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I had one of those momentous, milestone, decade-starting birthdays on Friday.  No I won’t say which one.  The important thing is that thanks to my wonderful family, and especially my husband, we had a momentously fun day to celebrate it. When I came home from work I discovered that Peter and Catherine (Albert’s sibs and the closest thing I have to a brother and sister) had sent me a beautiful fruit basket from Edible Arrangements along with a Happy Birthday balloon and special “doggy pop-up” card; I had received a generous gift certificate from the both of them earlier in the day. Unfortunately, I didn’t get much time to enjoy it since Ekrina and I had about 20 minutes to prepare for a trip to a mystery destination…

I say “mystery destination” because Albert had spent an inordinate amount of time over the past week convincing me that we’d be doing everything from staying home and renting Blockbuster movies, to going on our standard birthday dinner and a movie date at the local theater, to watching the First Annual Filipino American Achievment Awards at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood.  Around 3:50pm, Albert, Peter, Ekrina and I hopped into the car and onto the freeway headed to Los Angeles. Shockingly the possibility of attending a Filipino Awards show seemed more likely.

But first we had to eat! We arrived at the Larchmont Grill around 5:40 for dinner. Larchmont Grill is located on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles. The Grill looks more like a two story house than an actual restaurant and the cozy space only accommodates a limited number of diners each night. The wait staff was extremely attentive and kind. We were shown to a table at the back of the room which was set up half as a bench and half with chairs and I felt was the best seat in the restaurant.  From this spot we could see both the other diners and the view out of the window.

The food was AMAZING! We started out with a Calamari appetizer even though Albert initially protested,

I’m not a Calamari guy.

These “steak strips” of calamari were the thickest I’ve ever seen Calamari cut. They were breaded with a peppery rice flour coating and served with two dipping sauces. They looked like a fancy version of mozzarella cheese sticks and Albert protested that no calamari had tasted this good and that it couldn’t really be calamari. Ekrina also thoroughly enjoyed the appetizer.

Then our entrees arrived and they tasted even better than the appetizer. Ekrina opted for the macaroni and cheese which was served in a miniature cast-iron skillet and had a crispy crust on the top.  Albert had the Grilled Rack of Lamb seasoned with mustard grain that I thought tasted like wasabi and served with a potato gratin. Peter chose to go with the Grilled Salmon in lieu of the typical steak that he orders when we go out and explained that he had finished a 60 oz steak on his recent trip to New York and didn’t need any more steak for awhile. I opted for the Petite Filet Mignon which was anything but small and had a great seasoned flavor even though there didn’t appear to be a sauce on it. We all shared a caramelized banana dish for dessert complete with birthday candle and headed off to the next surprise destination…

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