maria, callous

today is perfectly lovely and productive. organized. pleasant. jane is really, really feeling well - so much better than chemo treatment number 3, really not at all beat up like last time!

so much so, that we decide to go to the lower east side for asian at kampuchea, where jane has been wanting to eat for a year - it's nothing fancy, but cute - perfect for wednesday night out with the kids. maria calls to say she'll join us, so an added bonus! we are downtown in 35 minutes, incredible, and park just outside the restaurant. we visit a gallery, see the shops, and sit down for a bit in the very quiet space.

the menu is limited - both in number of choices, and by the fact that almost every one of the (few) dishes has both pork and tiger shrimp ... we don't eat either (kosher restrictions, jane's allergic to shellfish, etc.). when we inquire as to whether they could simply leave it out, we are told NO! the chef is philosophically opposed to altering the palette of the dish.

huh? no, better we should keel over from a reaction. and it's not like there are a hundred vegetarian choices on the menu! very callous, indeed!!!

now if this were momofuko - packed to the gills, and all pork items 'baked into' the steamed buns, etc. - it's pretty hard to substitute if something is integral to the dish. but really - a soup? which already has a million ingredients? you can't leave out a couple of shrimp? ugggghhh.

and believe me, kampuchea is NO momofuko. at any rate, a positively lovely time is had with maria and alicia - we miss daniel and matthew - and we're so happy to lay eyes upon them! jane tucks into 'inoteca for an affogato (espresso over ice cream) after dinner, and the boys - who have otherwise been delightful - decide to have an all out brawl in front of our friends. totally embarrassing and immature, making steam come out of my ears! so much for a happy ending to the day!