The Birthday Formidable

Birthday dilemma: when you eat out as often as I do, it presents a challenge when deciding where to birthday sup. A Sunday means fewer restaurants open, plus I'd already visited all my regular favorites in the lead-up to the big day.

My partner for the evening suggested Millie's and then rescinded it, saying that she hadn't eaten there in years so who knew how it would be? I was in the same boat; it had been at least four or five years for me. Still, the more I thought about it, the more it seemed like a good idea. Besides, the after-party was what mattered and where I'd end up spending most of my birthday evening anyway.

It worked out very well. It was certainly the most chill I've ever seen Millie's and we had a delicious and unrushed meal. She deferred to me in the wine choice since it was my day and I couldn't resist the Mulderbosch Rose, as pretty and pink as a birthday wine should be (South Africa strikes again!).

My friend recalled the Cesar salad there as one of the best in town, so we split that to start; she was right, it was much better than most. She went on to the crispy-skinned duck breast with creamed spinach and saffron potato salad. Totally impressed, she set some of it aside for me to taste; it was incredibly rich with a comfort food feel given those side dishes.

Knowing how well the rose would work with crab (a personal favorite anyway) I ordered the tuna tartare with jump lump crab, sesame cucumber salad, tobiko, jalapeno vinaigrette and poached quail egg. Friend referred to it as deconstructed sushi and that little quail egg provided an accompanying richness to the clean flavors of the tartare.

We'd begun our evening with me opening a fabulous gift from her: a dozen different kinds of exotic chocolate bars. There was a dark chocolate bar with toasted panko and sea salt, another had grains of pistachio, and yet another was Belgian chocolate with hazelnuts. As she pointed out, I can taste and blog on chocolate for months to come.

Despite this wealth of chocolate, I ordered dessert rather than reaching into my gift. We shared the chocolate/orange pot de creme, a dark and creamy delight with cream and orange zest on top. It was funny, the server set the dessert down and then took off like a shot, only to return with a mound of whipped cream on a plate with a lit birthday candle in it. Once again, I made a wish (same one) and blew it out. Dessert done, we left for the big celebration.

I'd invited friends to join me on the patio at Ipanema, anticipating a balmy night, which it was. When I arrived, Rob the bartender wished me a happy birthday and noted that I was a Gemini. I knew his birthday had just passed, so I returned the birthday wishes and asked if he was a Gemini, too. "I'm on the cusp of Taurus and Gemini," he explained, "which makes me a stubborn two-faced bastard." Me, I'm just a multiple personality, who chose Don Julio for her constant companion tonight.

I'd asked a variety of people whose company I especially enjoy for one reason or another, people I knew would increase my enjoyment of my birthday. At one particularly interesting moment, I took stock of the demographic of the group and came up with multiple restaurant types, a photographer, various musicians, a farmer, VCU teaching types, an artist whose work hangs in my house and some media types. And not a normal person among them, myself included.

It was the perfect gathering with people coming and going at different times, but with everyone lingering once they did arrive. Several friends had told me that they had earlier plans and wanted to know how late we'd be celebrating. I assured them that the party wouldn't end until Ipanema closed and we didn't even make that deadline.

A couple of friends had particularly mentioned wanting to finally see me loopy after years of nothing but responsible drinking in front of them. One of the last to leave noted as he stood to go, "Karen I've never seen so much giggling out of you. So this is you loopy."

Or maybe not loopy, but just me having such a better birthday than last year. As one late-leaving guest said, "I don't know which birthday this is for you, but you are absolutely gorgeous."


It was a fiercely fine line on which to head home, happy for more reasons than I'm acknowledging here. And another year older, not that that matters in the least.