the whole plate.

There aren’t any rules that state you can’t celebrate your birthday again two weeks later.

Right?

My parents were in Maine over my birthday weekend, so we chose yesterday for a belated celebration.  After being gifted with the usual fruits and vegetables [pomegranate!  kale!  brussels sprouts!] and spending the early afternoon at a one-act play, we were left with some time to kill before dinner.  Enter: cocktail hour.

French martinis make nutritious afternoon snacks.

Right?

After lounging for an appropriately lengthy period, we walked to our destination for the evening: Aldea.

Aldea opened last summer, and I chose it for the focus on seasonal yet unusual ingredients.  A blend of foods I love, foods I’d never before tried, and unconventional preparations – perfect.

We began with a Duchamp syrah and an amazingly doughy seven grain bread:

And then split two “petiscos,” tiny pre-appetizers sized for us each to get a bite.

Sea urchin toast with cauliflower cream, sea lettuce, and lime.  My sister didn’t enjoy this, but I was fascinated by its taste.  

A farm egg with bacalao, olive, and potato.  I just adore this presentation, and the size was perfect, as it was very, very rich. [Also, I want one of those spoons.]

Then we shared a couple appetizers:

Cuttlefish with lychee and squid ink – who knew you could eat squid ink?  The cuttlefish was actually very tough [intentionally] – that texture added an interesting extra element to the dish.

And a very flavorful matsutake mushroom broth with tomatoes and a poached egg.

As an entrée, I selected the most delicate Arctic char, cooked so well that it nearly melted on my tongue.  

It was served with a fennel orange purée and brussels sprouts, which were amazing.  I’m pretty excited that I have both fennel and brussels sprouts in my refrigerator right now.  The wheels are turning.

Later, there was some impressive eavesdropping by our waiter, because, while no one mentioned my birthday to the staff, dessert still came out like this:

I got to make a wish and eat the best dessert I’ve had in a long, long, long time.  Yogurt panna cotta, vanilla poached pears, pear “caviar,” cinnamon ice cream.  Full of sweet spice, but not too sweet.  Rich, but not overly so.  I loved it.

Course #5:

A parting gift from the kitchen: beignets, pear gelées, and fudge-like chocolates.

I feel as though this meal was a perfect representation of both eating to live and living to eat.  I never, ever take for granted how lucky I am to have parents who spoil me endlessly with days like these, but beyond that, I felt such content throughout the evening.  I ate slowly and truly felt the flavors of each dish.  I shared in my favorite company, and the challenging, fine food was a wonderful complement to that.  I never once felt overwhelmed or as though I was eating too much; instead, I tasted food as art, entertainment, and a pleasure of life.  And the use of fresh ingredients was, of course, an important and added bonus.

Quite simply, I enjoyed myself, and I am happy to have come this far.

What did you do for dinner last night?

Related posts:

1. dinner 10.10: pure food and wine.
2. dinner 8.10: westville.
3. dinner 12.10: soup fail.