The Rabbit and the Fish

Not many a good restaurant in Eugene for refreshing your self from home cooking.
But there are about 4 restaurants (about 3 Italians and 1 French) where you can eat well without poisoning yourself with the common junk food.
We (Moshe, my husband, and myself) attend them about once a week for lunch, as a tool to add some nostalgic romance to the everyday routine, bringing back our trips in Europe - France for sure contains our best memories, regarding food (we are not so special in this, I know).
That's why we were excited to see that a new restaurant opened not too far from our place.
"The Rabbit" is the name of this restaurant. It's not that I have fantasies about eating bunnies for lunch but there is a promise in this name for authentic attitude regarding French food.

"The Rabbit" - there is a promise in this name
Decorative Cutting Board
(Acrylic and pencil colors on wood)

The waitress who "welcomed" us controlled all the space with unpleasant, snobbish way - so that she made the promise for great French food even more promising and more real (authentic! authentic! we smiled to each other). She also gave us the feeling that the fact that we are non Americans is not that attractive for her (another promising authentic point that fit perfectly the stereotype of the French's love for foreigners who come to visit their country.......).
Talking about it quietly, in Hebrew, we decided to try and make the best polite and sophisticated impression we could.
Moshe ordered a smoked trout pâté on bread with fries and I asked for a trout with mash potatoes. While waiting for our orders I watched the waitress who did not look French (unfortunately...) but did have the right tones of hostility, so I felt, for "the Italian or Latino couple" (in Eugene, our skin complex makes us Latino for most people) As I felt her direct hostility - I became more and more hungry, I already felt like I could eat anything. Just bring me this fish, woman!

Then she came out from the kitchen, all self important and put my dish in front of me.
My mouth opened wide and I couldn't hold it - it just came out without control "Oh my god!" I said and leaned back with a disgusted expression on my face. The poor trout was silver- gray colored and shiny as if it were still alive, the only thing that confirmed it was not alive was the fact that his head was pulled back (broken) from his body as it was laying on its belly and looking back (- very extreme "cobra pose" in yoga) and looked at me with anger. She quickly gave me another empty plate and said roughly:
"People love to eat the trout cheeks that's why we serve the head too", and left us.

A trout head (... "Cobra pose")
Photo by Auswomble (Flicker)

I was soooooooooo embarrassed and felt sooooooooooo stupid for my reaction, especially after trying to look sophisticated. Truly - it looked awful - if I could look at it I would have taken a picture of it. This fish was nothing like the french food I had in France (and there I ate live oysters - so I'm not that sensitive) or maybe it is just that I was younger in France.
As a non American I rarely feel unwelcome here but now all the feelings of a minority who looks weird (primitive.....) to the strong majority jumped right at me at once and I was so ready to leave the place and this lady's face. But! I was too hungry.....

Epilogue

After Moshe helped me to get rid of the "head piece" - I ate the fish, and the mashed potatoes that were completely covered with its gray shiny body - and it tested OK.
Now - Just between you and me:
I have no explanation why I write about fish in many of my posts.
If only I would visit a therapist these days we would probably "work through this" together.
Since I'm not - is there any one out there that can light my eyes about this fishy subject?