Birthday Bash

Friday, February 5, 2010

Two friends, Donna & Sunny wanted to take me to dinner for my birthday. This all started last year when we took Sunny out for her "big" one. They let me pick the restaurant so naturally it was "Delius" in Signal Hill. www.DeliusRestaurant.com This was on a Friday night and I wanted to meet them at the restaurant since I drive right by it on my way home from work. Donna insisted on picking me up which frankly I thought was dumb. But to appease her I decided to do it her way.

When we got to Delius we had to park on the street as the parking area was packed. That was a good sign for the restaurant as it meant they were busy that night. We were sat immediately in the dining area and the waiter came and took our drink order. We asked since the prix fixe room was having Beef Wellington on the menu that night were there any extra portions so we could order it also. Dave the owner came to to the table and said he would ask the kitchen . When Dave came back he said yes there were extra portions. We were happy. Dave also mentioned that he heard it was my birthday (they always bring a cupcake out with a candle) . Dave indicated that the wine cellar room was not booked that night and since it was a big day for me and I was along time customer we could have dinner in that room. I was really looking forward to that.

We followed Dave to the prix fixe room which we had to go through to get to the cellar room. As I walked in Steve started taking pictures and I realized that this was a surprise party for me. I was shocked and very overwhelmed. It took me all night to get over the fact that 30 people paid $75 per person to have dinner with me. And these people had kept this quiet and not spilled a word about it. I had dinner with Paul & Margie the night before and the Sunday before we had our monthly "gathering of the flock".

Hors d'Oeuvres and bubbly was passed and I was still drinking the bubbly that I ordered when we walked in. Good thing Donna was driving.

Dinner started out with a Butternut Squash Ravioli with pine nut herb butter. This was served with a 2008 Calina Reserva Chardonnay. Tad too much oak in the chard for me so I passed my glass to Margie. It was her style.

The soup was Carmelized Onion and Roasted Garlic Bisque. Excellent soup, full of flavor and nothing over powering.

The entree was Crispy Chicken Breast, with creamy polenta & red wine sauce. Nice dish but I very rarely order a chicken dish in a restaurant. Everything was good about the dish, flavor etc., This was served with a 2005 Bear Bottom Creek Zinfandel. The pairing of wine and food was good.

The main dish was Beef Wellington with potato parsnip puree and rosemary pan sauce. My meat was cooked to perfection for me. I like mine cooked just this side of "dead". My only complaint was that the pastry on the outside was starting to get "limp" and I think it probably was because things were starting to get backed up in the kitchen so the Wellington sat for a couple minutes too long before being served. The wine that paired excellent with this dish was a 2006 Adastra Merlot. I had a few bites and asked then to package it for me to take home. I was starting to get really full and we had the cheese plate and dessert to go yet.

Louise, Dave's wife and Executive Chef did the cooking for this dinner tonight. She even made the shallot bread (my favorite) for this dinner. They have been serving a rosemary bread and I do not like it as well as the shallot bread. The rosemary to me is too strong of a flavor for bread served with dinner. The shallot bread has a much more subtle taste.

After dinner the Obligatory "Roast" of me was held. The party was a blast and a month later I still feel overwhelmed by it