February 02, 2004 - 9:04 p.m.

Morimoto Made Me Dinner

Despite much stress and a few small glitches, the wedding on Saturday went beautifully. The ceremony was lovely and touching, and the reception was very nice as well. After four days of trying to keep the bride calm, though, it was a huge relief as well as a happy celebration. I think the bride and groom will be very happy together.

There's a ton to write about the various wedding festivities, but I think I will save that for tomorrow. For now, I want to share one of the highlights of the weekend that had nothing to do with the wedding. As I mentioned when I last posted, Sam and I had planned to go to Morimoto. After I picked him up at the airport we headed over and were pretty much floored by the experience. The restaurant is visually impressive with lots of sleek glass and metal balanced by undulating stucco walls, warm wood floors, and colored lights. We expected a lot of the food, and it did not disappoint. We had warm mushroom salad, which was deliciously curried, and eggplant, miso, and chicken gratin, which was an intriguingly complex set of flavors but was very rich, as appetizers. For our entrees, I had chilean sea bass with slivered ginger and black bean sauce, and Sam had braised kobe beef and jumbo shrimp with wasabi aioli. Both were excellent, though I think mine was the best - the fish was unbelievably moist and tender, and the black bean sauce and broth served with it were the perfect compliment. Yum! Then, for dessert we shared both the coconut wave - hazelnut cocoa ice topped with key lime foam and coconut tuilles - and sweet potato cake with vanilla cherry sauce. The coconut wave was far better than I expected. I wasn't sure the chocolate, coconut, and lime flavors would go well together, but it was extremely light and tasty. The sweet potato cake was also great, though a bit heavy. It was served with an anise mousse that was a little odd, but everything else was perfect. Such a delicious meal! Expensive, but well worth it.

I haven't even shared the best part, though! As we were eating, I glanced over to a nearby table and spotted a pair or colorful patterned pants standing there. My gaze traveled up the figure wearing the pants and took in the sight of a chef's coat. At last I reached the face of the person, only to discover that it was Morimoto himself, complete with trendy glasses and goatee. Sam was talking away at the time - he had his back to Chef Morimoto - and later said my jaw just dropped to about my knees. I don't usually get so star struck, but I wasn't expecting him to be there! I know it's his restaurant, but how many celebrity chefs actually spend much time at their establishments? I sat there gibbering with Sam laughing at me until Morimoto walked away. Later he emerged from the kitche again and walked around greeting more people and actually stopped at our table! He asked if everything was alright, and I think I mumbled a reply, but I mostly just stared at him like an idiot. It was just so surreal to have the man I have watched so many times on Iron Chef wielding his huge knives, ice cream maker, and creativity standing right in front of me. Wow, I can still barely believe it!

The whole experience was awesome, and was a great escape from all the wedding insanity. It was lovely to just sit down to dinner with Sam and not have to make small talk or go through the same conversations about my family, my job, etc. Having such delicious, unique food and a celebrity appearance were the icing on the cake. :)

So, if you are ever in Philadelphia, I highly recommend a trip to Morimoto. Save your pennies for a while so you can have a couple courses and try one of the expensive but very tasty cocktails.

Now I must go catch up on some of the sleep I lost this weekend.

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