Il Mercato is a world class restaurant just a hop, step and jump from our apartment building in Taipei, Taiwan. We would be very surprised if it doesn't soon rise up the ranks of "best restaurants" in the various forums and judging panels that are available in print and online. The latest degustation menu and experience is absolutely top notch.
Our 31st wedding anniversary conveniently fell on the same date as the opening of the new and wondrous "Tech Cube" at school, and as we'd already booked our night out, we were excused by our very generous acting principal. The skies were dribbling and the wind was whipping, so we ordered an Uber to come and pick us up door to door to eliminate an awkward trip up to the main road to hail a cab. In a city where cabs are a yellow haze, so ubiquitous that they often stop and offer themselves even if we don't hail them, we've had little use for Ubers. This night was just right however, and we used one in the steady rain falling after our meal to return home as well; a very impressive service!
Upon arrival at the restaurant, and after being ushered inside by a phalanx of expectant waiters, we were sent on a small tour of various boutique pop-up food carts, from giant wheels of Parmesan to home-made salamis to freshly made mint and chili lemonades, all served to us individually by staff manning the carts. Onward to sample three mini anti pasto delights commentated upon by the head chef himself. Directed upstairs to our table, we were served by sommelier, maitre d', waitresses and waiters all with perfect English and knowledgeable commentary on the 5 courses we selected. Dishes were whisked in and out at timely intervals, arranged artistically and melting in mouth, each course a taste sensation only outdone by the next. I even had edible gold on a pasta dish! Suffice to say we had an awesome dining experience in Il Mercato's new format: even when we left, the manager and head chef farewelled us in person and gave us some packets of their special pasta as a parting anniversary gift...classy!
The week droned on and our heads were spinning by the time Friday rolled around, knocked into semi-consciousness by a brawling, bruising week without access to much of our tech-tool arsenal. A "migration of platforms" seems to have gone spectacularly awry: a weekend fix has now been going a week and a half with no rainbow lighting up the distant skies! Basically the one-to-one laptop system has been temporarilydestroyed and we can't teach efficiently, plan or grade. Cass has been working furiously to scramble together old-school hard copies of handouts and modify lessons, but it is still an intensely frustrating experience. After a day catching our breath on Saturday, Sunday loomed as a perfect antidote: edgy contemporary art!
Taipei Dangdai had been advertised heavily on social media, we'd checked out the blurbs, and decided it looked like an intriguing day out. Not only that, but it would take us on an excursion to an un-visited corner of the city: a rarity for us as we've scoured the great city across every compass point and most in between. After connecting at Taipei Main Station, the second train whispered into the bowels of the Nanganag Exhibition Centre after a 45 minute trip from home: this city is really big!
Escalators and elevators transported us to the 4th floor and a line for tickets. All of a sudden, a tap on the shoulder and we were presented with free tickets by two mothers of kids that Cassy taught as three year olds, who are now graduating masters degrees at university! They remembered her and she remembered the kids, which was quite amazing. A little bonus before we even entered...
The space was more akin to an airport hangar in proportion and ambiance than one set to house some of the world's most provocative and extreme contemporary art. 50 or more leading CA galleries from around the world had been invited to contribute and they delivered interesting and thought provoking works that were mostly, also, for sale....albeit at eye-wateringly stratospheric prices. We wandered the corridors and marveled at one wondrous piece after another, strolled past others that didn't spark joy, and scoffed occasionally at the boldness of an artist who would produce such derivative work. There was a lot there that we felt we'd seen before, each artist just tweaking a little twist on the original, enough so it wasn't blatant plagiarism. Some works were sublime and beautiful however, such as Ai Weiwei's stainless steel bicycle stack and Double Square Gallery's marble sensations, so tactile, smooth and cool. There were clever works, showing different perspectives of usual objects, and inaccessible wonders that must have taken months to produce yet were lost to interpretation by our feeble minds!
All in all, it was a cavalcade of colour, light, sound and texture and our senses were peaking by the time we'd made our way all the way around and exited the Zeppelin hangar. We made a real adventure of it by alighting at Taipei Main on the way back and negotiating the gigantic food square on the second floor before choosing a Japanese restaurant (Cassy's choice) where we ordered fresh and hot chicken tamago donburi and tonkatsu respectively, washed down with Kirin wheat beers! Sufficiently fortified to challenge the Damshui line train back home, we negotiated the labyrinthine underground station, boarded the train then strolled back home via the river, very pleased with our Sunday adventure and ready for the week ahead.
Photos: G&T at home pre dinner, anniversary dinner, Cass got some sparkling shoulder diamonds for her big soliatire ring, Taipei Dangdai art shots.