Birthdaze: Fancy Pants Dinner 🎁🎈
October 21, 2018
I got my favorite kind of sky on my birthday. Bright blue with bright white clouds. And a very cold wind. 
A fancy dinner with friends at Sans in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn. This “worship the vegetable” eatery is only going to be around for a year as a test of Chef Champ Jones’s plant based skills. Starting with a cocktail: mezcal, spicy tequila, vanilla and pineapple. And lots of salt. The perfect blend of fruity, smoky, spicy and salty–these are also the components of my personality.
High-end housemade chips with a dill dipping sauce. So light and crispy. Reminded me of rippled sour cream and chive chips.
The Roasted Sunchoke: soft and oozy roasted sunchokes with parsnip, cashew cream and a dandelion pesto. Fantastic dish that presents as earthy as it tastes. At first bite I knew this would be an amazing meal. 
The Black Plum Terrine: pickled plum slices, jam, brioche wedges and a unctuous housemade cheese. When all of these components are combined on the delicate brioche wedge it creates a heavenly bite. I wanted more pickle in the pickled plum as it mostly translated as sweet which, combined with the jam, was a tad over-sweet. Luckily I have that salty drink that helped me with balance.
Sexy plants on sexy bread
The sublime Lasagna: bolognaise, plum tomato, and a cheesy foam in-between utra-thin potato ( I think!) that fascinated the heck out of me. A very filling plate that you’ll want to lick at the end. I couldn’t place the meaty layers–bean based? 
My friend’s TV Dinner: a meaty mushroom loaf, carrots, and mashed potatoes served in adorable cast iron pans.
For the Birthday lady: A rich and flavorful Roasted Pear Sorbet with parsnip cake crumbles, and caramel. Heavenly.
We all shared the two desserts. This was the Lemon Sorbet with sesame cookie crumble and a coriander granita.
What a delicious Birthday meal! I will be keeping my eye open for seasonal menu changes.
Some cute parting gifts for me. A portrait of my special guy Frankenstein and some kitchen bling. 