Valentine’s Day celebration at Ten Thousand Waves, the beautiful Japanese resort which contains lodging, a spa, and the Izanami restaurant. The resort is nestled high in the mountains overlooking Santa Fe. Glorious views. Simple, perfect architecture. Ponds and streams with giant, colorful Koi. One word description: Idyllic. Under brilliant sun and blue skies, HG/BSK relaxed for an hour in an outdoor, private hot (very hot) tub. At intervals, HG would pop out of the tub and into a private sauna. Lukewarm shower and back into the tub. There was an ice plunge. Too icy for HG/BSK. A young HG would leap into the ice plunge at the Second Avenue Baths after boiling in the steam and “eucalyptus” rooms. Now, HG is too mature for such temperature extremes. Following the poach in the Ten Thousand Waves tub, a super clean, super relaxed HG/BSK lunched at the Izanami restaurant. Three splendid dishes: Sashimi of the day consisting of lush slices of fresh tuna, wedges of ripe avocado and a mound of shredded daikon in a spicy sauce; light as a feather fried tofu; sake braised mushrooms in a tamari butter sauce. The corn fritters HG/BSK ordered weren’t fritters but mostly individual tempura fried kernels. When Exquisite Maiko, HG/BSK’s daughter-in-law and a very talented chef, made this dish during summer visits to the family sea paradise on Prince Edward Island, she would slice two or three inches of kernels off the cob before giving them the tempura treatment. Bliss. HG also had Izanami’s salad of crispy Brussel sprouts with candied pecans, pork belly, yuzu juice, and parmesan. Good but unbalanced. Needed more pork belly, pecans, parmesan, and fewer Brussel sprouts. Dessert was a dazzler. Three generous balls of sorbet: grapefruit, coconut, and surprisingly rich and creamy chocolate. Plus two complimentary chocolate truffles. Excellent green tea was served throughout the meal. HG/BSK will come back soon to try the smoked pork ribs, ramen, and shabu-shabu hot pot.
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