Solidly Adult.

First off Thanks so much for all of the birthday wishes!!! You guys made my day!

So we figured out last night that 28 is a hard one because it is Solidly Adult. At 27 you’re still almost mid-20’s. Still in the “just starting out” phase. But not so much at 28. Being solidly adult isn’t really a bad thing though…

Ultimately we decided on Light Bistro for my birthday dinner – thanks to the suggestions of some of the girls over in the Cleveland Knits group on Ravelry. It was a good choice. Sadly I did not take pictures inside of all of the tasty food (Matt wouldn’t let me because it was “too geeky”) so all I have for a visual is this:



Light is mainly a tapas restaurant. So the way we decided to do it was order the 4 course “Taste” which were little tiny appetizer type dishes, and 1 “Share” which is a dinner sized portion all to split between us. Everything was wonderful.

Here’s what we had in the order of the course:

Melon, Mint, and Fresh Mozzarella Salad:
We got this “tapas” while deciding what to order because we were both starving… as Matt put it “the mint takes the bitchy aftertaste out of the melon.” So true. I definitely need to find a recipe for this one come summertime when the mint threatens to take over my yard.

Eggplan Flan:
If you ever go here get this. It was super unique and flavorful. Creamy and delicious. Also it appears that we are starting a Jeanne’s birthday = flan tradition. I’m fine with that. I think it might have been bad form of us to do this but we spread it on their homemade bread. Extremely tasty combo.

Grilled Flatbread:
This was also amazing. The arugula gave it a different flavor and the big globs of toasted goat cheese made this my favorite dish of the night. I’m easy like that.

Blue Crab and Shrimp Cake w/ Green Curry Sauce:
Ok. I took one bite and really enjoyed the crab/curry combo. Took a second bite and by the time I went in for a third no exaggeration Matt had devoured the entire thing. Seriously. He loved it. And didn’t look back or wait for me to catch up.

Cuba libre braised pork belly:
Matt – “It’s like they found a way to condense all of the best parts of bacon. Ok I’m going to sit back and give you a shot at this one because wow. I could eat like 87 more bites of that.” And that about sums it up.

Maple Glazed Organic Chicken Breast / Apple and Chorizo Bread Pudding:
This was our “Share” entrée and it was completely my choice. I love any combo of apples with something spicy in dishes. Also bread pudding. So it was kindof a no brainier. It was very good. The chicken was as moist as chicken can be and the maple glaze was sweet without being overpowering. If we go back I think I’d want to try something else for our entrée, though, because while this was good it didn’t blow me away like the other dishes did.

So from there it was on to the Velvet Tango Room where we met up with some of our friends. I was completely torn on what to order. It’s usually a one-cocktail kindof a place for us so I had to choose wisely. I usually get the “Bourbon Daisy” which is amazing. But it’s a whiskey drink that’s pink so of course I’m going to like it.

(As a side note here my friend Lori Beth has a theory that as long as it’s pink I will drink it. She has tested this theory many times and it’s usually right. Unless I was in the “order a drink to match my shirt” phase but that was a long time ago.)

Anyways despite my love of the “Bourbon Daisy” the bar tender convinced me to try something off of their new menu. I am SO glad that I did. I had the “Moscow Mule” which according to the menu is the way that vodka was introduced to the United States. It is served in the traditional way – in a frosty copper mug. The combo of the copper and the ginger beer was unlike anything I’ve ever tasted before. Completely fantastic. As Jill put it for our second round:

“I want one of those!”

I went back to the BD for my second drink … the lure of the candied ginger that comes with it as a garnish was just too strong.


From L to R: Faux Matt, Jill, Me, Real Matt, Carolyn, Andy. You can see the copper mug that the “Moscow Mule” comes in on the table in front of us.

So yeah. I think 28 is going to be good.