Although I do look forward to the weekends for the rest and relaxation, let's be frank here. I love the weekends for the weekend-only food opportunities. Lazy Saturday and Sunday morning breakfast of pancakes fluffed at home, brunches out at any of the local cafes amongst the rest of the still sleepy-eyed Angelenos, and dim sum.
I'll have to admit that these days, working from home and onmy own time, the weekend brunch thing is not as special because I can wake up at 10 am on a Wednesday and make French toast. However, dim sum truly is a weekend activity. Sure, there are places in Chinatown that serve dim sum during the week, but culturally, and sort of personal/traditionally, it's always been a weekend thing. Family members arrive two-by-two at the specified restaurant, we wait impatiently for 30 minutes as we watch cart after cart go by, then finally, we sit down within the clanging din of the dining room and eat. It's hurried, yet drawn out.
The strange thing is, with the myriad offerings at dim sum - sometimes even creative "specialties" made for that day only - I always stick to the same four or five items. Many times, seafood items like shrimp and scallops are a huge part of a dim sum offering, but I don't partake of them that often. I love an oval plate of (bbq pork), the fluffy snow white steamed buns called , the super wide, flat barely transparent noodles called chow fun, and of course, meatballs. I'm usually so stuffed by the end of a lunch there - dim sum is deceptive that way, with small plates so you think you're not eating that much - that I can hardly breathe when we walk out the door!
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