[ In reviews ] Phở, a kind of soul food My mother would say, “I’m hungry for some pho,” and right on cue my dad would get up, go upstairs, put on his going out clothes, and I would follow right behind him. Moments later we would meet out at the car and off we went. Out of our drive way we would head south down Federal street to a nondescript single family home located on an ordinary street in a typical suburban neighborhood. Once there we would all file out, knock on the door and was thusly escorted down to the basement were other like minded Vietnamese were gathered. One long table was set up in the middle of the room that accommodated perhaps fifteen to twenty happy noodle slurping patrons seated quite closely to one another. The close proximity didn’t really seem to bother anybody, once you’re in your world of pho; nothing else really seems to matter. After a short while three seats became available, once seated we proceed to order. My brother would come along too but he was too little for a seat so he sat on my mother’s lap, “no space to spare,” the lady would always say. I always got the same thing, Phở Tái, Bò Viên (rare beef with meatballs). ...read more.

[ In restaurants ] Introducing SĒN Baltimore's new food and dining blogger... I read today that “common sense shows that human life is short-lived and that it is best to make of our brier sojourn on this Earth something that is useful to oneself and others,”-his holiness the Dalai Lama.
       
That seems like a great place to start a meditation, more specifically a meditation on food. All of us through the course of living collect all sorts of distractions.  We are like magnets attracting images, sounds, insights, thoughts, flavors, smells, all sorts of senses.  It’s truly a wonder that all our minds don’t just explode from the sensory overload.  It’s hard to sort out what nuggets are worth hanging on to.  This seems true concerning food, the stuff we’re made of.  People sell food just like they sell everything else.  They come at you from all different angles, try this bite, it’ll give you a culinary organism, go to this “it” spot and “poof!” you we be transformed like Cinderella, making you sophisticated & charming.  Not to mention you’ll get a few IQ points for choosing that spot.  The jargon, the science, the subjective nature of good taste make the culinary world a mystical one. ...read more.