Hanami at home 2020

This is the small "Somei Yoshino" 染井吉野 cherry tree we planted to replace the 30+ year old cherry tree destroyed in a nor'easter in 2018. It is still fairly small but it is in full bloom. Another older, larger tree is just 80% in bloom and the third small one blossomed early and now the flowers are gone. Because of the Covid19 pandemic, all restaurants in our area are closed or only open for takeout. So, one weekday, I placed a takeout order for sashimi and sushi from Tako Grill and picked it up on the way home.

Tako Grill was running with minimal staff, Terry at the sushi bar, his wife managing the floor and one cook in the kitchen. Shown below is our sashimi takeout. They had toro, hamachi, uni with squid and Japanese "tai" snapper cured on kelp ("Kobu jime).

Since the little cherry tree was in full bloom and we had a lovely sashimi/sushi takeout, I put together the plate shown below and declared an impromptu  hanami, .

We also got out ususal line up of sushi (toro and hamachi), and California roll (with real lump crab).

The small cherry tree only reaches just above the railing of our deck but it is still beautiful. The sashimi was great. Even the uni was from Maine, it was especially good.

We really enjoyed this and when the sashimi plate was empty we moved on to the sushi without missing a beat. In these trying times, little moments like this are especially cherished and appreciated. We sincerely hope all restaurants and other business can weather this and will soon be open for regular business again. In the meantime, thanks goodness for takeout. Stay safe!