A Not So Healthie Birthday Celebration (Plus Dinner by Kevin from Top Chef!)

First, let's just start with this picture:


That's right, in the middle there you'll see a man named Kevin Gillespie. You might recognize him from this season of Top Chef. (We're all such huge fans! We're rooting for you Kevin!)

Yesterday was my sister's birthday, so Erin and her boyfriend Richard decided to come to Atlanta last minute to head to Kevin's restaurant, Woodfire Grill. Ben and I of course willingly joined them :).

It was so decadent and delicious, although a little pricey for a standard Saturday night.

I had a champagne cocktail, with elderflower and oregano syrup which was such a delightful addition to the normal bubbly. Then, we did the 5-course tasting menu. Since we did the tasting menu, everything was a surprise, so my apologies that my descriptions of what we ate are not exactly on point.

• Compliments of the Chef: A sort of Amuse Bouche that was a play on waldorf salad. It had braised apple and celery, with a mixture of creme freche and some kind of aioli.
  

• First Course: Sous vide egg with micro black eyed peas and tomato broth (and other fancy stuff I can't remember...)
  

• Second Course: Caramelized Georgia Diver scallop with an olive tapenade, local Georgia butter beans and a lamb jus.

• Third Course: Raw oysters from Washington state (can't remember the formal kind we had) and they had diced pepper and red onion on top (again, can't remember the fancy components!)
  

• Fourth Course: Roasted duck, over a pink lady apple and parsnip pure with firewood roasted gala apples and an apple cider reduction on the side.

• Fifth Course: Braised pork belly with a watermelon radish and fresh herb salad on top, with roasted carrots dusted with cumin.

• Dessert:Toasted sponge cake with apple-pear gelato with a banana chip and an apple-balsamic reduction and apples tartin on the side and a dark chocolate stuffed crepes with cocoa nib streusel, whipped cream and latte sauce.
  

I can't believe how good it all was! Since we decided to go kind of last-minute, we could only get a reservation for 10:15, which means we had to have a few things to snack on earlier in the evening to help us make it to such a late dinner!

First, I put out the classic veggies and dip to snack on:



Then - because it was a special occasion, I also made a baked brie. I think this is by far one of my favorite things in the world. I don't think I could ever get tired of it:


(Clearly we devoured this... truth be told, I probably ate a little too much of this before such a nice meal! I was a little too full for the rest of the evening...)

We had some wine and beer, and watched some football for the evening while we waited for our dinner reservations. Overall I think Erin had a pretty good birthday and we were glad we could help her celebrate.