2002: Close Ups

Dim Sum at Hong Kong Flower Lounge, drawing by Lucey Bowen from Gourmet, 2002 photograph.

     Magazines are "put to bed" months before they are published.  Hence the first allusion to 9/11 occurs in the January, 2002 issue.  "A Brand New Start of It" detailed the slow recovery of the city as reflected in restaurants below Canal Street.  Lower Manhattan had become a community fused by fire, but the author, Jonathan Gold soon left the city to return to the West Coast. There he described a major shift. The best Asian restaurants followed their customers from San Francisco proper to the suburbs that surround the Bay, and the malls that are there commercial heart.
     Maybe I'm imagining this, but it seems that security dominated the travel choices.  Essays on Mauritius, the Maldives, Sri Lanka and Bali promised islands of spiritual peace and luxury.  Even the country formerly known as Buddhist Burma was recommended as a peaceful destination.
     A reflective, critical note sounded again in the "Culture Notes: Dining on Faith." In the essay by Chitrita Banerji, she told how her Muslim Bengladeshi husband and her Bengali Hindu mother clashed over the mother's Brahmin traditions of food purity.  The mother's preparation of the son-in-law's favorite dishes finally quelled the quarrel.

     Born in New York, but resident in California since 1993, I could understand Gold's flight, as if distance from Ground Zero could diminish the sense of fragility.
     Once again, when school was out, Connor and Fiona travelled to Connecticut, and Dick and I to France.  This time we cycled south and I competed in a small triathlon in Cahors.  Finishing dead last, I was awarded a fine bottle of vin de Cahors.  Returning to California I began serious preparation for the climax of this exercise-to-eat regimen:  Ironman Florida in November.
     Down the windswept Pacific Coast Highway I cycled for hours.  One day I misjudged a change in pavement and fell from my bike, tearing a tendon in my shoulder.  It was painful, but I continued to train.  In Florida, I completed the two-and-a-half mile swim and the one hundred and ten mile swim, but by twenty minutes, I missed the cut-off for starting the twenty six mile run.
     After Christmas my shoulder was cleaned up by the surgeon, but I'd lost the desire to spend endless hours on the bike.  I wouldn't miss the aches and pains.  I wouldn't miss the saccharine energy bars and chemical drinks. I wouldn't miss riding alone with only my thoughts to keep me company.  I would miss the outdoors, and being a body moving through the landscape.

See what the decade has wrought on these restaurants:

New York:
Pakistan Tea House at 176 Church Street is still Pakistan Tea House.
Jewel Bako at 239 East 5th Street is still Jewel Bako.

San Francisco:
Yee's Restaurant at 1131 Grant Avenue is still Yee's Restaurant.
Koi Palace at Serramonte Plaza, 365 Gellert Boulevard, Daly City is still Koi Palace.
Fatima Seafood Restaruant 1132A S. DeAnza Boulevard, San Jose, is still Fatima's.
ABC 873 E. Hillsdale Boulevard, #B5, Foster City is still ABC.
Daimo 3288A Pierce Street, #A118, Richmond is closed.
Pacific East Seafood, 3288 Pierce Street, Richmond, is still Pacific East Seafood.
Hong Kong Flower Lounge at 51 Millbrae Avenue, Millbrae, is still Hong Kong Flower Lounge.
Cheung Hing at 22145 South El Camino, Millbrae, is still Cheung Hing.
Chef Ding at 2214 South El Camino, San Mateo, is still Chef Ding.
Hot Pot City at 500 Barber Lane, Milpitas, is still Hot Pot City.
Café Ophelia at 516 Barber Lane, Milpitas, is still Cafe Ophelia.
Lu Lai Garden at 210 Barber Court, Milpitas is Chili Garden.
Golden Island at 286 Barber Court, Milpitas, is still Golden Island.
Mayflower at 428 Barber Lane, Milpitas, is still Mayflower.
Darda Seafood at 296 Barber Court, Milpitas is still Darda Seafood
Yen Ching at 1616 Washington Boulevard, Fremont, is closed.
Little Sechuan Express at 34420 Fremont Boulevard, Fremont, is closed.
3.6.9. Shanghai at 46831 Warm Springs Road, Fremont, is now Aberdeen Café.
A & J Restaurant at 10893North Wolfe Road, Cupertino, is still A&J Restaurant.
Taipei Stone House at 10877 North Wolfe Road, Cupertino, is still Taipei Stone House.
Joy Luck Place at 10911 North Wolfe Road, Cupertino, is still Joy Luck Place.
South Taste at 10825 North Wolfe Road, Cupertino is Southland Flavor Café.
Silver Wing at 10885 North Wolfe Road, Cupertino, is still Silver Wing.
Porridge Place at 10869 North Wolfe Road, Cupertino, is closed.