garlic and sapphires

i've been trying to eat like ruth reichl recently. my book club last read "garlic and sapphires: a critic's life in disguise" about her tenure as the chief restuarant critic for the new york times in the 1990s, and the thing that struck me most about her writing was the way she described experiencing food. each bite was a search to taste each distinct flavor, to search out the components to understand the whole. her relationship to food is complex and pleasurable, as much about the science of the cook as the artistry of the chef. so when i say i've been trying to eat like ruth reichl, i don't mean that i've been heading out to le cirque in a bright red wig, i mean i've been trying to deepen my understanding of what i choose to taste.

with that in mind, i closed my eyes with each new bite at centro vinoteca, where aa, mk and i went to celebrate restaurant week. we started with piccolini, and i appreciated the brightness of the lemon aioli on my shrimp and chickpea fritter and the richness of the truffled deviled egg. the creaminess of sunchokes contrasted nicely with the texture of the chanterelles and walnuts in aa's soup, and i am sure mk enjoyed her upscale blt bruschettas. but it was the entree that really taught me to taste like a critic. kabocha squash ravioli in brown butter with walnuts and vincotto tastes at once familiar (ah, squash ravioli, you think to yourself, i know this one) and unusual (oh perhaps i was too hasty, you realize), the vincotto and brown butter lending a thick sweetness, the walnuts adding a crunch. kabocha squash has some of the richness of butternut, but a more unusual finish. i know i looked silly, sitting there with my eyes closed, exploring each new taste, but it was worth it. (the desserts are skip-able. my chocolate cake was nothing to blog about. my dirty martini, however, was spot on.) i look forward to going back to centro vinoteca, to taste new tastes again. thank you, ruth reichl.