The Third Braziliversary Dinner

So because it was our third Braziliversary, Alexandre and I decided to go out to dinner. The last two years, we went to Italian restaurants, but we don't know about any good Italian in town yet, and we were craving sushi (surprise). So we decided to try out a little sushi place that Alexandre's boss had recommended.


The place was super cute and not too crowded. We got a nice little corner table where we could speak our PortuSpanglish mishmosh language in peace.


Obligatory Braziliversary dinner picture!

I think this is the blog's first time seeing Alexandre's short hair. It was much shorter in the beginning. It looks good now, but I miss his McDreamy locks!


You can compare this picture to the first Braziliversary and the second Braziliversary. I hope you will all agree that we get a little less squirrely and disheveled every year. 


Relishing in my self-employed-ness, I ordered a caipirinha, even though it was a Sunday night. Our waitress was also the owner, an older Japanese woman. She seemed to think that it was our first time eating sushi just because we asked her what some things on the menu were. So then she decided to explain every little thing to us, and to come back and check on us when we received each dish to make sure we were doing it right.


You see friendly waitress lady; we saw overbearing tiger mother!


First, she scolded us for eating too fast. While we were munching away on our fried appetizers (egg rolls and dumplings), she came, stood over the table for a minute, and then said sternly, "No, no! You can't be done already! These things must be eaten slowly and enjoyed." 


All right. In other situations, I would have probably been annoyed and a little offended. But that caipirinha got me drunk in like 45 seconds, and the lady was just so darn cute and smile-y. So I just laughed a lot. 


When she took our order for the sushi itself, I asked if they had any pieces with sun-dried tomato (a common and delicious addition to Brazilian sushi). She actually scoffed a little.


"We only serve traditional sushi here! No fusion."


I decided not to mention the fact that lots of pieces on the menu had Philadelphia cream cheese. I mean, maybe adding the cream cheese started in Japan first. Or maybe she just likes it, too.


Then the wonderful sushi boat came out, sans sun-dried tomato (as you can see in the picture). After we'd eaten a few pieces, owner lady came over and took the chopsticks out of my hand. 


"No, no. Sashimi you pick up like this ::demonstrates::. Sushi, you pick up like this ::demonstrates::."  

Then she insisted that I try a bite without so much soy sauce.


LESS SAUCE?!?! Me?! I don't know, between owner lady and me, who thought the other more blasphemous.

I told her in my drunken bravado that I happened to like my sushi with a lot of soy sauce and wasabi, but she was having none of it. She told me flat out I was ruining the fish. So then I asked meekly if I could alternate between "correct" pieces and soy/wasabi-covered pieces. Alexandre laughed. She shook her head at me, but smiled. She gave me back my chopsticks, but didn't leave. So, because she was still watching, I ate a piece with just "one quick dip," as she had instructed. Yeah, sure, more fish flavor, blahblahblah, but it wasn't the same. 


I smiled politely. She nodded approvingly. She walked away. I proceeded to drown the rest of my pieces in wasabi and soy sauce.

After we'd finished the boat, owner lady came back and asked what else we'd like. We told her we were full.


"Full?! You hardly eat anything!" (I can't help it. I know it's offensive, but my translation of her voice in my head totally gives her a Japanese accent, even though her Portuguese was completely fluent.)


I was tempted to point to my belly and be like, "Honey, my jeans and I beg to differ." But I wasn't that drunk. Instead, I asked her to take a picture with me (I was thinking of you all the whole time, dear readers!). Here she is, the now infamous sushi restaurant owner:

See? As scold-y as she was, you can't help but love her.

She insisted on taking one more picture of me and Alexandre, because she said it was the best place in the restaurant for pictures:

And good times were had by all. This is definitely our new favorite restaurant in town. The owner alone made changing up our Braziliversary tradition totally worthwhile. Next time, however, I'll skip the super caipirinha.