Tataki

When we were rejected by Eliza's on California at 9pm (what restaurant closes at 9?) after my basketball game on Tuesday, we moved on down the block to Tataki on California and Divisadero. Now, for those of you who know me (ironic because if you don't know me, I have no idea how or why you're reading this), you probably know that I don't really do seafood. So, the thing is, I'm trying to give the whole seafood thing a chance. And this is just another step in that direction.

Tataki is a cute little restaurant which was pretty much full, even at 9pm on a Tuesday. They bill themselves as "sustainable sushi," and while I don't know the details behind their sustainability, I'll take their claims at face value and applaud them for their efforts. We ordered a bunch of food, most of which I tried (I'm still a little scared of Sashimi, so I skipped that). We had a Tataki Roll, an Extinguisher Roll, an Early Bird Roll, a Spicy Tempura Roll, and a couple other random nigiri/sashimi selections.

The Extinguisher comes out with a pile of flaming sugar. Nice presentation. I ordered the Early Bird as a safe option (it has beef, not seafood). Everything was delicious. I particularly liked the Spicy Tempura and Early Bird rolls. I decided that one of the best things about sushi, especially at Tataki, is the combination of textures. The sticky rice, the chewy fish, and a little crunch from either a vegetable, tempura skin, fish eggs, etc, make for a great texture combination. The other thing I love about sushi in general is that it is the best excuse to eat soy sauce. And wasabi. I love both.

While my sushi eating experience is relatively limited (I usually order Terriyaki or noodles when I go to Japanese food), Tataki was delicious and I'd definitely go back. Both of my dining companions liked it a lot, so it must be at least decent. Not horribly overpriced either- not cheap, but what sushi is?

Bolt

Watched Disney's Bolt last night, which I've been meaning to do for a while. I'm glad to say that I was pleasantly surprised. I first heard about this movie years ago, when they did a presentation at Pixar. At that point, the movie was still being called "American Dog." The movie has come a long way since then, and while I miss some of the thematics from the early pitch (it was intially an American Road Movie), the film has a pretty decent story and some likable characters. It lags in places, and has some cheap throw-away jokes littered throughout, but shows a lot more depth of character and story arc then some of Disney's other recent attempts.

The result is a cute movie with characters that actually matter to the audience, a story with some actual thematic weight, and an adventure that's fun for the whole family! Nothing particularly original - the themes of abandonment/finding out who you really are are pretty similar to Toy Story, the cross country journey reminded me a little of Milo and Otis (ha!).

So thumbs up to Feature Animation for their first post-pixar-acquisition film. Way to get back to story and character. Keep it going!