A delightful day at Dashi

Today was one of those magical, memorable days that leave you smiling long after it's over. Serendipity and good timing were certainly in our corner when my dear friend LocalFoodLover and I decided we were long overdue to sit down together to a proper meal.

We agreed to meet at Dashi Noodle Bar,, a relatively new restaurant that neither of us had ever been to. I am a huge, huge fan of noodles, particularly Asian-style noodles, and this is exactly what Dashi Noodle offers: ramen, udon, rice noodles, you name it - here's a peek at their menu - photo by LocalFoodLover.

I could carry on for a paragraph or two about the format of the restaurant and the delicious food and ambience, but more interesting is what occurred while LocalFoodLover and I were waiting for our noodles!

As blippers, we began snapping photos almost immediately when we noticed another fellow in the kitchen armed with some serious photographic hardware, snapping photos of the kitchen staff stirring, dicing, and chopping. Unbeknownst to us, this was none other than Phil Dwyer, staff photographer for our local newspaper, The Bellingham Herald. He was seeking out a St. Patrick's Day-related photo topic when he crossed paths with LocalFoodLover and me.

As if on cue, someone from the kitchen brought forth a steaming hot bowl of the St. Patrick's Day special Udon noodle bowl (photo by LocalFoodLover) and suggested the three of us could take pictures of that to our heart's content. We quickly went from photographers on the prowl to the subject of another photographer's photo shoot! LocalFoodLover's blip entry beautifully captures the event. Phil Dwyer took shot after shot with me and the green udon noodles, took down our names, and told us the photos would appear in the next day's paper on March 15th!

What a memorable lunch! Noodles, fun photography, and the company of the ever-charming LocalFoodLover, who taught me to appreciate well-edited writing, the Oxford comma, how to read Welsh, and perhaps most importantly, introduced me to the wonderful world of blipfoto.

Here she is, enjoying a bowl of noodles!

I can hardly wait for our next outing!

UPDATE: Here is the Bellingham Herald cover (nothing available online, this is a JPEG)