Jan had stuff to do so TW1 and I went off to dinner at noca,
owned by an eGullet guy who is totally passionate for food
but apparently approaches middle age not having been in the
restaurant biz before.

We were greeted with an amuse, blue cheese foam with
walnuts, which I said I couldn't take, so what came for me
was beet tartare with pistachio, quite beety, with a tiny
nugget of sweetness hidden in the spoon someplace.

Tap water out of these lever-topped bottles. Very New
York 1980s.

The cream of cauliflower with fried chorizo pearls was
very cauliflowery, the chorizo things very chorizoy and
with an interesting crisp texture; it was compromised by the
presentation, which was: Strew the chorizo things on the
bottom of an oversized soup plate along with a few bits
of cooked carrot and cauliflower, then start pouring the
soup, then, when the soup refuses to come out of the
pitcher, invert the pitcher and shake gently, meanwhile
making the remark that the kitchen ought to thin out the
soup a little.

After which, TW1 had an heirloom baby beet salad with big
croutons and goat cheese with dill. The beets were fine, but
goat cheese with dill, a standard combo these days, does
nothing for either of us.

The preciously named bacon and eggs was Berkshire pork belly
with a fried poached egg atop onion jam. I guess the problem
was of pulling punches. The crispy poached egg was a fun
conceit, but the yolk was almost solid, depriving the dish
of some of the richness I'd hoped for. The pigmeat was nice
and crisp but way way too lean - it was almost like regular
pork. TW1 said that if he'd ordered it he would have sent it
back. What I think I should have done: ask for a remedial
piece of fat. The onion jam was almost fatally sweet.

Fried sweetbreads, ginger jus, garnished with fava beans,
which we both had, was an unmitigated success, the offal
properly preprepared and cooked crisp, the sauce flavorsome
and light. And fava beans are intrinsically cool. These were
barely cooked and very nice.

For wine we went for the local product, Pillsbury "Roan Red"
06, made just a few miles north. Contrary to the reviews,
this didn't seem very Rhonish to me; in fact the style
reminded me more of a California Meritage. That said, I
enjoyed it, and TW1 said that it was the best Arizona wine
he'd ever had.

TW1 had the interesting combo of Meyer lemon tart, coconut
tapioca, meringue gelato: I didn't see the point of the
juxtaposition, though all the elements were as advertised.

I went for an assortment of gelati - chocolate, which was
deep and bitter and satisfying; malted vanilla, just as
expected; and the intriguing salted butter.

Weird freebies that came out. Green cotton candy - this was
Midori-flavored. I enjoyed playing with it more than eating
it. A malted vanilla milkshake was kind of nice, with the
same gelato I think, but it seemed as though it had been
made with something like 1% milk.

We passed on after-dinner booze, as there was a bottle of
Inniskillin sparkling Vidal ice wine 2001 waiting for us
back home. This turned out to be, though not in its first
youth, a complex, interesting wine. Owing partially to its
advanced age, its effervescence was mild and unobtrusive,
its color deep dark brown. Aromas of tropical and stone
fruit mixed with a bit of spice, brown sugar, honey. Very
complex. Quite acid, which must have helped the wine live
as long as it did.