Tate's Birthday: Food and Fun

Last night we celebrated another year of Tate. We had met at the new Midtown French restaurant, Artisans, for cocktails and dinner. It was a cozy, intimate affair with a few of my other favorite people: Matt, Melissa, and Elizabeth. James is at a conference in San Antonio, so he missed out on the fun.

Here we are enjoying pre-dinner cocktails at the bar. The restaurant is really attractive with low light, dark wood, and lots of candles. As a nola girl, I appreciated all the Fleur De Lis decor.

Here's Tate and pretty Elizabeth. Isn't her dress great?! She is one of the classiest dressers I know. She always looks so put together, no matter what the occasion.

Good Lord my face looks white! Especially next to Mel's lovely Puerto Rico tan. But I'm glad I got to sit next to her and catch up on gossip . . . and eat some of her food!
PS Anyone have tips for how to make your white face match your darker body??

Matt was in the corner without a friend to be in his picture, so he did the next best thing- no friend? Take a pic with your glass of wine! And let's be honest, sometimes that's the best friend of all!

Now, on to the food . . .

First of all, I find it a smidgen pretentious when the salt has it's own wooden, magnetic, container WITH sprinkle spoon- do you really want to start the night intimidated by the condiments?

Matt and Tate both ordered the tuna. It was the dish I was least impressed with. The tuna was cooked perfectly, but it was served with a chipotle sauce that I thought was overwhelming.

Oooh- isn't Mel's filet pretty?! Elizabeth also got steak, the sirloin, and both cuts were delicious! The mushroom sauce on Mel's was particularly good.

But out of all these tasty dishes, the grand prize went to my selection: the pistachio-encrusted sea bass! It was amazing! The fish was perfectly cooked- juicy, firm, and light in taste. But the nut crust was the scene-stealer: it was crunchy, a bit salty, and buttery. I want it again right now!!

Dessert was really pretty, but taste-wise it was a disappointment. Mel made a really good point that chocolate desserts at restaurants tend to never be as good as the homemade ones.
I agree with that, and it maketh one ponder why that is . . . what's the best restaurant chocolate dessert in your opinion? And I apologize for the blurriness- dessert makes me very excited, and sometimes that leads to sweating and shaking- don't I sound like a great dinner companion?

It was a wonderful night! I love having at least one night out during the week to dress up, eat tasty food, and laugh with friends. We love Tate dearly, and it was great to celebrate with him! Now go make me some short ribs . . .