Boka and More Eating
As astute readers of the blog, you may recall that my second chemo cycle for this phase was scheduled for Monday, 10 September. The plan to go to Madison and to eat well the rest of the week was based on the assumption that things would go downhill for the next two weeks or so. However, I did not get the infusion as my blood counts, in particular the absolute neutrophils (ANC), were below the threshold for treatment. That actually came as a bit of a surprise to me, as I had felt pretty good for the last two weeks - no medications, good energy, ability to be active, etc. The plan is to go back in on Friday and see if the counts have improved. I was told by the nurse, PA and dietician that there is nothing I can do to accelerate this process - it’s just a matter of time and letting my body recover from all the drugs that are in it.
Following the return from Madison last Wednesday, I continued to take advantage of the recovery period. My eating has been better, though the improvement that I’d experienced earlier seems to have plateaued. My taste buds are similar to before - spicy heat causes immediate irritation, while other spices like pepper and acidity are tolerable in small doses but the cumulative effect of eating more starts to hurt. My sense of sweet seems to be dulled. I can eat some crunchy foods but my tongue remains sensitive. In the middle of the week, it seemed like I had more saliva but towards the end, my mouth got drier and drier, so I required more water to wash down my meals. I’ve been drinking a lot of water the past few days - some days probably at 4L or more. I still cannot drink wine or cocktails at this point. I tried, but the result is almost as painful as eating spicy food - pain, not merely irritation.
One of my semi-regular dining groups decided to get together for dinner on last Thursday. The suggestion to go to Boka came from someone else, and Aiday and I were not going to object. Besides the two of us there were five others in our group of seven - Andy & Nina, Sean & Mary and Karin, who initiated the gathering. After some initial discussions about ordering the 8 course tasting menu, we decided to order a la carte, figuring that we could sample more items. We ended up ordering the entire menu, consisting of 5 cold appetizers, 3 hot appetizers, and 7 entrees (including the duck for two). In addition to those 15 courses, we also got amuse-bouches (3 small bites), double orders of two appetizers, as well as a beef tongue dish from that’s normally only part of the tasting menu.
As usual, the flavors and the presentation were stellar. Aiday and I were glad that our friends enjoyed the restaurant as much as we do, as most dishes featured in everyone’s distinct set of highlights. That being said, some of the favorites mentioned multiple times included the dry aged beef tartare and the scallop crudo from the cold appetizers, the grilled Spanish octopus from the hot appetizers, and the olive oil poached halibut, charcoal grilled beets and the duck confit from the entrees. All of the dishes have so many components, but they are well balanced.
Here are pictures (and descriptions) of all the menus, from the cold appetizers to hot appetizers to entrees. All photos courtesy of Aiday, the master food photographer. (Remember, you may have to turn your phone to landscape mode to see the captions.)
Fortunately for me, I was able to eat the menu without much difficulty. I’m not sure whether it was because I never ate too much of any one thing (splitting dishes 7 has will to do that) or the restaurant’s food is not as spicy as others. I did try a sip of wine but that is beyond my ability right now. The same is true for cocktails (and I imagine certain beers). So it seems like I can do 5-6% ABV drinks but drinks above 10% will burn my throat.
We finished the meal with all five of the desserts, plus the mignardises after that. My favorite dessert was the Hazelnut& Coffee, which had such an interesting contrasts of temperatures, crunch and flavors. I could have eaten that one all by myself.
The server seemed impressed by our ability to order and finish every dish. He brought out another staff member to show that we went 21/21 (actually a little more with the extras). In addition, he brought out souvenir menus with a gold star sticker on it to make us “charter” members of the Boka Gold Star club. We left the restaurant more than 3 hours after starting our meal, with our stomachs full and our tastebuds more than satisfied. Also, the cost for tasting of all menu items, plus drinks and tax, was less than the cost of the tasting menu food alone (before drinks and tax).
Towards the end of the meal, I half jokingly asked the others if we were going to stop by Au Cheval for a post-meal burger. This is a tradition that Andy and I have partaken several times after tasting menus, even when we should have been full. Our server overheard us and suggested a menu item that I was not aware of previously. Namely, Au Cheval accommodates their gluten-free guests by serving the burger (and bologna sandwich) open-faced on a crispy hash brown. While I do not have a gluten allergy, bread remains a significant challenge for me to eat, so I wanted to see how this would work.
Needless to say, Aiday and I couldn’t resist, so we made our way to Au Cheval on Saturday. We got there at 2:30pm, hoping to catch a mid-afternoon lull, which does not exist at AC on the weekends. We were initially quoted three hours, though it was more likely going to be 90 minutes. We did sit down less than 90 minutes later and made a similar order to the meal we enjoyed during the first week of treatment. We got the General Jane’s fried chicken, as well as a single burger with an egg and a bologna sandwich, both on the hash brown. We knew we couldn’t finish, especially since I imagine the hash browns will have more calories than a bread bun. Despite my desire, the fried chicken was too spicy for me to eat, but it still remains one of Aiday’s favorites.
A new discovery is Casati’s Pizza Vino, which we have Sarah and Mitch to thank for the recommendation. This is a relatively new spot, less than a mile from where I live, so it was nice to walk there. This is a traditional Italian restaurant from a veteran of the Stefani restaurants. In addition to working at those restaurants, the chef also had experience at Le Cirque and Le Bernadin in NYC. The restaurant is offers a unique “Pinsa,” which is a traditional Roman dough with a high water content, making it lighter and with less gluten than traditional pizza doughs.
Another really nice idea is that the restaurant offers an all-day bar menu. These are smaller portions of many of the main menu items, which is a great way to sample more dishes. We ordered 5 items and they were all excellent. The total bill was <$60 all-in, including tip and a glass of wine. We will certainly be back to try other items. The favorites so far were the four cheese gnocchi with creamy gorgonzola sauce and the pappardelle ragu. We can’t wait to go back.
Besides all the eating out, we did find some time to cook a few things, especially since we brought back a bunch of produce from the Dane County Farmer’s Market. To celebrate Andy’s birthday, he and Nina came over for dinner. Aiday and I made a mix of favorites and new menu items. I tried some recipes from Alon Shaya, who had a eponymous restaurant in New Orleans that I visited in 2016. The Moroccan carrot salad turned out really well, with the heirloom carrots from the market. The lamb ragu, served with hummus, is a recipe I’ve tried to make before but I need to make some modifications. The lamb was overcooked, but still tasty. We also had grilled food - Nina’s grilled zucchini salad (so tasty that Aiday and I grilled zucchini a few days later) and some ribeye steaks. This was the first time I could eat a grilled steak since the treatment started, so I was very pleased with that.
With all this eating, my weight has started to come up off the lows. However, I’m still well below my starting point. Some pants may have to sidelined for a little while. I realize that this is quite an enviable position to be in - the ability to gorge on high calorie, high fat foods without worrying about weight gain. I look forward to the next few weeks / months of eating.
The silver lining for the delay in treatment is that I’ll get to enjoy a few more days of quality eating. Hopefully the blood counts recover and there isn’t too much delay, as I’d like to enjoy the holiday season with all the treatments behind me.