Last night, Greg and I went for dinner at a local Indian dosa place in the far reaches of our ‘hood.
I used to go to this restaurant about once a month or so when my friend Melissa lived nearby. She was home during the day, so I’d walk up to her place and we’d go for dosa then do some shopping at the mall. When she moved to New York state, I had little reason to be in that part of the ‘hood, and hadn’t been back to this restaurant in a couple of years.
One of the things I always ordered was a pineapple uppatham. Similar to a dosa in that it was like a huge airy crepe, this was made by mixing chunks of pineapple into the batter before it was cooked. But it seems that I was the only one who ever ordered it and the owner took it off the menu during the time we were regulars there. There were plenty of other great things on the menu so it wasn’t a huge deal, but it’s always been my favourite.
Last night when we were there, the owner came over to take our order and recognized me. “You used to order the pineapple uppatham,” she said, “I have pineapple today, you want me to make one for you?”
Awesome!
I was delighted, of course – not just that I was getting my favourite dish that was no longer on the menu, but that she had even remembered me.
I relished every bite, dipping the airy crepe and chunks of pineapple through the spicy coconut chutney that accompanied the uppatham.