The Scarlet Tea Room

Sometimes we need a little push to take the next step forward with Aki. The first time we took Aki out to a restaurant, for example, was when Chris's parents came to visit back in November.

Well, this past January, we finally took the step of leaving Aki with a babysitter while we went out to celebrate. The occasion? Chris's birthday. Thanks to Auntie Lisa, who was more than happy to play with Aki for a few hours at her new house in San Marino, Yuri was able to surprise Chris on his birthday with high tea at The Scarlet Tea Room in Old Town Pasadena.



Here's the best cup of Darjeeling Chris has had since London; absolutely fragrant and sublime!



And you can't have tea and be civilized unless you nibble on some scones, which topped off our epic tea-time tower. Scarlet's scones come with delectably fresh lemon curd, and scarlet cream, a whipped cream I can still taste three months later.



Moving downward, we come to Scarlet's scrumptious tea sandwiches. We each got to pick four, so of course we joined forces and had a foodie feast of bite-sized delights.

Our choices? Mushroom duxelle with citrus aioli; olive tapenade and roasted red pepper; a sushi-worthy salmon and chive spread; turkey & cranberries; mascarpone with citrus marmalade; french ham and marmalade; brie, walnut & watercress; and roast beef & white cheddar.

These were little mouth-watering masterpieces and make us think of Webern or Jan Brueghel the Elder's miniature paintings: it takes just a second to eat it, but the flavors are so well-balanced it's like a whole meal in a flash. Every little sandwich has just an extra touch of flavor -- a little chive, a little marmalade -- which, besides being totally fresh and delicious, perfectly complements the main ingredient. As Rachael Ray would say, yum-mo!



You have to round out the meal, of course, with some marzipan sweets like these pretty little things.

There's also Strawberries Romanoff -- they really work the "scarlet" theme -- sweetened with some orange liqueur and brown sugar cream. And if that's not enough, Scarlet also lets you cleanse your palette at the end with some refreshing homemade "signature sorbet."

Basically, on Chris's birthday, Yuri once again spoiled her hubby with culinary delights. And after fattening him up with food, she took him downtown to Disney Concert Hall to see the Oberlin Orchestra plaster the Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 4 to the wall, along with Mahler's 1st Symphony and a world premiere by Chris's classmate, Huang Ruo, called "Hanging Cliffs," all of which were so good it literally left us with watery eyes.

Oh, and I can't forget to mention one of the present pictured in our collage, the matching Adobo shirts Yuri got Chris and Aki from blacklava.net. How lucky a husband am I? Thanks again, hon!