Ben's Birthday Dinner

I am coming back for my second post in the life of this blog. Deborah was in MA for my birthday, which sucked, so it is up to me to recount the night. We went to a restaurant, Tilth, that I really have been wanting to try for a while. I appreciate that they serve local, organic produce and grass-fed meat, and could be considered somewhat sustainable. Even though Deborah was gone, it was great to have my parents and friends, Kate and Jacob, at the table with me.
We almost immediately made friends with the waitress when we gave her a couple sets of rattlesnake eggs that my dad brought along. In case you are not familiar with rattlesnake eggs, they are really strong magnets that clatter together and sound like a rattlesnake tail when tossed in the air. Well the waitress thought they were really cool, so we let her take them in the back to share with her coworkers. Here is me playing with the rattlesnake eggs.
I also got a really nice set of gifts from Kate and Jacob. most notably a ticket for a free meal at their house. Judging from past meals at their house I am sure it will be delicious. After the presents we got some delicous appatizers. I am not sure if everyone got them, or they were special for us on account of the rattlesnake eggs- either way they were delicious. It is smoked fig on top of toasted bread covered with a blue cheese mousse and a little almond. The smoky-sweet flavor of the was amazing.





Next I tried a homemade tagliatelle with roasted red peppers. It was also very good. Homemade pasta is so much better than the dried stuff.








A couple people at the table ordered black cod, which I thought was really good, but my dad thought the cut of fish was too thick and felt a little mushy on the pallet.
There were a couple more courses before dessert, but I forgot to take pictures. They included mini duck burgers, hangar steak, and gnudi. I thought the steak and burgers were scrumptious but the gnudi (similar to gnocchi) was a little dense.
My desert was really yummy and topped of with the candles that my mom sneaked to the waitress while I was parking the car. We had a few desserts for the table- mine was an almond cake with fresh berries and a berry sauce. All in all it was a happy birthday and only would have been better if Deborah had been there. I thought it would be appropriate to post this in her stead.