NYC for my Bday
On Tuesday night, Jes and I took a red-eye to JFK and we celebrated my 36th birthday in the Big Apple. Jason had to go to class and Jia had work so Jes and I went exploring and found the halal cart that we went to 2 years ago.
It was just as delicious as we remembered with the cream sauce AND the extra-spicy sauce. Mmm…
In the afternoon, we stopped at Jia’s office to get our eyes checked and I got a pair of new birthday sunglasses! Woohoo!
Afterward, we got some ice cream from Chinatown Ice Cream Factory. I love this place.
For dinner, we took the train to Brooklyn for a delicious steak dinner at Peter Luger. 
We ordered the bacon with tomato and onion along with Steak for Two. It was a huge slab of meat and enough for the 4 of us since we also ordered two baked potatoes.
For dessert, I was treated to a key lime pie, shlag (the whipped cream), and their famous gold coin chocolates.
I was happy happy happy on my birthday.
Sunday started out pretty gloomy and it rained just before lunch. We were supposed to go to AT&T Park to watch Turandot but it wasn’t looking so promising. Luckily, the rain stopped early enough and the sun came out to dry up the field. The Agustins came over and we headed over with 40 Chicken McNuggets, fries, a bunch snacks, and two liters of wine in a box (snuck in of course).
We got there early enough to catch a spot on the field just behind 2nd base. We laid out the picnic blanket and chowed down. The sun came out for brief moments and it even got pretty hot at certain times. 
The opera was just as good as it was last week and the cast came out wearing Giants gear at the end to take their final bows for the audience.
I love Opera at the Ballpark. It’s free and when the weather is right, it’s a great way to spend an afternoon or evening.
There was a lot of stuff going on this weekend. One was practically in our backyard and the other was halfway across the bay. On Saturday, Cal played a homegame at AT&T Park and as we were walking the dog, we saw guys in McCovey Cove playing a game of waterpolo.
It was Cal versus the Olympic Club team. It was funny that they weren’t bothered by the cold and nasty bay water while wearing speedos.
On Sunday, we drove to Treasure Island for the Dragonboat Festival. There were high school teams, college teams, and corporate teams competing.
It was fun to watch the races and I got some fried pickles with two dipping sauces and a lychee boba drink.
For Jes’ birthday, I got him tickets to the opera. He’s always wanted to see Puccini’s Turandot and it was playing at the War Memorial Opera House this fall. We went on Saturday and got there a little early so we hung out on the balcony for a drink and a view of City Hall.
The opera house itself was beautiful and they had subtitles on a skinny screen above the stage. Our seats were up in the Dress Circle and in the center. Turandot was really good and I recognized the music from the CD that Jes used to play all the time. It was so good that I’m looking forward to watching it again at the ballpark next weekend.
The show finished a little before 11 pm and went on Open Table to find a reservation at a place down the street. We had a really late dinner at Boxing Room, which served creole fare. Jes ordered a huge shrimp po’boy that came with a side of hushpuppies. It was delicious. I also got a small bowl of gumbo and it was equally good.
On Friday night, Project by Project held their 2nd Annual Plate by Plate event at Bently Reserve. I was one of their photographers again and the venue was beautiful. I went straight from work with all my gear and spent the evening snapping and snacking.
We didn’t win anything in the silent auction this year but the Agustins won a cool shoulder bag.
The restaurants included a bunch of places that were at the event last year and the presentation of their dishes was still top-notch.
I didn’t get to taste as much this year but it sounded like the food wasn’t as good as last year.
This year for Jes’ birthday, we were actually in town. In the past, we’ve taken our annual trip out of the country during the Labor Day weekend. Last year, Jes spent his birthday in Paris, France. The year before, we were in Florence, Italy. And the year before, we were coming back from Belize! What a lucky guy.
Well, this year I threw him a birthday party with all his friends over the weekend and then took him out for a nice dinner on the night of his actual birthday. On Sunday evening (9/4), we threw a party at our house. We had food everywhere – including the coffeetable where Koa sat and stared at the food all afternoon.
We had a house filled with people and the Scotch was flowing all night.
The Suminos even came and I got to pull out my old GameBoys to help entertain them. When I took them out, Brandon and Cole asked, “What’s GameBoy?” Sheesh. Once I showed them how it worked, they were hooked.
Victor had a good time coaching them on the finer points of wrestling. I guess he enjoyed watching them play as he used to with his own little brother. The boys had fun but Marie wasn’t happy. Victor…the trouble-maker.
Jes made a prime rib roast and we sliced it up for some tasty prime rib sandwiches on Acme rolls. Everyone ate it up along with all the appetizers and sides that we had out all night. It was nice to actually have no leftovers at the end of the night.
Jes also got a yummy Coldstone ice cream cake compliments of the Masayas and then some cupcakes that the Fernandos brought too.
On Tuesday, his actual birthday, we had dinner at Benu. It’s a relatively new restaurant that is run by a James Beard Award winning chef who worked at The French Laundry back when Thomas Keller was still working in the kitchen there. They have a $180 tasting menu that was very intriguing but we didn’t have the stomach for it this time. It included 19 different items on that menu!
So, we opted for a few dishes off the a la carte menu that was equally satisfying and didn’t give you the roll-me-out-the-door feeling afterward. Everything was made so perfectly and the presentation was whimsical and pretty. The food was all very good and there were combinations that I hadn’t had before. The dish above is a chicken porridge with thousand-year quail egg. It was savory and delicious.
We also had abalone, foie gras, lobster, beef, and a very unique dessert made with chocolate ganache, peanut pudding, and miso sorbet. At the end of the night, they served a box of fancy chocolates that were also very rich and flavorful.
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