We went to Takashi for my birthday tonight. Very good! The chef and waitstaff were great with the allergies– actually none of the things I ordered had to be modified in the slightest. It was a nice vibe. Good decor, soft ambient techno jazz oriental streamlined feel and although the tables were close together, that wasn’t necessary a bad thing.

We started with the ceviche, oysters and beef tartare plates, and some ginger lime and honey pomegranate martinis. The ceviche was delicious. I loved the combination of seafood they use, big hunks of squid and shrimp and octopus and slices of scallop. The flavor on the dressing was good, similar to what was on the oysters – julienned vegetables in a citrus vinaigrette. The chef enjoyed the beef tartare with the quail egg on top.

We both ate pretty fast. I don’t know if it’s because we were hungry or because the food was so delicious. I had roasted duck and confit of leg with some similarly citrus-tanged beets, and chef dived into some pheasant with chestnut and mushroom risotto.The portions aren’t that big, but you can always ask for more bread. It’s all tasty.

The proximity of the tables actually led to me overhearing a dude at the table next to us talk about being allergic to tree nuts. For some reason I felt compelled to flash him my epi-pen in benadryl – a moment of empathy and common understanding!

In truth, I went to ER last week. Takashi is a restaurant that naturally has a lot of dairy, egg and nut free dishes, but last week I was honestly just really silly – I went to a bar and grill I’d been to before and did not ask what the pineapple I wanted on top of my burger (ordered with no bun) was grilled in.

I ended up in the ER 30 minutes later.

I’m still pissed about that experience, but I guess any experience you learn from is worth something. Ambulance rides are expensive though. And sucky. It felt good to eat somewhere that had dishes that were totally fine for me to begin with.