Pinellia Restaurant

I went to Pinellia to eat rabbit food. The food my food eats. I am a carnivore, baby!! Except technically I’m an omnivore, and I already eat plenty of plants. I just usually invite a dead animal to join them. Tonight, the vegetables got the table to themselves, and I brought enough unnecessary commentary for everybody. Jen joined me for a GastroMob Share a Table on opening night at Pinellia’s new location in the old Emporium restaurant space. Another guest canceled the night before. No worries, no obligation, no need to provide an excuse. I like that. Come eat when you can. If Life happens and you can’t,...well..maybe next time. No sweat The place still has some Emporium swank to it. All that woodwork and decorative glass, the warm feel of the room. I liked the vibe. Rabbit food in a room with more class than I brought with me. Sophia, the owners’ daughter, seated us and took our order, and the owner, Ping, came out to check on us personally, right down to whether our drinks had enough ice. She mentioned it was their first day in the new place. We told her we knew. That was why we were there. Jen and I opened the menu, which was kinda familiar, but kinda not. I ordered seitan skewers. No idea what kind of animal a seitan is, but I had some skewered. Also curry samosas, mostly because I recognized them. I’m weak. Then I spotted what they called summer rolls, which looked like spring rolls, possibly just more mature. This is the level of intellectual discussion I bring to dinner. Jen ordered the Jade Mushrooms. Exotic. Enticing. Sounds like something you’d be curious to try. I ordered soy protein in garlic sauce, which sounds like the generic description on a package of something with an incredibly long shelf life. Hers sounded like dinner. Mine sounded like inventory. Before the main course, they brought out a salad, and I stifled another chuckle about vegetables followed by more vegetables. Then I tasted the ginger dressing. Out of sight. That deserved a little more attention than my running commentary about rabbits. I asked Sophia if the dressing was house made. She paused for a second and said, “Yeah, my dad made it.” I could see some pride in her eyes, and that was cool to see. Dad making the dressing, daughter taking care of the table, Mom coming out to check on everything. This place is a family affair, and that little exchange was one of my favorite parts of the evening. Jen let me try her Jade Mushrooms, and they were good. Crunchy on the outside, chewy, a little spicy and a little sweet. My soy protein was considerably better than its name had prepared me for. I half expected slimy tofu chunks or something. What arrived were firm slices that held up to the vegetables and the garlic sauce. I was pleasantly surprised, and quite happy to keep eating. I appreciated the straightforward names of our dishes, too. Mushrooms were mushrooms. Soy protein was soy protein. I’m fine with meat substitutes, but I enjoyed letting these things be what they were. I could taste them and decide whether I liked them without conducting an inquest into how closely they resembled a cow, chicken or pig. People have plenty of reasons for eating this way. Health, religion, concern for animals, the environment, or simply enjoying the food. I can make my rabbit food jokes and still appreciate that. Most of the joke is on the guy who needs to make a little speech before eating a vegetable anyway. The house made jasmine tea was very good, with flowery notes that fit the mood. We had brown rice, coconut rice, miso soup, skewers, fried things, and those enormous main dishes. We ate and ate and ate our fill, and there’s still about three days’ worth of leftovers. Huge portions. Well worth the price. By the time we left at 6:30, 8 or 9 more tables had been seated. It was good to see people showing up for their opening night. I walked in joking about rabbit food and left calling it people food. In the end, I wasn’t substituting meat or trying to trick my palate. I was just having a meal and it was good.