Still the Best

I’ve written about Hunan Restaurant before, but I don’t care. Just as I never tire of dining there, I’m won’t ever tire of writing about it. It remains one of my two favorite places to eat out anywhere—the other being Tomasita’s in Santa Fe—and just as I don’t mind continually subjecting friends and acquaintances to the food at Henry Chung’s place, it doesn’t bother me to subject the two or three people who regularly read this blog to another paean to what I still believe is the best Chinese restaurant in the world.

I had a day-long meeting today at my publisher, Berrett-Koehler, at which my co-author, Richard Leider, and I made a presentation about and listened to marketing strategies for our forthcoming book, Something to Live For: Finding Your Way in the Second Half of Life and it all went quite well. But about 5:15, as our confab was winding down, and I began believing I might be able to make it to Hunan while still catching my flight from Oakland this evening, I began to get distracted with what I was hearing and saying, calculating the timeline I’d have to meet to fit a plate of Hot and Sour Vegetables into my schedule.

I tried not to appear too eager as we wrapped things up and I began jogging through San Francisco’s financial district to my gastronomic mecca. And although I probably rushed my goodbyes to both the B-K staff and my dear friend, Richard, it was worth it as I sat down before a steaming dish of spicy carrots and cabbage at 5 minutes to 6:00.

Although this gave me just 20 minutes to savor my meal, I was hardly able to stretch it out that long, devouring the delicious endorphin-producing meal in less than a quarter of an hour.

Now, though, waiting for my plane at the Oakland airport, I have the distinct pleasure of retasting the meal with every little belch.