Happy 30th to me!
This weekend was the weekend of my best.birthday.ever.
Friday
Friday night we were supposed to have my friend Lavina over for dinner. She called me at 8PM to tell me she'd be late b/c her sister had to run a last minute errand and asked her to watch her boys for her. She didn't show up until 9:15--with my BFF Cori and friend Thesha (both live in Southern CA) in tow! It turned out Steve has been planning this best.birthday.weekend.ever for over a month now and asked some of my friends to come in to surprise me! My other gf from high school, Emmeline, who lives in Renton, also joined us.
So after much shrieking/hugging, we enjoyed a nice dinner of lemon shrimp fettuccini and various cheeses. We also opened our last French wine (one of the ones we brought back from Paris in 2004) to celebrate. I think I went to bed at 1:30 that night!
Saturday
Saturday was Girls Day. Steve took Roman to pick up bagels while Cori and I spent some QT together. Cori planned a luncheon at a cute little tea house in Redmond so the girls met us there around noon. We had four pots of amazing tea and a really great lunch! I think I ate a chicken, mushroom and spinach crepe which was just excellent. :) After our tea party we headed back to my house to hang out with Steve and Roman before heading back out again for the evening.
Lavina planned a dinner at the Pampas Room--a swanky jazz bar with a great menu. We ordered a bottle of sparkling wine and enjoyed a dinner of diver sea scallops over fettuccini, mushroom risotto, escargot, and wild shrimp (are you seeing a food/alcohol theme here?). The head waiter served us a fruit and nut tower and roquefort cheese course on the house and then we finished the night off with a round of bananas foster. :) Yes, we were rolling out of there. Since none of us were in the mood to go out to any more bars, we headed back to Lavina's and promptly put on sweats, opened another bottle of bubbly and watched Marie Antoinette (yawn!). It was so great to have a Girls Day! We spent the entire day talking about anything and everything...it was really just what I needed! Steve ordered a car service to pick up Cori and I and we headed home at about 1AM.
Sunday (my actual birthday!)
On Sunday Steve hosted a brunch at our house so he spent much of the morning cooking. All of my girlfriends came over and we spent the morning/afternoon drinking mimosas and eating delish fritatta, various cheeses, crepes, bagels, bacon, and CAKE of course! I had a white cake with strawberries and white/dark chocolate shavings on top. Roman ate all of the shavings, of course. :) We spent much of the afternoon talking before I said my goodbyes to all of my girlfriends. :( It was so nice to see them and have a wonderful weekend together!
My friend Marie came over to watch Roman that afternoon so Steve and I could go to dinner at The Herbfarm! The menu for the evening was centered around Wagyu Beef (Kobe beef as it's also known). We were of course excited about eating. :) The evening started off with a tour of the wine cellar and gardens. The owner Carrie Van Dyck personally took us on the tour so we learned how The Herbfarm started. She also took us through the gardens to point out the various herbs that would go into our dinner that night. I *love* The Herbfarm because they are really focused on organic foods grown, raised and farmed in the Pacific Northwest. The restaurant itself was very eclectic but homey--it's a 5 star restaurant without the stuffiness. Here was the menu for that evening:
First course
Westcott Bay mussels with mint (my favorite of the trio)
Razor clams with sunflower shoots
Paddlefish caviar on sunchoke flan (also super delish!)
2001 Argyle Oregon Brut (served with your choice of herbs sprinkled in your glass--I chose the pineapple sage)
Second course
Nettle-cloaked Alaskan King Salmon with burdock and beets
2005 L'Ecole No. 41 Semillon
- this dish was soooo lovely--the salmon was slow roasted with the nettles on top and the burdock was perfectly marinated.
Third course
Wagyu beef carpaccio with winter greens
2003 Brian Carter Cellars Tuttorosso
- this was one of my favorites of the night. The carpaccio just melted in your mouth.
Fourth course
Oxtail Pot au Feu with crisp marrow
2004 L'Herbe Sauvage Pinot Noir, Grapes of Wrath
- another amazing dish. The oxtail was so tender and the broth was just delicious. The 2004 Pinot it was paired with was my favorite wine of the evening. It was made especially for The Herbfarm and there were only 94 cases produced.
Fifth course
Wagyu Beef Ribeye with truffled leeks, potato croquette, pickled yellowfoot mushrooms and bloomsdale spinach
2002 Northstar Merlot, Columbia Valley
- the ribeye was so delicious--served rare and amazingly tender. The potato croquette was really good, but the pickled mushrooms were overpowering the rest of the flavors of the dish.
Cheese course
Grilled crater lake blue cheese and spice bread sandwich with tart cherry compote
- this was probably the best "grilled cheese sandwich" I've ever eaten. :)
Palate cleanser
Apple and Shiso ice
Dessert course
Chocolate and chestnut souffle with bay custard sauce, carrot Halwa with cardamom yogurt ice cream, huckleberry cobbler with rose geranium ice cream
- the desserts were divine, of course. My fave was the souffle!
Final course
A selection of small treats (lavender truffles, caramels, profiteroles, etc.)
Vintage 1916 Barbeito Malvazia Madeira
- the vintage Madeira was excellent!
And that was my best.birthday.weekend.ever. I have to give my husband props for orchestrating such a weekend. I have never felt so appreciated, cherished and loved! I think Steve gets the prize for the most thoughtful, amazing husband!