Anniversary at Uchiko

For Carrie and I’s anniversary on Sunday we went to Uchiko, Tyson Cole’s second restaurant here in Austin. It’s right near our place and has been getting rave reviews, so I was very excited about trying it.

Let me say, it did not disappoint. Absolutely fantastic, and honestly, probably the best meal I have ever had in Austin.

We had several rolls, all delicious. We had the “BBQ” scallops, which was actually a scallop sashimi dish, but the combination of the oil, vinegar, and tiny fresh tomatoes created this taste of barbecue sauce. Fantastic.

One of the rolls, the Ham and Egg, was pork belly and an egg custard. Inside the roll… it was amazing. 

One of the things that really impressed me was that they gave us one of the nightly specials as a gift. For no reason. It was seared pork jowl with brussel sprout kimchi and asian pear. Absolutely delicious. Maybe we had been there long enough, I don’t know. But whatever the reason, we were thankful.

We were sitting at the sushi bar, and that was a great experience. You just tell the sushi chef in front of you what you want as you want it, and he gives it to you when it’s ready. Very cool.

I happened to mention that it was our anniversary, and when they brought out desserts out (also amazing, by the way) they told us that they were giving us one of the desserts for free as well. I had not been hunting for a comped item or anything, we were just making conversation with our sushi chef. But for them to do that kind of thing makes the entire experience that much more enjoyable.

Fantastic service (that place runs like a well-oiled machine), excellent food, and a wonderfully designed space. All-in-all an amazing dining experience. 

And of course, the fact that I was spending it with my wonderful wife made it all the more special. :)

Things To Do This Week

We leave for the cruise Saturday before dawn. I need to submit my paper on Friday. Oh, and I need to rock this week’s crit. So here’s my todo list for the week:

1. Survive.
2. Tell Carrie “I love you, and thank you” more. She has been a huge help not only during the Resolve Your Resolution time period, but specifically as I have been working more. I love you, Carrie, and thanks!!
3. Get my bike rides in. As the stress ramps up, can’t drop off the exercise. That has always been my downfall. 
4. Stay on wheels and stay near the front in the race. I am confident that I have the legs to stay in it. I need to work on my positioning and race smart.
5. Finish this paper strong. We have 5 days, need to work hard and put out a quality submission that will hopefully get accepted.
6. Pack for the cruise. Carrie is already packed. Me… eh, not so much.

I guess that’s about it for the moment. When we step onto that boat I will be ready to relax.