Beginning and Ending

After you arrive at the French Laundry and begin to peruse the menu, a waiter in a white collarless shirt and ankle-length apron will bend to offer you what looks like a miniature sugar cone with a scoop of pink ice cream and say, “Salmon tartare with red onion crème fraîche in a savory tuile.”

Some diners, whole tables even, stare for a long time at this salmon ice-cream cone, glancing up to see if anyone else is eating it, and how. The first brave soul will tip the small cone sideways, nibble at the edge of the pink orb, and look up, noncommittal. “Oh.” Another tiny bite. “Mmm.” And then another, capturing a bit of cone and some of the onion crème fraîche inside. “Mmm. This is really good.” Genuine surprise. Others will regard the cone, shrug, then decapitate it with a smile. But everyone always stops to look.