The plumber spent Sunday getting the sink and faucet installed. It’s so nice to have our sink back again after two months. The drills and saws have been put away, so we’ve started the process of washing off all the items in the house that have been accumulating dust. We now get to begin the reward of putting the kitchen back together again. It feels good to remove things that have been stacked to the ceiling since summer and start seeing how the new kitchen feels.
The plumber will be back on Tuesday to hook up the dishwasher and possibly the stove. When we put the dishwasher into place, we noticed that it is bumping up against one of the cabinet handles. We had the cabinetmaker come in and take a look and he’ll also be back to do some adjusting. After that, we’ll just have a few things for the handyman and electrician to finish up and then we’ll have our house back again.
It’ll be nice to have guests knocking at our door rather then workers. I’m looking forward to entertaining and showing off the new kitchen, so start booking soon.
We had hoped our kitchen would be in working order by now. I have two parties scheduled for this weekend and my hopes were to be able to do a majority of the prep work here. The countertops will be cured by Saturday morning and I’ll be able to do a little light prep work. The plumber might be coming in this weekend to get some things installed.
We attempted to have a home cooked meal tonight, but for some reason, the outdoor grill wasn’t working. This gave us the opportunity to visit our favorite sushi restaurant down the street. This is not only our favorite local sushi restaurant, but our favorite overall sushi restaurant. Hideki, the sushi chef, always has something up his sleeve. We always leave it up to him to choose our selections and he never lets us down. Tonight he gave us a special treat- live uni. He came out and presented us with the prickly sea urchin, and then served it to us, while it was still moving. It has a much different flavor then the uni I’m used to eating. It had a very sweet taste and a slight ocean saltiness on the finish. What a delicacy.
Marble Counter Top
The white Carrera marble is installed… and it glows. It is the defining element that pulls everything together. The beautiful white pillowy virgin marble is screaming for some dough to be thrown down on it, rolled out, and made into a sweet pastry. I’m searching my database for some great recipes and I can’t wait to get back into my groove and start cooking again.
The search continues for an electrician and a handyman to complete the last steps of finishing up the kitchen. The stress is wearing on us and we’re ready to sign off on this project. The plumber should be coming in early next week to install the dishwasher, faucets, and stove and we might have someone else to come in next week to finish up the final steps.
Austin, Texas is home to the corporate offices of Whole Foods Market, and like everything else in Texas, it’s bigger. In addition to the many food courts and the office tower above, there is also a school. I’m not sure if this is where the Whole Foods chefs learn to cook, or if it is for the public. What a spectacle!
I love visiting local farmers markets’ when I’m traveling. This week I’m in Austin and I visited the downtown local market. This being October, and it being Texas, the majority of the produce available was a large variety of chili’s and peppers.
We had a great meal at Austin’s best sushi restaurant, Uchi. They have slight twists with Texas sushi that differ from the sushi in California. Different chili’s, panko fried green tomatoes, okra, and other selections of local Texas ingredients.
The Menu:
Bara Mutsu (seared escolar) sushi
Uni (sea urchin) sushi
Crudo- Sea bass, grapeseed oil, garlic and black pepper, citrus vinaigrette
Kona Kampachi- pacific amberjack sashimi with crispy koshi hikari rice, ringer farm egg and sweet soy broth
Tomato katsu- panko- fried green tomatoes
Mongo ika- grilled young squid, salsify, fennel curd, fennel pollen salt, pickled onions, parsnips.
Bouvet ‘Excellence’ NV Rose Brut, Loire Sparkling Wine
It felt a little strange having sushi in Texas since there’s no ocean nearby. But you can have sushi anywhere these days, since all of the fish is flown in anyway, even in California. Everything at Uchi tasted amazing and was perfectly balanced and the service and atmosphere was flawless.
I want to close my eyes and wake up to a finished kitchen. I’ll have my chance this week by getting away from all of the chaos and spending some time in Austin, Texas. The work crews said they should have things wrapped up by the time we get back and then we’ll just have a few loose ends to tie up.
I have inadvertently acquired a new hobby with this kitchen remodel. Little did I know, before this started, that it would suck up all of my free time, which I had little of to begin with. I’ll have a new hobby starting in November. I’ve purchased a camcorder and I’ll be videotaping cooking demonstrations in the new “studio”, with a tour of the new kitchen as the first segment . In the interim, I’ll be trying to figure out how the camera works.
Even without the stove or sink, we managed to cook our first meal in the new kitchen. We fired up the grill and cooked a rib-eye steak, Rondé Nice squash, and prepared an heirloom tomato and cucumber salad. It was so nice to have a simple, satisfying, home cooked meal again.
We opened up a 2005 Kathryn Kennedy Lateral Bordeaux blend wine from Santa Cruz to ring in the start of more great meals to come. Cheers!
Wine Bar In Transition
It’s great to see your vision slowly come together. Today a few more things got crossed off the list.
We reluctantly decided to let our handyman finish the work he started. He had so many unfinished things going on, it would have taken someone a long time to figure out what he was up to. He figures to have about 5-6 more days of work left and then we can say goodbye. The lighting should be fully functional by the end of the day and maybe the stove and ventilation by tomorrow.
It felt good to start putting things back together. The cookbooks are on the shelf and the clock is hung. The cabinets are getting organized and the wine rack is full. It’s starting to look like a kitchen again.
