20th birthday + true food kitchen review
I turned twenty on July 16, 2015 (almost a month ago now...oops!). It was an unusual birthday, for one because I'd fretted for months before over the prospect of turning twenty. The last year of my teens, to which I had so desperately clung, was finally over, and I was to be flung into real adulthood. I remember thinking twenty was really old until I was around seventeen; twentysomethings are part of the target demographic for anti-aging products!!! Do I need to start looking for an eye cream now?!
Despite my apprehension, I was pretty nonchalant the day of my birthday, and I had one of my most low-key birthdays. I passed the day with quality mommy-daughter time (read: retail therapy) and finished it with a casual dinner at True Food Kitchen in Fashion Island, which is one of my favorite restaurants. Since my little brother had a test the next day, I even forwent watching "Minions," which I'd been planning to watch on my birthday, decked out in my minions t-shirt, pigtails, and yellow headband, as a final act of childish rebellion against the passage of time. Is this me mellowing already? (Okay, I'll stop with the age jokes)
True Food Kitchen's menu was developed in partnership with Dr. Weil, the founder of integrative medicine and the anti-inflammatory diet, which prioritizes selecting foods that prevent unnecessary inflammation for optimum health. Ingredients are sustainably sourced, even their wines and spirits. The restaurant offers a wide variety of dishes, from pasta and pizza to noodles and curry. However, although the restaurant claims to offer a wide range of vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free options, and there are only two vegan options on the dinner menu, with one being an appetizer. The lunch menu is nearly identical to the dinner menu, with a few switchups, and the only vegan desserts are sorbets.
I'm not the biggest fan of Teriyaki sauce, so I passed up the Teriyaki Brown Rice Bowl, the sole vegan entree, and ordered the Quinoa Tagliatelle, a gloriously savory yet light dish featuring smoked tomato broth, corn, peas, spinach, asparagus, and grana padano. The waitress warned that it's very aromatic, but I didn't feel that it was overly so, although I'm a quinoa fiend who probably wouldn't have minded if it were. As to be expected, the tagliatelle was a bit grainy, but it wasn't mealy in the slightest, and I rather enjoyed the texture.
My mom got the Red Chili Shrimp, which I can say from tasting the noodles and the spinach was delicious, and my little brother got the Moroccan Chicken, which I can say from nibbling on the chickpeas tasted exactly as you'd expect (After tasting the entirety of their dishes, they agreed that their choices were delicious). You get a free dessert if it's your birthday, and the staff was nice enough to add some blueberries and a candle to the pomegranate yuzu sorbet to make it feel more festive. The sorbet was delicious, though it tasted very strongly of yuzu and not much like pomegranate at all.
I also ordered a Hangover Rx, a blend of coconut water, pineapple, vanilla, and orange, which the waitress said was her favorite and was a gorgeous shade of marigold. However, it tasted a bit like fruity shampoo, possibly because of the vanilla.
Some favorites I didn't order this time around are the Edamame Dumplings (my favorite item on the menu, hands down! MUST TRY!) and the Tuscan Kale Salad (If you don't like kale, try this! It might make you like it; the combination of lemon and parmesan is simple but delectable.)
At home, we celebrated with rosé and cake (of which I only ate the fruit, naturally) from Whole Foods, and went to bed shortly after my brother presented me with a bag of matcha Kit Kats and a sign on which some phrase that contained the words "vegetables," "animals," and "friends" was written. I don't actually remember where it is anymore...oops (I stopped being vegan shortly afterward).
Growing up in America, I always felt like there was such a huge emphasis on birthdays, although in Korea, the day is only a big deal if you want it to be, and I felt like my mom never really understood the cultural difference. As I grew up and my mom had more important matters to tend to than my brattiness, the rather extravagant parties I'd enjoyed as a child turned into more low-key affairs, and I'd sometimes felt frustrated, when birthdays like your sixteenth birthday are treated as major occasions which necessitate huge parties with lengthy guest lists, Kobe beef hors d'oeuvres, tiaras, and Vera Wang gowns (blame Teen Vogue for planting these ideas into my head). However, it's just a day in your life, just like any other day. If anything, it's a day your mother went through hours of skin-tearing -- literally, for some -- pain to bring you into the world, and it should be her day to feel loved. Spend the day doing what brings you happiness, however simple that may be.