Today I met a friend for lunch at the fabulous Swan Oyster Depot on Polk near California. I love that place. It’s old school in the best possible way. We waited in line about 4 seconds before we got our two seats at the counter (we got there at 11:30, so took the places of a couple of the earliest eaters) and ordered clam chowder right away.
Then two dozen (mixed) oysters. Well, that was for two of us. Then we thought about what to have next. My friend ordered another half dozen oysters, his preferred variety. While I was deciding between a prawn cocktail and a shrimp salad, the people next to us had a tiny plate full of– I don’t know– something extra-tasty looking.
I was all, what is THAT? Why, sardine sashimi, of course:
I said, I’ll have one of those. I didn’t even order it without capers, despite my caper issues (thanks, Mom) because it looked so perfect. The guy serving us (they are all super cute, by the way, and if they aren’t super cute, they are super friendly and charming which ends up turning them super cute) brought over two big sardines to show me and then went off to sashimi-ize them. They were served slathered in good olive oil and with little bits of shallot, capers and black pepper on there. It was really really good.
Then the guy next to us on the other side said, I’ll have one of those.


