Yesterday was one of my very best friend's birthdays (may she have many, many more).  One of her favorite places, and mine as well, to dine for sushi is Totem at 271 Lark St., Albany, NY.  (This website has their information.  There's a link to what looks like their personal website, but it's blank.  Darlings! Do something about that!)  Seven of us met her for dinner there after work.

We've been here a few times before.  I must say it's been a while since I've got absolutely blasted and the first time I've gotten sufficiently snoggering drunk here.   I mean, come on, it's my best gal pal's birthday?  I've got a strict policy, as Dolly Parton says in Steel Magnolias, that no one cries alone in my presence.  Well, no one drinks alone either (cheers to that, love!).  It was a great time.

The lovely drink that contributed to our inebriation is something called Sake Sangria.  I've been given permission (Thank you, Chris!) to post the recipe:

Sake Sangria
1/2-Sake
The other half of the container is split into thirds:
-1/3 Plum Wine
-1/3 Sweet Riesling
-1/3 Cranberry Juice

You take the other half of the Sake that you didn't use in the mix and soak fruit in it (apples, oranges, bing cherries) which you add to the bottom of the glass. 

The sushi at Totem is wonderful and beautifully presented.  I've had the Dragon Roll, the Philly roll and a Rainbow roll.  My friend loves their Cucumber salad.  The spring roll appetizers and the vegetable tempura are delicious.  My favorite item on the menu by far is their Green Tea Cheesecake.  I want to marry it.  Topped with a layer of chocolate and garnished with chocolate sauce, it is the edible embodiment of...do you remember that scene in the second Matrix when the woman in the restaurant is served a piece of cake that causes her to orgasm?  If you want to relive that scene, try the cheesecake. 

They also garnished the dessert with a a few frozen Bing cherries.  I've frozen red seedless grapes before (a friend suggested that as a healthy, sore throat alleviating alternative) but never Bing Cherries.  I'm totally doing that now.  Soak them in Sake and then freeze them when you add them to the Sangria. 

And as if the food wasn't good enough, the staff there are incredibly friendly.  We missed our usual hostess, Erica, but Joe was just as hospitable and incredibly patient with us.  I was jovially obnoxious, waving my glass around in the air for more Sangria. 

If you're in the mood for sushi, I highly recommend Totem. 

[UPDATE!:  It's been brought to my attention that the Green Tea Cheesecake comes from Cheesecake Machismo, also in Albany.  So if you want a whole cheesecake to yourself, go there.  It's the "Chocolate and Green Tea Cheesecake."  But still!  Totem sushi=Delicious.  Go there.  Enjoy yourself.  And tip your waitstaff generously; don't be a cheap bastid.]

wanna see a youtube video of a tour of Cheesecake Machismo?  Look no further!  Well, look here.  I love the Vermeer parody.