{"id":1753,"date":"2014-10-02T12:22:00","date_gmt":"2014-10-02T19:22:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.talkinggrid.com\/?p=1753"},"modified":"2015-08-22T03:59:37","modified_gmt":"2015-08-22T10:59:37","slug":"constantine-finehouses-sushi-cure-paris-nostalgia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/talkinggrid.com\/dev\/constantine-finehouses-sushi-cure-paris-nostalgia\/","title":{"rendered":"Constantine Finehouse’s Sushi Cure for Paris Nostalgia"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Autumn in San Diego, California, 2014<\/p>\n

The sun\u00a0dips into the sea earlier each setting. \u00a0Summer flings are winding down. \u00a0A tidy sorrow, fine and knit of tiny mistakes collected over many seasons of living, wraps itself around you… Paris, is a vivid recent memory and you tend to it by reading the history, the canned memories, and the predictable novels set in the twenties, when Hemmingway was a young buck, pushing a pen around with the force of a bayonet. \u00a0The reading soothes… yet… longing for those little plastic-wicker chairs outside cafes where people sit and read and people watch… how I miss them!<\/p>\n

Frau Kolb is in\u00a0San Diego, California, gripped by a bad case of Paris Nostalgia. \u00a0POST-PARIS BLUES threatens to strangle our pleasure in being here. \u00a0How is that? \u00a0I mean, Paris… yes… is wonderful. \u00a0But, hummingbirds and butterflies are not at home there! \u00a0In contrast to the urban wonder of Paris, San Diego is defined by its still unspoiled open spaces and natural beauty. \u00a0Blue sky triumphant like a blanket of possibility, stretches across the rusty mountain tops in the distance. \u00a0Nature, wild and inviting, canyons and mountains, call out to those that love to hike. \u00a0Usually, this bounty of being enthralls me. \u00a0Yet, now… I keep thinking of the little bookstores in every neighborhood in Paris, which invite a different kind of bounty, an internal exploration, which I so enjoy.<\/p>\n

Thank goodness for a perfectly timed visit\u00a0from a\u00a0best friend based in Boston, Massachutes. Constantine Finehouse<\/a>, concert pianist, multi-lingual, multi-cultural, friend to\u00a0Frau Kolb, long time supporter of The Talkinggrid, POPS into San Diego TO THE RESCUE! \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

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He brings with him urbane sophistication, offhand knowledge of many subjects, and a self reliant independence that makes him the perfect guest. \u00a0His only need is to practice piano. \u00a0To this end, he heads out… coming and going like a semi-feral cat. \u00a0The prey he brings back from his excursions are telephone pictures of another San Diego. \u00a0The San Diego of under used upright pianos in churches and universities… so foreign, and near!<\/p>\n

Daily we make our way, to safety, to the familiar port, the secure harbor with a \u201clittle help from our friends.\u201d \u00a0Whenever we care about another that feeling gives us strength to move forward. Friendships are necessary for mental health. Yet, fitting IN is NOT my strength. \u00a0I struggle with normalcy and haven\u2019t experienced it much in my life. \u00a0I\u2019ve given up on the normal, because I don\u2019t understand them and I don\u2019t think they have much patience for us\u00a0either.<\/em><\/p>\n

Fortunately, we gather “a little help from our friends,”\u00a0who aid us in getting on with, “the business of life.” \u00a0<\/span>I\u2019m grateful that my most sophisticated and sensitive, Male Muse, a friend for more than a decade of meaningful connection, pianist Constantine Fineshouse, came to visit for a long weekend which helped me transition from being the Parisian Frau, to the well adjusted Southern California Beach Bitch, that some believe to be the real me<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Our conversation flows mostly in English, although we met in an advanced Spanish (grammar) class at Columbia University in New York City. \u00a0Although, Constantine\u2019s German is\u00a0nicht schlect,\u00a0<\/em>\u00a0we rarely speak in German or Spanish. \u00a0We met while were students. Our friendship sprang up immediately and has endured various incarnations. We have matured yet we always allow ourselves a little silly surrender to childish playfulness. \u00a0The initial spark, which animated the first part of our friendship, a was a delicate little flame, which lasted only a few weeks, snuffed by a small difference in age and my need to go find the real fire to light the hearth that is my heart, capable of warming my soul, for fifteen years going on forever. \u00a0The small spark, however endured and has survived. \u00a0Today it is used to maintain the spark of the small torch toward the path of this lasting connection, a trusted and cherished platonic friendship, like a temple built on a solid foundation, which also serves to build up the part of me that needs support and maintenance, which gives me strength to find my little patch of cultivated peace in this ever sunny land. How pleasant!<\/p>\n

