the perfect bite

As I was eating my Greek Salad today (chopped Romaine lettuce, grape tomatoes, olives, feta drizzled with Olive Oil, a dash of Vinegar, some Lemon Pepper and anchovies- which was a last minute decision/bad idea because now I feel sick), I noticed how i was piling on the ingredients onto my fork: two leaves of lettuce, a grape tomato, feta and a green or black olive which makes it "The Perfect Bite".

I first heard this term in The Mirror Has Two Faces when Barbara Streisand is explaining to Jeff Bridges how she makes the perfect bite. Something must be said for this scene to stick with me after 13 years, not even remembering what the movie was about. It has also stuck with my mom and to this day we joke about making "the perfect bite."
Lucky for us, we have Google and the ability to search and find quotes:

     Rose: You're not eating.
     Gregory: No, I'm watching your ritual. I just about got your sequence now.
     You start by rotating the plate counterclockwise ...
     ...cut on the diagonal ... remove unwanted elements ...
     And now comes my favourite part: The loading of the fork.
     It's fascinating, the percentages you use of different vegetables, -
     Rose: -to create that one harmoniously-balanced, perfect bite.

Apparently a lot of people do it, including my friend Jared- whom I got a late lunch with at my favorite Vietnamese restaurant, Thái So'n. I got my usual... Bun Cha Gio Thit Nuong (Spring Rolls & Grilled Pork W. Lettuce On Rice Vermicelli) which was delicious, but Jared got the dish I had thought about trying and chickened out. He ordered the Pho Xe Lua (Combination Extra Big Bowl. Rice Noodles Beef Soup Six Differences Brisket, Navel, Frank, Omosa Tendon & Eye of Round.)

I watched in awe as he tore mint into his bowl, ladled soup with his spoon, added some beef, noodles, and topped it off with some drops of Sriracha and Hoisin Sauce. He repeated this step making each one the Perfect Bite. We discussed it a little further; I agreed with him that any dish with more than 3 ingredients had to be eaten in that way for the full tasting experience.

Here, Jared uses a Big Spoon
I would also like to add how amazing/annoying the service was this time around. I've been going to Thái So'n since High School and introduced friends and family to this restaurant because the food is good, cheap and the service usually speedy/attentive. There used to be a waiter who had a crush on me, and whenever I dined there, he would stare at me and try to talk to me. (You may think I am really full of myself, but I have witnesses; the rest of the table noticed how blatant he was about it too.) Unfortunately he no longer works there, though I did get many 'hellos' as I was waiting for Jared outside. But I digress. Once he arrived, they seated us immediately, as it was only half-full at 3:45pm.

About 45 seconds passed and a man brought us over some tea and asked if we were ready to order. Jared asked for some water and I said we needed some more time as we had JUST sat down. I don't think our menus were even open at that point. I kid you not, in the following 2 minutes, two more waiters came up to us with a pad and pen asking if we knew what we wanted. It was kind of ridiculous; because like I mentioned, it's not like they had to rush us out of there to seat more people. Also, Jared's soup came out about 5 minutes after he ordered. Mine took a little longer but it was still impressive to say the least.