Hot and Cold

It was so dreary and rainy when we got up today, so we decided poutingly to spend the entire day indoors. But as the gray day wore on I developed quite the hankerin' for Thai food. As my craving and hunger grew, the sun actually came out so I suggested we walk a few blocks over to Arun Thai, an all time favorite in our restaurant repertoire. Arun Thai Place Grill is the downtown version of The Thai Place and offers our same favorite menu items from there: Panang Curry and Sen Mee Pad See Eaw. Rarely do we order anything else besides these two dishes and on those strange instances when we have it has always left us with longing. So we stick to our standard.

Tonight we were seated next to an unhappy pair of diners; while we were ordering our comfort food, they were demanding a conference with the manager. When she arrived she received an earful of arrogant complaints and a bitter harangue. She handled everything with grace as the upset customer repeatedly asserted what he believed was his superior knowledge of the appropriate cooking methods for the dish he ordered (and had already consumed, by the way). On and on it went past the point of reason. I had noticed when we came in that the woman with him was wearing a name badge with "Our Lady of Sorrows" on it. I enjoyed imagining this man wearing one that said "Our Lord of Perpetual Dissatisfaction."

Meanwhile, our food had arrived and oh my goodness how does it manage to taste better every time I eat it? We had upped our order from mild to medium as we often do, and both dishes rang perfectly with fire. It was a lovely, welcome burn that made me cry. The Sen Mee Pad See Eaw is a giant collection of noodles, veg, and tofu stir fried to perfection. The Panang is divine, rich, and creamy and makes my heart ache for peanut allergy sufferers. Both meals together are so delightful in their own right and make a nice pairing. As we dug in, Sergio asked me which one I'd choose if I had to choose only one and I honestly could not face the thought.

After dinner we headed the 7 or so blocks south to the Power and Light District. (It's amazing how close everything downtown seems with the sun is shining and the weather is nice.) I requested that we stop in at Yummo for something chill to counter the spice. I've been so anxious to try Yummo since I learned of it last winter, but was waiting until it didn't feel like frozen yogurt outside to try the frozen yogurt inside. Yummo is local, owned by the same folks who own Chefburger (which is right next door) and Souperman (which offers a selection of their soups at Yummo) and features the same well-honed menu, pristine design, and charm that I've come to expect. The yogurt is all self-serve as are the plethora of toppings. Everything is simply 49 cents an ounce. You can get as much or as little as you want and they'll even make you a smoothie. All the calorie counts are listed above the self serve machines and surprisingly aren't that bad. It's a brilliant business model. And on top of it all, the Green Tea, Pistachio, and Cappuccino yogurts that I had were indeed delicious.

I can't wait to go back for more.