Tuna for Two
My take on a romantic dinner at home.
With snow expected on Sunday, it felt like a perfect opportunity to plan a dinner for two at home. Without pulling out all the stops reserved for a dinner party, I wanted it to still feel different than a daily meal.
Look
Anytime I plan a gathering (even for two), I start by thinking about the throughlines I’ve been mentally drawing as of late. In February, pinks and reds always come to mind. Hues of these colors that I’ve encountered over the years have been percolating in my brain, and I decided to lean in.
Several years ago, I bought a red checkered tablecloth that has hearts dotted along the entire length. There is a very short window of time in February the tablecloth feels appropriate, so I pulled it out for its yearly debut. Though, if I had carte blanche on purchasing a new tablecloth for each month of the year, I would choose Studio Ford’s Eros for February.
I’m currently in the market for a set of soba trays (several options I’ve seen: here, here, here, here, and here). I’m planning a trip to Bowery Kitchen supply to see what they have before committing. In the meantime, I used my daily Hasami Porcelain tableware. I’ve had it for about five years and love it. The way it all stacks is perfect for an apartment with limited storage (and for my brain that craves perfect organization).
Beyond that, I kept it simple with ivory candles in glass candlesticks, and white carnations Spencer brought home earlier in the week.
Feel
With a candlelit dinner, intimacy comes easily! We turned on Radiohead’s A Moon Shaped Pool while eating.
After dinner, I lit Santa Maria Novella’s incense papers that smell amazing and come in a red case.
Taste
The shades of pink tuna from a late night dinner we had in Tokyo (see mood board, top right) live permanently in my brain. I decided to run with it as a theme, and on Saturday I headed over to Osakana and purchased a half pound of tuna, opting for the lean Akami.
After prepping rice in our rice cooker, we thinly sliced the tuna, marinated it with ponzu, and served it over the rice with plum-coated sesame seeds and wasabi.
Alongside the tuna, I decided to make miso soup and cold soba. On Sunday around noon (right as the snow started), I ventured out to Ni Japanese Deli in Essex Market nearby, and purchased soba, a bag of rice from The Rice Factory (cannot recommend enough), and some dried seaweed for the miso soup. If I had better foresight, I would have picked up a bottle of sake.
I boiled and washed the soba, made the dipping sauce with a mixture of dashi, soy sauce, and mirin, and served with nori, scallion, and wasabi.
For dessert, we had pink and red candy (heart shaped jelly beans and sour strawberry belts from a rare Trader Joe’s trip earlier in the week) while watching a movie. We concluded the snow day watching the episode of No Reservations set in Hokkaido, where Anthony eats soba après-ski.
I think soba at home is a snow day ritual in the making. To my readers on the east coast: what did you cook while snowed in? Stay warm!
