food, and other musings: Shout Out for the Four-One-Five

Continuing our cycle of gluttonous eating out that started a few weeks back, Mr. Food Musings and I found ourselves at (415) last night. (That's one of the two new spots in the JCC. The other is a Jewish deli. We're hoping to get a Reuben and egg cream there someday soon.)

We expected it to be pretty good, but were blown away that it was quite as good as it was. And we weren't the only ones. The place was full, and our neighbors were having the exact same conversation we were. "OHMYGOD this is so good!" yada yada yada.

I may have found my favorite green papaya salad on Earth. It's full of fresh papaya strands, green beans and halved cherry tomatoes as you'd expect, but it has a lot of zing (thank you, Mr. Jalapeno!) and just a touch of sweetness and crunch from the cashew brittle, which gives it the edge on every other green papaya salad I've had. I felt myself growing addicted to it while our chopsticks duked it out for the last bite.

Then I moved on to a mellow green curry with thin coins of eggplant, crispy fried shallots and a meaty piece of lightly-crusted salmon. This curry defied the stereotype. Rather than tossing chunks of salmon into the soup, which masks the fish's flavor, the chef served a small pool of curry and veg in a wide bowl and rested the salmon on top. I had plenty of jasmine rice on the side (order it a la carte) to sop up the delectable curry.

Mr. FM had halibut with tempura-fried asparagus in a sweet sauce (mirin? miso? soy? can't say for sure) that seems to have replaced the miso-glazed black cod previously on the menu. For dessert, we enjoyed the best fruit tart I've had lately (including the always stupendous lemon version at Vivande). It was made of passionfruit, a nice but subtle twist which took just the edge off the tartness. The crust was thick and buttery but still shattered well during the all-important fork test. Mmmmm... I'd skip the chocolate/tamarind cake, though. It was chocolatey and all -- good marks for flavor -- but the texture was more of a mousse than a molten chocolate cake. Though it pains me to say this about something made with chocolate, it was pretty ordinary.

Next time I want to order the Shanghai scallion bread (the couple to our right went ga-ga over it) and the coconut-braised beef short ribs. Wines by the glass were reasonably priced; I had a lovely Spanish Verdejo for $8, and they pour either 3- or 6-ounce servings if you want to try before you buy. The decor is worth noting for its blend of cozy booths and sultry red walls. I even caught myself kinda liking the weird cheetah-like print they've put down on the concrete floor, so either it's actually cool or I'm getting tackier with old age.

The best part of the evening, though, came at the end. Mr. FM got the shakes something awful as we were leaving and ran into the waiter's stand (no injuries!) which made him feel really stupid and clumsy and sort of sad, but we soldiered on through like it was no big deal and pretended that all the people were staring at us because we were the King and Queen of France (well, I did, I don't know what sort of coping mechanisms he uses). About two blocks from the fracas, I realized I'd lost an earring and went back to look for it. I didn't find it, and the old me would have been really sad or really pissed off -- these were my favorite earrings and they cost a pretty penny -- but the new me couldn't give a shit about a sliver of metal that hangs from my ear. I just shrugged it off, realizing that I'd enjoyed them as much as was humanly possible when I had them. As we meandered home in the still nighttime air, I found myself quietly thankful for that sense of peace.

BUT WAIT!

I haven't gotten to the best part yet! (There was a bit of a bait and switch going on in that last paragraph, and you know I'm too shallow to let it end on such a philosophical note.)

We found the earring! Two blocks from home, glinting ever so slightly on the sidewalk, waiting there patiently for us to find it. I did a small victory dance, Mr. FM smiled at my glee, and we went inside to watch mobsters kill each other. Ah, the good life.