15 + 20 points
First Impressions by NHØ Bananapants
January 14th, 2008 10:27 PM
While eating at a restaurant I've never been to before, in a city I've never lived in, something caught my eye from the table next to mine.
My neighbor, at the next table along our bench, had a slice of pie and a small dish of ice cream. This being a vegan/vegetarian restaurant, the ice cream was some soy-based thing or some such. He was trying to spoon some ice cream (but not all of it) onto his pie, but after taking a spoonful, he lifted up the entire bowlful of ice cream and it was slowly sagging down back into the bowl.
The image was an albino scrotum of viscous fake milk, right out of a Matthew Barney movie.
We were both staring at this gradually descending mass of vegan dessert when we then looked at one another.
"Wow, I can't tell if that's a good sign or a bad one" said I.
"Oh, it's good. Shows that the ice cream is thick, not much air." replied the nice man, probably 40 or 50, sitting alone to my left.
"Ah, I see. Is it good?" I asked. I'm always interested in food, in dessert, and in taste.
He finished transporting his confection and then had a bite.
"Yeah, and it's smooth. I don't think it's milk though, vegan something. Want to try?" At that point he offered me a clean spoon he had received, so I took it and tasted a small bite of the ice cream. It was good, creamy but not milky, somewhat similar to vanilla, somewhat soy. It was at this point, as I leaned in for a small sample, that my dinner partner looked over from waiting at the restroom door and gave me a fantastic look.
Having introduced ourselves in an intimate but non-identifiable way we then proceeded to talk about the city (he lives near this restaurant, I'm from the East Coast out on business), other vegetarian spots (he likes The Greens, and confirmed Millennium is good), electronics (chatter about MacWorld and CES among other things).
I never found out his name, but we now have a special connection.
My neighbor, at the next table along our bench, had a slice of pie and a small dish of ice cream. This being a vegan/vegetarian restaurant, the ice cream was some soy-based thing or some such. He was trying to spoon some ice cream (but not all of it) onto his pie, but after taking a spoonful, he lifted up the entire bowlful of ice cream and it was slowly sagging down back into the bowl.
The image was an albino scrotum of viscous fake milk, right out of a Matthew Barney movie.
We were both staring at this gradually descending mass of vegan dessert when we then looked at one another.
"Wow, I can't tell if that's a good sign or a bad one" said I.
"Oh, it's good. Shows that the ice cream is thick, not much air." replied the nice man, probably 40 or 50, sitting alone to my left.
"Ah, I see. Is it good?" I asked. I'm always interested in food, in dessert, and in taste.
He finished transporting his confection and then had a bite.
"Yeah, and it's smooth. I don't think it's milk though, vegan something. Want to try?" At that point he offered me a clean spoon he had received, so I took it and tasted a small bite of the ice cream. It was good, creamy but not milky, somewhat similar to vanilla, somewhat soy. It was at this point, as I leaned in for a small sample, that my dinner partner looked over from waiting at the restroom door and gave me a fantastic look.
Having introduced ourselves in an intimate but non-identifiable way we then proceeded to talk about the city (he lives near this restaurant, I'm from the East Coast out on business), other vegetarian spots (he likes The Greens, and confirmed Millennium is good), electronics (chatter about MacWorld and CES among other things).
I never found out his name, but we now have a special connection.
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posted by NHØ Bananapants on January 21st, 2008 7:17 PM
Thanks, I was proud of that one.
There was a reason we were both transfixed at the sight of this pendulous concoction.
posted by Alana Abbott on January 25th, 2008 12:29 PM
Ha! I love that you shared ice cream with a total stranger. Vegan, scrotum-like ice cream no less. Well done!
"an albino scrotum of viscous milk" is the strangest imagery I've ever seen, and yet it worked so perfectly for this description of vegan ice cream... wow.