Frith O’Steen

So last weekend when Sean and Decker headed up to Loomis for a visit with Sean’s mom Trudi, I stayed behind and had a grand ol’ time being solo. (See previous entry for just HOW grand a time I had!). Part of that grandness included a yummy and entertaining dinner at a new restaurant in Lafayette called “Lily’s”, which specializes in Beijing cuisine. When my folks had eaten there a couple of weeks before, they had seen on the menu that you can order a item called “Clay Chicken”, which takes 8 hours(!) to prepare, so you have to call in your order the night before. Dad thought this sounded fascinating, so we made a date for me, my folks and my sisters to meet there for dinner on Friday night.

The food there was sooooo good. Not too heavy, and according to Katil and Tully (who have traveled there a few times themselves) pretty authentic to what they are used to seeing in restaurants in Hong Kong, Beijing, etc. But not only was the food really good, the waiter was really cool. He served up all our plates to us, including the appetizers, and did it quite artfully using 3 spoons each time! He also had a good sense of humor. Everything was delicious, but the Clay Chicken was outstanding. They brought out what looked like an enormous round loaf of bread, which they then broke apart (and threw away, much to my dad’s chagrin - he kept saying, “they could have left it with me! all i need is a little butter!” - heh), and revealed a round foil covered mound underneath. After carefully unwrapping the foil (this was a 2 man project at one point, especially b/c it was so hot), you see there was a whole chicken wrapped in lotus leaves (which smelled DIVINE). After taking off the lotus leaves, you saw a stuffed chicken (including the head and legs still attached - yes, “Christmas Story” comments were made at the table), which the waiter then proceeded to carve up and serve to us. I have never had such tender meat in my life. And the flavoring of the lotus leaves added a new element - almost like anise - very tasty!

Follow up that amazing supper with a yummy dessert of sugared fried banana slices (so warm and gooey on the inside!) that Tully assured us she had seen several times over in China, and we were full and happy campers! I never get to do stuff like that, and it was great! Good food, and no worries about having to keep an eye on anyone dropping food or making a mess! (Well, there WAS Dad, as Katil pointed out…)

Ah, the flashbacks….mmmmm…food coma….