Eating: Week 2
To my great relief, I was able to eat and taste normally through the second week of treatment. At this stage, the only concession is that I have to eat more slowly than I'm used to. My appetite remains strong, but my ability to consume is slightly less.
With an expectation that my tastes will change soon, I figured this would be the week to savor spicy foods (e.g. a visit to Martinez Supermercado for burritos) and other places we didn't hit up in earlier weeks. Also, it was Aiday's birthday weekend, so we took advantage of that to go out to a few places.
We started Friday night at Pacific Standard Time, a new Chicago restaurant that many friends have liked. When we ordered, our server warned us that many of our chosen dishes would be spicy. That was fine with us. However, when we tasted them and didn't feel any heat, I thought that this was the beginning of my loss of taste. Some of the dishes were OK, but not as I expected - the flavors didn't really appeal to me. This was a new restaurant for me, so I couldn't really trust my taste.
On Saturday, we returned to Boka, our favorite restaurant. The food is spectacular and presented beautifully. Each of the ingredients in the dish has a purpose, and the chefs extract maximum flavor from them. In addition, for some reason, the restaurant treats me very, very well. We had gone for a late dinner (post-Steppenwolf show). Our order was for ricotta dumplings, braised octopus (both appetizers) and a whole roasted dry aged duck for two. Our meal included those courses, plus four(!) additional "gifts from the kitchen" courses - two amuse- bouches, sashimi, and asparagus. They also plated each dish for us separately, so we didn't have to fight each other for the last bite.
I was able to taste the dishes well, both the main flavors as well as the nuances in the sauces. I was quite relieved that the disappointment of Friday night was more about my personal preferences than my ability to taste. I'll remember this meal for a while. Boka is one of the first places I'm planning to return to after I've finished treatment.
After the memorable Boka meal, dinner at Girl & the Goat on Sunday night was more of a casual event. The flavors are still very well done. The rhubarb shortcake for dessert was a particular highlight.