songbird's crazy world

Our favorite Japanese steakhouse. I wrote about the place last year. We went back last Saturday night -- the food is wonderful. I love the artistry of the food preparation, and the comedy of the chefs. What was really funny, though? Almost every table in the place was celebrating a birthday!  The staff will sing to you if it's your birthday, and bring a candle stuck in a sily-looking porcelain cat in lieu of a birthday cake.  (One table brought their own cake, and the staff was happy to serve it.) Seems that the restaurant offers a free meal to anyone celebrating a birthday.  You join the club, and when your birthday is near they'll send you a coupon.  guess that brings in a lot of business. We're going back in February ... didn't go last year because of the cruise, but this year....

Ever since Drew and I got back together, we have been on a culinary "world tour" of sorts -- everything ethnic or pseudo-ethnic on Long Island. tonight we went to Benihana , the famed Japanese steakhouse. So ok, it's a chain....but I think they do "Japanese steakhouse" better than most of the smaller places around here. In most restaurants, the preparation of the food is done in the kitchen, what matters is the presentation. Last week we ate in a Chinese restaurant where the platters of food arrived adorned with flowers carved from vegetables. In a Japanese steakhouse, the hibachi chef cooks the food in front of you -- the preparation of the food is the center of attention, the evening's entertainment. At Benihana the chef prepares the food without a lot of cutesy tricks and corny jokes, so that the artistry of his cooking technique is the focus. I found myself really enjoying watching him. From the website: In Japan, the preparation of food is ...