snow...

another good philly group ride on sunday morning before the snow started falling... 3 hours heading north out of the city into regions unknown, at least to me. the pace seemed a little easier this week, maybe beacuse a couple of the really fast guys got off the front, or maybe my legs just had more in them. baked some french bread (loaves and baguettes) that had a pretty good reception from the hardy few that braved the (rather disappointing to that point) snow to come over saturday night. moist and dense inside, but i think the crust was a little too thick on the bottom.

sunday morning there was snow to be shoveled and a recovery ride that was moved inside to the trainer. in the afternoon we walked across town to watch the phildelphia theatre company's production of 'after ashley' and then finished off the day with an omakase dinner at morimoto.

omakase is a tasting menu designed to highlight morimoto's cuisine. the meal is tailored to your tastes (and allergies if needed) and well worth the experience. everything in the meal -- each of the 7 courses individually, the meal as a whole -- works together perfectly and was one of the best meals that i've ever had. after every course we were waiting in anticipation for what our server would bring out next.

as we were eating, i did a little sake tasting of my own, trying morimoto's junmai, junmai ginjo, and junmai daiginjo sakes. there was a definate continuum of flavor among the 3 grades of sake, with the lowest (junmai) having a warm and full flavor, and the highest (junmai daiginjo) having a more subtle and drier flavor.