Review - Seoul Town Tapas at Breadbar

Grilled Nutella Sammie w/ Pain de Mie and Blueberries

Last Saturday night, the Mister and I wandered over to Breadbar on west 3rd, to dine at chef Debbie Lee's pop-up restaurant, Seoul Town Tapas, a modern take on Korean Pub Grub. Oddly enough I haven't seen/read any reviews, considering how much coverage Ludovic Lefebvre received at the same location, twice.

Here are my thoughts:

1. This type of venue/menu would be a nice permanent addition to the neighborhood, but it isn't "destination" food that draws "foodies", hence the lack of buzz. Everything we ate was simple and enjoyable, but not necessarily worth driving across town for. Chef Lee needs to make sure that wherever she plans her permanent location should have heavy foot traffic.
2. Her menu would actually work really well as a food-truck concept.
3. My faves were the daikon kimchee amuse bouche, the curry hummus w/wonton crostini, the chicken meatball (tasted like sweet/sour chicken) and the ultra-yummy (soon to be recreated at home) grilled nutella w/ blueberries sandwich (pic above).
4. Prices were good, but I thought $16 was a bit much for the Korean Fried Chicken. I have a very high bar when it comes to fried chicken, and I only enjoyed it $10's worth.
5. Chef Lee would benefit from coming out of the kitchen from time to time. I like it when chefs connect with their diners, even if it's minimal.
6. Am planning on returning before this ends on April 10th, since it's an easy and walkable few blocks away. Will definitely try another dessert and forgo the fried chicken.

Until next time... Miss Absinthe

Tale of My Giving Tree

For the past 10+ years, one of my favorite aspects to my apartment has been the old, large and lush tree that belonged to the house behind our building. It provided fantastic afternoon shade, was often the stage for various critter (squirrel/possum/raccoon/birds birds birds) comedies and dramas and I loved watching the different shades of green that would emerge as the changing daylight would dance with the leaves, causing me to aptly name it - The Hypnotree.

Two months ago, I awoke to the sounds of chainsaws and looked out the window to witness the house's new owners having the tree taken down. I actually felt my heart sink. And since it was such a large tree, it took the entire day to cut it down, an entire day of chainsaws, sawdust and sadness. I'm not the weepy kind of gal, but I cried that day.

Fortunately (I say that lightly) the tree-guys let a lot of stuff fall down on our side of the fence, so I took piece of a larger branch that I plan on carving into a tactile sculpture piece, a long skinny leafless branch that is looking great as it lays against the wall outside the front door and the end of a branch that was still green and viable. It was my hope to get it to root somehow, so I took it and placed it in a vase and kept it next to the bed, on top of two of my favorite Tom Robbins' books that I'm re-reading (pic above).

For two months the little branch (now named Penelope - gold stars to those who can guess why) seemed to thrive, and was even continuing to grow a leaf on the end... then last week she suddenly started turning black and was dead in two days.

Adieu my darling giving tree... never will you be forgotten.

Until next time... Miss Absinthe