\"IMG_4712\"<\/span><\/p>\n

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The fact is that every city, every location, has its merits and San Diego is a town with many fine qualities, besides its beautiful beaches and picture perfect weather. Finehouse, for example, worked his magic on his smart device, (kept hidden, unless needed for specific purposes, Finehouse is NOT one of those people that is constantly fidgeting with his obscenely smart phone). Reading reviews, he finds the perfect a hole-in-the-wall sushi house, next to a parking lot, in an ugly strip mall that serves sushi so good that a line snakes out their door everyday at lunch time.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_4709\"<\/a> \"IMG_4713\"<\/a> \"IMG_4716\"<\/a> \"IMG_4718\"<\/a>
\nThe quality of the mostly raw seafood served, had my Boston based, highly sensitive Male Muse, Mr. Finehouse, drooling…<\/p>\n

\"IMG_4726\"<\/a><\/p>\n

San Diego offers dreamy sushi! \u00a0You know what else…<\/p>\n

\"10557227_10152632597219699_3971367438542555343_n\"\"10568834_10152632597109699_7455265139988586053_n\"<\/p>\n

In La Jolla, we visited Cafe La Rue <\/a>at the Hotel Valencia. I needed a dose of Parisian pleasure, no matter that we are so very far from France, the source… Paris, inspires. \u00a0 The decor invites comparison with that of a traditional Parisian Bistro or Cafe, it has sweet paintings of Parisian Life, done in 1947, the food is good, hearty, my favorite breakfast they serve is the Toad in a Hole<\/em>, which is totally delicious, not particularly French, and totally the right kind of comfort food to banish the POST PARIS DOLDRUMS alas the waiters, elegant as they are, speak no French what-so-ever and somehow… here, in Southern California, I am an exotic and strange in my demands for a little sip of sparkling ambrosia, whereas in Paris, everyone seems to understand me, my secret language, my arcane tastes, and hidden expectations. \u00a0I settled for a glass of, always pleasing, Vueve Cliquot and a nibble of charcuteri and<\/p>\n

\"IMG_4590\"<\/a><\/p>\n

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(pasterized… American versions of) French cheeses… all was edible enough, even almost<\/em> ideal… what is missing is that open ended ease of Parisian Cafe Life. \u00a0One is not expected to rush off after a meal, from one thing to the next, in Paris. \u00a0In the United States eating is something that simply happens <\/em>for the most part. It is not taken seriously as a pursuit, a focus.\u00a0\u00a0People often eat in their cars.<\/p>\n

Cafe La Rue, at 1132 Prospect Street in La Jolla, California is a far cry from being fast food. \u00a0Yet, one is expected to eat, pay, and move along. There is no personal touch, no sense that you matter, that your preferences or presence count. \u00a0Even though all the waiters and bartenders there are handsome and friendly enough… The missing ingredient, in American cuisine is TIME. \u00a0People here rush from one thing to the next and savoring doesn’t happen in the context of coming and going. \u00a0It takes time, conversation, expertly prepared fresh food, and a culture that supports the lingering soul to make meals truly touching like the splendid Lunch for One, I had at Cafe Constant in Paris<\/a> or the incredible marathon evening at Je Th\u00e9… me with Jacky <\/a>and The Muse and Hartmuth Kolb in Paris, France.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  Autumn in San Diego, California, 2014 The sun\u00a0dips into the sea earlier each setting. \u00a0Summer flings are winding down. \u00a0A tidy sorrow, fine and knit of tiny mistakes collected over many seasons of living, wraps itself around you… Paris, is a vivid recent memory and you tend to it by reading the history, the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1780,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[42,1],"tags":[107,104,32,105,108,302,106],"class_list":["post-1753","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-friendship","category-spirituality-art-chat","tag-cafe-la-rue","tag-constantine-finehouse","tag-frau-kolb","tag-male-muse","tag-paris-nostalgia","tag-san-diego","tag-sushi-ota"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/talkinggrid.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/25303_379129949698_254405_n.jpg?fit=478%2C720&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/talkinggrid.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1753","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/talkinggrid.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/talkinggrid.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/talkinggrid.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/talkinggrid.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1753"}],"version-history":[{"count":28,"href":"https:\/\/talkinggrid.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1753\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2560,"href":"https:\/\/talkinggrid.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1753\/revisions\/2560"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/talkinggrid.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1780"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/talkinggrid.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1753"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/talkinggrid.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1753"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/talkinggrid.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1753"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}