On Monday night, Mr. Food Musings and I went to hear my favorite writer ever ever EVER* read from her new book. Anne Lamott writes with humor, compassion, despair and wisdom. Her book on writing, Bird by Bird, stuck with me and I wrote an essay about it (in a roundabout way). I just finished Traveling Mercies, her first book of meditations on faith, and was spellbound. To me, it was less about faith and more about another regular soul just like the rest of us learning how to walk around inside her own body and mind, and appreciating the graceful beauty we're blessed with, regardless of the form it takes (think sunsets, or a friend calling when you're feeling gloomy, or your child smiling at you for the first time, or enjoying a ridiculously large fudge sundae). I'm not even vaguely religious or spiritual and certainly not a devout Christian like Lamott, but I like her anyway. And hey, she has dreadlocks and had a son even though the father ran like hell (and only recently looked back) and she is a recovering addict, so I figure she's entitled to her faith. I mean, if she still has it after all that, she's earned it.
But enough about that. Let's get to dinner. After her reading we were craving Thai and our first choice, Jitlada, was closed so we worked our way homeward and ended up at Thai Stick on Fillmore. It doesn't have much to offer in the way of atmosphere but the food is good and satisfying. Mr. Food Musings ordered the clay pot with fish (pictured above as my leftover lunch the next day, just added a splash of chicken stock and a clove of garlic sliced up), and I had prawns in a sweet and sour tamarind sauce with exquisitely crispy fried basil leaves. We shared a papaya salad (looked so sweet and innocent but was fiery as hell, just like I like it) and some thin-skinned egg rolls stuffed with ground chicken and bamboo shoots. My belly felt warm and full, and we went home and had ice cream and then went to sleep. A great night.
*Maybe not ever. Ever is a long time. I used to say that about Ellen Gilchrist. But definitely for a very long time.
Thai Stick, San Francisco, 2001 Fillmore, 415-885-6100
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