It’s My Birthday
It’s my birthday, and once again LJ has pulled off an event weekend that made it so special. We had a mini staycation in Dallas. The best way to describe it would be to say we ate our way through the weekend.
It started with lunch on Saturday at Jasper’s, Kent Rathbun’s incredible restaurant featuring, as he describes it, gourmet backyard cuisine. It is a lovely place with a warmly modern decor. The ceilings are incredibly high, and the tables are dark wood but the lighting and accessories are all metal and glass. I wanted to eat something light considering I had an idea that much more was to come that day, but, alas, Mr. Rathbun is not known for light. I had the Smoked Salmon Cobb Salad, and it was delicious. I expected thin slices of lox-like salmon arranged in a Cobb Salad, but instead was treated to a generous portion of perfectly cooked salmon filet. The salad had the expected boiled egg, apple smoked bacon, tomato and avacado with a rich creamy dressing over all. What utter decadence! LJ had what was called Grilled Chicken Breast, California Avocado. It was a lightly grilled breast of chicken over a lovely sauce of avocado puree with avocado chunks and grape tomatoes accompanied by Paula Lambert’s specially made creamy cottage cheese. LJ said it was perfectly cooked and delicious.
Later in the afternoon, we checked into the lovely Warwick Melrose Hotel. The old, stately Melrose is where my parents spent their wedding night 63 years ago. It has been lovingly restored, and it retains its old charm while being perfectly comfortable. Our room was a mini suite on the 8th floor with windows all along the side facing downtown. It had a homey little sitting area and luxurious draperies and bed linens. The bathroom floor was marble and it had all the amenities you would expect from a hotel of high caliber. The Library Bar is still warm and inviting with its dark wood walls and high ceilings.
The highlight of the evening was dinner at Rise No. 1. It’s a tiny little place with antique French googaws filling the room, wooden tables with mismatched chairs, a circle of stone in the center, and an exposed kitchen. The restaurant specializes in souffles, and they are remarkable. But first, the salad. LJ and I started with a Rise No. 1 house salad with baby lettuce, bleu cheese, toothpicks of granny smith apple, pecans, and the most amazing “Pecan Vinaigrette.” It is like nothing I have ever had anywhere. It’s made with fragrant walnut oil that almost makes you think of chocolate when you take the first bite. We were overwhelmed with the salad, but Rise was just getting started. Oh, and the bread!!! It was without a doubt the best bread I have had since I was in France. It made me understand why, when Jacques Pepin was asked what his favorite food is, he answered, “really good bread and really good butter. What better can you get than that!” This bread was perfectly crunchy on the outside and slightly chewy on the inside. I could have made a meal of it.
My entree was Truffle Infused Mushroom Souffle and LJ had Jambon & Gruyere Souffle. We kept going back and forth trying to decide who had the best. Each one was intensely flavored and light as a feather, a feat I don’t believe is easily accomplished. Whe the waiter asked me at one point how the meal was going, I believe I teared up! Then came dessert. I could not resist my all-time favorite, Grand Marnier Souffle, and LJ had Bread Pudding Souffle. He insisted his was best, but for me you can’t beat Grand Marnier. Anyway, both were flawless.
After dinner we went back to the hotel and went into the Library Bar for an after dinner drink and a little entertainment. They had a lovely female singer who wasn’t bad, but it was glorified karioki with prerecorded background instruments. I wonder how good she could have been if she had been accompanied by live piano and drums or bass which would have allowed her some room to express herself instead of following a pre-set arrangement.
Anyway, what a lovely birthday. Great food, beautiful surroundings, lovely music - it doesn’t get any better. How lucky I am to be married to someone who loves these things like I do, and generously lavishes me with them.