Birthday Blast

Yesterday was my wife's birthday. I took her to a restaurant that we've never been to and, until recently, I'd not even read about, but which turned out to be an inspired choice. How I missed all the hullaballoo about Bijoux is beyond me.

I'm just glad we went. And I'm even happier that, upon learning where we were going, my wife had the presence of mind to pull out the $100 American Express gift card that had been moldering in a drawer so the sticker shock on my credit card was only half of what it could have been. It's pricey...well beyond my price comfort zone. We did not hold back, but we easily could have gone far beyond what we spent. Good grief, to think there are people who frequent these sorts of places on a regular basis! Here are our respective prixe fix menus:

My Wife's Meal
Appetizer of fresh crab on a tiny, crip shred of potato with cucumber shavings
Crispy Pork Belly, with fava bean "succotash," corn, and tomatoes
Tilefish (not quite sure how it was prepared, but it was good)
Long Island Duck Breast with foie gras fried rice, snap peas, spicy Asian jus
Combe cheese

My Meal
Appetizer of fresh crab on a tiny, crip shred of potato with cucumber shavings
East Coast Oysters, ponzu, tomato, black pepper mignonette
Scallops with pork cheek ravioli, tomato fondue, frisee
Maytag cheese, with potato bellini with corn, pancetta crisp, and caramelized red onion

There was more, of course. The obligatory "palate cleansers" between courses, the special "goodies" from the pastry chef, a half-bottle of 2006 Duckhorn sauvignon blanc.

Despite the snotty menu, the place was very comfortable and the staff were extraordinary. There was none of the snobbery that I associate with the typical "upscale" restaurant (which is one reason I like to avoid "upscale" restaurants). It was obvious that the young owners truly care about fine food and they avoid pretentions (except, I must say, in the descriptions of the food, which I found more than a bit pretentious...but that may be because of living a relatively sheltered life).

The most important part about the entire evening was that my wife really liked the place and felt that it was a special celebration for her birthday. She likes high-end restaurants much more than I do, I think, and she knows how I feel about most of them, so she appreciated that I sought the place out and made the reservations in spite of my normal misgivings. And, of course, I was blown away by the food and want to go back.

But, on my birthday, I want to go someplace I can wear shorts. Or, at least, jeans.