hotel restaurant, Mercat a la planxa, were even ridiculously tasty: chocolate croquettes nestled amongst a banana marshmallow cream and topped with rosemary infused caramel and olive oil.


And I even photographed (graphic) food (rare) at the Chicago Art Institute.


May has been a series of food pleasures (that clearly have passed with but a food collage memorializing them). Last night, however, my friend Peter heard the story of this and joined me in the 56th restaurant on the quest, Sei. It was a working dinner (we talked Paris) and despite the too-short ceilings (Peter is tall) and the too-chatty waitress (who as a rule do not give me free drinks), it was a perfect dinner.

Sei is part of the top 100 contingent that falls either into "hip Asian" or "Asian fusion," complementing both categories thoroughly. The decor was trendy but comfortable, the lighting ideal for serious travel discussions on Parisian self-guided walking tours, and the menu laudably creative. Further, despite these serious forays into preferred arrondissements, the food was able to shine without me giving it surgical attention to its detail and components.

The cocktails feature spice, herbs, fruits and hail from an international tradition, as does the menu. I ordered the signature cocktail, Liquid Wasabi, with unfiltered sake, vodka, lime juice, and habañero/ginger infused simple syrup.


Balancing the temptation at a sushi place to order everything appetizing against what can actually be eaten was especially challenging here: the non-sushi items here rival the hallmark items. I started with the wasabi guacamole with wonton chips and we split the tuna poke, a Hawaiian dish I learned about from Tammy, here served with coriander, mint and wonton chips:


Peter earned a position on the blog's notional board of directors by recommending instead of me trying to illuminate the food with the one weak tea light on the table (note how both dishes above look largely similar), I just turn the flash on. Sigh. The first two rolls came out just in time: on the left (what turned out to be my favorite) was the Habanero Scallop Roll with crunchy ramen noodle on top and stuffed with cilantro, and on the right, the cool but bizarre Fish and Chips Roll with flounder, malt vinegar, potato crisps, and wasabi tartar.


We had the Kobe Sliders with tomato jam and tempura onion rings, delightfully overproportioned in favor of the burger and pleasingly rare and juicy.


Next, the chicken croquettes with both a jalapeno chutney and an apricot or mango chutney (I'm not remembering faithfully the ingredients).


Finally, we ordered two interesting but unnecessary rolls, Kobe Tataki with spicy crunch, watercress oil, and red wine ponzu and it's possible the last one was Toro Scallion with yuzu kosho and rice cracker. After the seven or so previous dishes, I was just admiring how pretty they were.

Cheers.