Lots of feasting this weekend to celebrate Valentine's Day and the Lunar New Year! We had to visit our fave Chinese restaurant, China Star, to sample their special holiday menu. Fish dishes are a highlight there any time of year, and since they are considered good luck to consume during the New Year festivities, we indulged in two this visit. Flounder with Pine Nuts was so good--mild yet deeply savory:
Whole Fish with Chili, Scallion and Cilantro...wow! Good luck red garnishes, too:
Mandarin oranges, another traditional Lunar New Year food--a fresh delivery at Lotte Plaza:
We met up with dear friends to celebrate Valentine's Day at Matin de Paris, a Korean-French bakery/cafe in Annandale, VA. Many pretty pastries, amazing cappuccino, great relaxed atmosphere--all in all, a lovely place to share the afternoon:
Check out these vibrant, festive little confections!
Today's bento features fish with pine nuts and cucumber, Korean naeng myun noodles, mini orange peppers, and tofu decorated with black sesame seeds. The sesame seed design was inspired by embroidery from a 19th century children's kimono.
All of that food!!!! I am so hungry now. :D I am in awe at your bento! What a great idea to use the sesame seeds and it really does look like it was embroidered. Beautiful!
ReplyDeleteThose cakes are mouthwatering! Love love love the bento, too. Gorgeous.
ReplyDeleteDear Susan and Lexi,
ReplyDeleteYou ladies are so sweet! Thank you for setting my evening aglow with your comments!
Stunning post, yet again! I love traveling with you in virtual cyberspace. You always capture just the ambiance to bring a smile to my face. And finishing with that lovely "embroidered" tofu is inspired! Love the creativity your bento brings out of you. Simply wonderful. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteHi Sheri!
ReplyDeleteSo warmly happy to read that this post made you smile...as your images always do for me! How awesome is it to have a medium where we enjoy and encourage creativity in our bento pals and receive inspiration in turn?
Gasp! How lovely is that! Your "eye" is beyond the daily happenings. I settle-in and hang on every word you've typed and dwell on every photograph.
ReplyDeleteI love the impression of embroidery on the tofu it looks so elegent. The fish with pine nuts and cucumders sounds so refreshing.
ReplyDeleteAh, hapa, thank you! That's exactly what we are doing in this bento community--seeing the world afresh through one another's visions (oh, and recipes--made your lovely roasted baby bok choy last night!)
ReplyDeleteMany thanks Marisa! Happy bentoing to you :)
ReplyDeleteit absolutely does look like embroidery, that was the first thing i though of, even before i read your (as usual, eloquent) description! what a beautiful and creative motif, and a delicious meal!
ReplyDeleteand the korean-french bakery pics are making me drooooool....
Hiya megan!
ReplyDeleteThank you for your always sweet comments! Yep, this bakery was a highly caloric free fall into yummy, pretty, heck-its-Valentine's Day-decadence! I thought of you on this visit to Annandale, which is so rich in Korean good stuff!
Girl you are beyond awesome! The sesame bird rocks! Those cakes look so good I almost licked the monitor.
ReplyDeleteHi Angi!
ReplyDeleteYou are soooo sweet, thank you!!
Oh My! What a patient person you must be, making such a beautiful artwork out of sesame seeds! :-o
ReplyDeleteI'm amazed! :)
Hey there gnoegnoe! Aw, so sweet of you! I was so inspired by this photograph of a beautiful old textile, I had to try to convey it in bento form. Hope your weekend will be full of interesting literary and foodie pursuits!
ReplyDelete