The 3 most basic food groups: fresh, local, good. All 3 had them.

• one thick tuna steak (15 ounces) from Pura Vida Seafood Company, from which I had first cut off a 6-ounce section to freeze for later use, rinsed, dried, halved, tops and bottoms seasoned with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper and rubbed with a mixture of a little more than a tablespoon of mix of wonderful dry Sicilian fennel seed from Buon Italia, whole Moroccan coriander seeds from Flatiron Eataly, and a little dried peperoncino Calabresi secchi from Buon Italia all first crushed together in a porcelain mortar and pestle, pan-grilled above a medium-high flame for only a little more than a minute or so on each side (if the cook can remember to watch the time), finished on the plates with a good squeeze of the juice of an organic lemon from Whole Foods Market and a drizzle of olive oil, garnished with a little micro red radish from Two Guys from Woodbridge
• 6 Maine cherry ‘cocktail’ tomatoes from Whole Foods, slow-roasted inside a small antique rolled-edge tin oven pan with a heaping teaspoon of dried Italian oregano from Buon Italia, half a tablespoon or more of Trader Joe’s Reserve olive oil, and 4 bruised cloves of garlic from Foragers Market
• one bunch of bok choy (aka, bok choi, pak choi, pak choy, pok choi, for ‘small white vegetable’) from Lucky Dog Organic Farm, washed, sliced into one-inch sections, wilted inside a large vintage, heavy tin-lined copper pot in a tablespoon or so of olive oil after 2 halved garlic cloves had already been heated there until they had begun to brown, the process starting with the thickest sections of this wonderful brassica chinensis, those closest to the root end, seasoned with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, removed from the flame while still a little crunchy, drizzled with a little more olive oil
• the wine was a Portuguese (Alentejano) white, Herdade Do Esporao Reguengos Esporao White 2016, from Garnet Wines
• the music was Caroline Shaw’s new Album, ‘Orange’, performed by Attacca Quartet