Happy Birthday, Bill! - May 5, 2012

My man, my handsome, sexy husband, turned 35 this year!  He had requested dinner at his favorite restaurant in town L'Albatros, so I called ahead and arranged for us to have their 6 course tasting menu.  What we didn't know was that they'd prepare a special menu just for the two of us.  When we sat down, they handed us small printouts (see below) of what they were going to prepare.  We looked around and realized that we were the only ones who had these.  After that, the sommelier came by to discuss wine options with Bill as he was planning on having a pairing with each course.  I asked the sommelier to have their mixologist prepare me a surprise mocktail.  I was given the yummiest ginger, rosemary and strawberry drink - a combination I never would have thought of.  It was delicious!

If you count the amuse bouche, we really had 7 courses and by the end, Bill really had 8 glasses of wine because the sommelier threw in an extra glass before the cheese course!  I had to drive home and what you can't see in the picture above is that I was wearing 3" heels and Bill's car is a stick!  Oh well, we made it alive.

The amuse bouche was foie gras terrine over brioche toast with rhubarb compote and edible flowers from their garden.  Not to take away from the other courses but it was quite possibly the best few bites of the whole night.  For the fromage course, a cheese plate - and by "plate" I mean rolling butcher block cart - was brought to our table and a server went through all of our options.  I think there were about 10-12 different varieties to choose from.  They had your mild cheddar all the way to your super stinky blue.  We opted for a creamy cheddar, a goat and the super stinky blue.  It was paired with toast points and fig jam as a palate cleanser.

Throughout the meal, we wondered how we were lucky enough to be enjoying such indulgence.  Life is definitely good and we are definitely spoiled.