A Happy Birthday!

Since I didn't start this blog until after my birthday, I didn't really get a chance to write about a restaurant that I've been wanting to try for many years: Aria. I read reviews of restaurants in the newspaper, on the internet, and through opentable all the time to get an idea of what's new, what's not, what's hot, etc. And I get to choose the restaurant our family goes to once a year: On my birthday, which, by the way, has to be the worst date of the year to be born.

Being born the day after Christmas has always been the Merry/Happy Christmas/Birthday celebration, when no one in the world really wants to celebrate (including me) b/c everyone's already had their Christmas parties days and weeks in advance and everyone needs a few days before gearing up for the New Year's fesitivities. I've learned to cope and deal with it, and the best way I know how is to treat myself to something very special on that day, which is usually going out to a restaurant that I've chosen.

On other days of the year when our family of six goes out to dinner, it's usually a big argument: Dad wants Indian, the girls opt for Chinese or Mexican, the boy hates Chinese and wants Picadilly for the fried okra. Everyone's upset about that, so we usually meet in the middle and go Mexican (ha, ha)! and pseudo-Mexican at that (Monterrey, a chain near us with low-quality food but with pretty good margaritas).

But on this one day of the year, MOM gets to choose, and this year I wanted to treat myself!

Aria was a terrific choice! It's the kind of restaurant that has a nice selection of items that is interesting enough but still approachable for kids. For starters, some shared the Crispy Crab Cakes ... yummy, is all I can say. I had the lobster cocktail which was good, but pricey for a lot of mashed potatoes on the bottom of some green sauce I couldn't identify. EB had the delicious and light Celery Root soup. For entress, my eldest daughter and I had the George Banks Sea Scallops, perfectly pan sauteed served over al dente seafood risotto; SJ ordered the ribeye, huge, perfectly cooked to order, with a red reduction sauce he wanted to lick off the plate; one daughter had the filet mignon, again, cooked to medium-rare; son had the fall-apart pork shoulder served with blue-cheese mashed potatoes; youngest daughter, the carb-lover, ate a bunch of bread dipped in olive oil and ordered the appetizer mushroom ravioli. It was a wonderful meal, and, surprisingly, everyone ended up happy.

We ended up skipping the movie theater and choosing District 9 to watch at home together. It was a warm and cozy family event, and a nice cost break after our dinner. It really did end up a happy birthday after all for me, and I've found a wonderful new restaurant as well.