Best-Ever Birthday

We just returned from a long weekend to So Cal and I’m still feeling a "high" from three days of Good Eats and Good Times.  The original purpose of the trip was to celebrate my birthday at Mozza Osteria, an elite Michelin-starred restaurant in LA started by well-known chefs Mario Batalia and Nancy Silverton in 2010.  Jana told me of her plan to take us there last December. We originally had no other reason to make the trip mid-March other than to have dinner with her.  But, over the past couple of weeks several “reasons” developed resulting in a very busy three days. Jana will be moving from her Santa Monica apartment at the end of the month, so there was packing to be done, and one of her kittens needed to visit the vet…both things we could do to help our daughter. Also, Verne ordered new computers from his tech guru in Brea and they were made ready this weekend, so we were able to pick them up and save shipping costs. We then planned to complete our trip by driving up the coast to visit our friend Sally and make bagels, as well as deliver quilts for a mutual friend and a pet portrait I’d been commissioned to paint for a Santa Barbara woman I’d met last summer. It was a full weekend!

We drove Thursday arriving early evening and met Jana and Bashir at one of our favorite restaurants, Musha’s. We were able to have seating in the “closet”, a small, private room in the back separated by curtains from another private, but much larger, room to one side and a hallway leading to the kitchen on the other. It was  quiet and it was perfect! The noise level in the main dining/bar area is not hearing-impaired friendly. In fact, I don’t think there’s a single restaurant in LA with acoustics designed for the hearing-impaired. Jana is beginning to also suffer hearing loss, so she is especially sensitive to my needs for a “quiet” table. We have a favorite corner table at Musha’s, but the closet turned out to be even better. Food was amazing as always. We tried several favorites and a few new items from the menu. If I had to name a single favorite LA restaurant, it would be Musha’s! We had a fabulous time and would have been very content to get up the next morning and drive home feeling like we had very successfully celebrated my big day.

Friday was busy with the vet in the morning, a drive to Brea to pick up computers mid-day, and packing the balance of the afternoon. Jana and Bashir picked us up around 7 p.m. and we drove to Mozza Osteria in Hollywood. Have I mentioned that traffic in So Cal is CRAZY?! A weekend dealing with it gives a person a better understanding of the cause and effects of Road Rage! The mileage between Jana’s Santa Monica apartment and Hollywood is probably less than 10 miles. Of course, in So Cal, people never talk in terms of “miles”, but instead minutes. It’s a minimum of  45 minutes to an hour, depending on the time of day, and can be as much as two hours with bad traffic. We managed to arrive fashionably late, but, thankfully, before losing our reservation. The noise level when we entered Mozza Osteria was like having a dozen radios and televisions on at the same time tuned to different channels and set at the highest volume. Even at my prime I don’t think I would have been able to hear. It was deafening. Literally! Thank goodness, Jana’s assistant had made the reservation and arranged for a room in the back used for hearing-impaired patrons. It was beautifully quiet…probably not considered “hip” as the average age was above 50, unlike the bar area and middle dining room, but it was perfect for my birthday dinner. I cannot begin to describe the food and do it any kind of justice. A few of our favorites included burrata with horseradished beets, walnuts and beet greens vinaigrette; steamed mussels in a sauce of chilies and herbs; grilled octopus; braised beef short rib with porcini mushrooms. We drank three bottles of wine, ate until we could eat no more, talked and laughed until we cried, and had one of the best dining experiences we’ll ever have.

The next morning began with a Flake breakfast with Jana and Bashir. We cannot go to Santa Monica and not have at least one breakfast or lunch at Flake. It’s become another of our favorites. 

We said our good-byes and headed for Santa Barbara to spend the day with Sally. We’d asked that she teach us to make her wonderful bagels. When we arrived, she was already mixing the dough. On went the aprons and the three of us made everything-bagels. Sadly, the mystique is gone and we now know how easy they are to make! Forming the bagels is probably the most challenging part. After the dough has risen and is ready to shape, it may either be formed in a small ball and the center hole punched with a finger or thumb; or, rolled into a rope, cut into small pieces, and formed into a circle. After the second rise, they are boiled in water with a non-diastatic malt powder, which adds the shine to the bagel’s surface; brushed with egg and dipped in a topping (we used a combination of sesame seeds, poppy seeds, caraway, and onion flakes) then baked for about 30 minutes until nicely browned. Couldn’t be easier!

About a year ago, I started painting animal portraits on fabric and then making them into pillows. It turns out my idea is not exactly “original” as pet pillows can be found on Etsy. However, most of them are reproductions from photographs. Mine are original paintings. My first pet portrait was of a Boston Terrier named Molly. I painted it as a gift for Sally a short-time after Molly died. My second painting was Maria’s beagle, named Betty, which I made into a large tote bag. This was actually only my third pet portrait (a Silky Yorkie)! My anxiety level peaked on Saturday when I got the call to arrange our meeting. My client arrived about an hour later, took one look at the pillow and exclaimed OMG! OMG! OMG!  There were more OMG’s, but that gives you the idea. She loved it! Thank goodness! 

All I can say is OMG! This was a turning point for me, as she was a real, live, paying customer! There’s no better confirmation that your work is Worthy than to have someone pay to own it. It was a wonderful way to conclude a wonderful weekend spent with people I love and enjoying one of my favorite pastimes…eating! Another Moser Good Eats and Good Time!