A Late Dinner

A dinner for two, decided on the spur of the moment

We suddenly decided to have dinner together.
“We’re out of rice.” Usually, this would be the point where we’d order Domino’s.
But there’s pork in the fridge that I’ve been marinating. Let’s go with that tonight.

A night of pork and spring cabbage, made in 30 minutes

Tonight’s main is roast pork and potatoes.
The pasta is a cabbage and anchovy peperoncino, using cabbage that was on its last legs in the fridge. This is our “30-minute series” meal.

Ideally, I’d like to roast the potatoes slowly in the oven. But since we’re hungry, I’ll steam them in the microwave first and then roast them with the pork.

I had the butcher score the pork so it wouldn’t shrink, and I’d been marinating it in the fridge with rosemary, garlic, and olive oil. All that’s left is to cook it in a frying pan, and it’ll turn out just right. I feel like adding a bit of grainy mustard elevates it.
I also threw in some tomatoes to roast. Roasting them concentrates their sweetness and makes them delicious.

The spring cabbage and anchovy peperoncino is a dish I’ve been making for years. I don’t know the “correct” recipe (laughs).
Ever since I ate it at an Italian restaurant in Yurakucho when I was in my twenties, I’ve been recreating that flavor in my own way. Before I knew it, it had become “my flavor.”

Memories of the Yurakucho Building

Was it at an Italian place in the Yurakucho Building that I first had cabbage and anchovy pasta in my twenties?

I ate that cabbage pasta after watching “Shine,” a film about the life of David Helfgott, at the Subaru-za theater in the Yurakucho Building.
I can’t remember who I watched the movie with. But I can’t forget eating that spring cabbage pasta. A memory from about 25 years ago with a strange train of thought.

I believe it was Trattoria La Verde.

The Yurakucho Building has closed down, hasn’t it? That atmosphere remains in my memories, along with the cabbage and anchovies.

Spumante in the closet

Tonight, I remembered a cheap bottle of Spumante that had been rolling around under the sofa.
I filled the champagne cooler that I’d left out (because I’m too lazy to put it away) with plenty of ice to chill it. It was definitely a surprisingly cheap bottle.
Spumante that isn’t cold is much better chilled with ice than in the freezer. Chilling it makes the flavor several times better.

The keyword “regenerative”

The topic at the dinner table was his company’s project. He says he’s setting the goals for the entire company. The keyword is “regenerative.”
He is building up the ideal state, one step at a time.
Putting his soul into making the way of working regenerative.

I sometimes help him prepare materials as a ghostwriter (laughs).
He’s not good at creating documents, and it seems he can’t quite put his soul into text summarized by AI. So, in exchange for him treating me to Sushiro, I breathe a regenerative spirit into the AI-generated text.

As someone who prides herself on being a modern-day “sleepless Sei Shonagon,” it’s an easy task for me.

My area of expertise is pulling together memories, observing them, and weaving them into a story.
Pouring my heart into the growth story of a developing company is my specialty.

Even though my own company's vision is hazy, for some reason, the future of his company is crystal clear to me.

Not a pioneer, but a follower.

I am good at mapping out the path to a goal someone else has set. But I am not good at placing a goal in a blank space myself.

Cooking is the same. I cannot create something entirely from scratch.
But if I have a benchmark flavor, I can imagine it and recreate it.

I cannot be a pioneer.
However, I am an ultimate follower and a reliable supporter.

The world cannot function with only those who run at the front. People who push from behind, refine the shape, and turn it into a story are also necessary.
I believe that is my role.

Tonight's late dinner is full of both volume and conversation.
I'll let him wash the dishes. To regeneratively reproduce my labor force.
That, too, is a team effort called division of labor.