This past Friday (the day before my birthday) we had dinner with Liz and Jeff and Maria. Maria's birthday is just two days after mine. I am 18 times as old as Maria. Happily, she's catching up quickly. As she was being born, I recall, I was infinitely older than she. In a thousand years, I will be a mere 3% older than she.
Here I am at Liz and Jeff's wearing "the birthday hat" while Katie tries to blow the candles out:
(Little does she realize that the candles and the flames on top are made of felt!)
Here's Maria looking dapper in the new pajamas we gave her for her birthday:
Katie surprised me with a grand birthday itinerary. It started with a lecture at the Minnesota History Center about the progression of the voting rights (which are not as clearly protected as one might think) in the US Constitution. (We subscribe to a monthly lecture series, and it just happened to be on my birthday this month.) Then we checked out a local cigar store, where the colorful proprietor gave a couple of recommendations based on my current tastes. Katie's big birthday present to me is for us pick out an oil painting to hang in our house. We started with one gallery that was near the cigar store where we saw some strong prospects, but we're going to look at other galleries around town before making a decision.
The big event was a trip to La Belle Vie for dinner. We had the 8-course taster's menu with the paired wine flight, and it was fabulous! We had a very nice waiter (Patrick) who had a degree in history with a concentration in art history. He entertaingly (if not particularly adroitly) worked in bits of trivia from this background as he introduced each food and wine. The phood was phenomenal! I think this certainly has overtaken all others as my favorite restaurant in Minnesota. (Heartland is now in second place, followed by W.A. Frost.) We took cabs to and from the restaurant so we would not need a designated driver. That turned out to be a smart plan.
Here's a picture of us during the amuse bouche:
And here's one of us in the middle of the fifth course:
Here's our full eight-course menu:
Here I am at Liz and Jeff's wearing "the birthday hat" while Katie tries to blow the candles out:
(Little does she realize that the candles and the flames on top are made of felt!)Here's Maria looking dapper in the new pajamas we gave her for her birthday:
Katie surprised me with a grand birthday itinerary. It started with a lecture at the Minnesota History Center about the progression of the voting rights (which are not as clearly protected as one might think) in the US Constitution. (We subscribe to a monthly lecture series, and it just happened to be on my birthday this month.) Then we checked out a local cigar store, where the colorful proprietor gave a couple of recommendations based on my current tastes. Katie's big birthday present to me is for us pick out an oil painting to hang in our house. We started with one gallery that was near the cigar store where we saw some strong prospects, but we're going to look at other galleries around town before making a decision.
The big event was a trip to La Belle Vie for dinner. We had the 8-course taster's menu with the paired wine flight, and it was fabulous! We had a very nice waiter (Patrick) who had a degree in history with a concentration in art history. He entertaingly (if not particularly adroitly) worked in bits of trivia from this background as he introduced each food and wine. The phood was phenomenal! I think this certainly has overtaken all others as my favorite restaurant in Minnesota. (Heartland is now in second place, followed by W.A. Frost.) We took cabs to and from the restaurant so we would not need a designated driver. That turned out to be a smart plan.
Here's a picture of us during the amuse bouche:
And here's one of us in the middle of the fifth course:
Here's our full eight-course menu:
Happy Birthday!
ReplyDeleteOddly, my recent birthday dinner also involved caramelized salsify---a turnip soup with creme fraiche, salsify, and mushrooms at Cragie Street Bistrot near Harvard Square. Yum! Looks like you got 3 desserts (though I bet at least a couple were small)! Gosh!
I may stay away from tasting menus with wine for a bit, though, having had one on our anniversary and perhaps overindulged a smidge.
Now if I could just cook like that all the time...
"It's Your Birthday" (sung by?...)
ReplyDeleteSurprise
Girl I bet you thought I had went and forgot
It's a special day
Tonight
Your gift will be something you will remember
For the rest of your days
(So get ready and I'll take you out) and show you some love
(Show you what partying is all about) once we hit the club
(It's your birthday) so let's party and have some fun
(It's your birthday) we'll dance til the morning comes yeah
(Happy birthday) girl let's step the night away
(Happy birthday) and we're gonna celebrate, yeah
do do do do do do do do do do do...
Oh we'll be laughing and singing and grooving on the way
With smiles upon our face
Nothing but VIP
Darling for you and me
And there's so many dancing feet
Dancing in harmony
(So get ready and I'll take you out) and show you some love
(Show you what partying is all about) once we hit the club, yeah
(It's your birthday) so let's party and have some fun
(It's your birthday) and we'll dance til the morning comes yeah
(Happy birthday) let's step the night away
(Happy birthday) we're gonna celebrate, yeah
Let's go
Do do do do do do do do do do...
Go Ooa, it's your birthday!
Go Drea, it's your birthday!
Go Joanne, it's your birthday!
Go Jaya, it's your birthday!
Go Channél, it's your birthday!
Go Angie, it's your birthday!
Go Julie, it's your birthday!
Go Ebony, it's your birthday!
Go Teshonda it's your birthday!
Go Kim, it's your birthday!
Go Lisa, it's your birthday!
Go Devine, it's your birthday!
Go Simone, it's your birthday!
Go Vernice, it's your birthday!
Go Gina, it's your birthday!
Go Kat, it's your birthday!
Go Carmen, it's your birthday!
This has nothing to do with this blog, but I just came back from jury duty. It would have made a superb Seinfeld episode. A woman claimed hypertension, and she was excused. A man said he couldn't take the T to the courthouse, and he was excused. I said I was a physician and would need to cancel 4 days of scheduled appointments and inpatient consults. I will serve as juror #8. Scheduling conflicts, she says. I could have had cutaneous porphyria, such that I could not be exposed to uv light. Sciatica, such that I could not sit for long periods. Diabetes insipidus, such that I would have to urinate every 5 min. Heck, I could have just lost my T pass. Scheduling conflicts, she says. What a clever girl.
ReplyDelete