1. Friday Work Lunch - Gill's Diner
Although this was not specifically part of my birthday, I can take credit for it because I organised it. With all of our superiors on a work junket, the juniors at our office attended a long salubrious lunch at city eatery Gill's Diner. The adjacent Commercial Bakery was a regular lunch haunt for us some time ago until it reduced the number of already limited lunch tables to not many at all, so it was a while since I had been back. We had 12 or so people on a long table in the big cavernous garage-stone-walled space and started with a bottle of Bloody Hill Pinot Noir (now becoming a bit of a favourite). Not long later the set starters of Croquettes and also some beautifully fresh Gravelax (otherwise known as smoked salmon) arrived and were quickly devoured. Mains were a choice between a Beef Cheek, Spaghetti Marinara and a variety of pies (I think this worked really well for a work lunch - set starters, choice of mains). The crowd voted with their feet and resoundingly chose the Beef Cheek - the popular vote was validated with most attendees discarding their knives and using their forks alone to cut through the tender meat. The Marinara was a distant second choice for a minority although was met with rave reviews and I admittedly was jealous looking at my neighbour's seafood laden bowl. Overall, I reckon it was about an 8 out of 10.
2. Saturday Evening Pre-Party Dinner - Pizza E Birra
I have blogged about my favourite pizza before and notwithstanding that I haven't yet been to DOC in Carlton, I still have Pizza E Birra on the top of the mantle for pizza. We started with white anchovies and warm olives for starters with an Ichnusa beer and wines. We then moved onto the main event - pizza. There were 3 - The Napoletana (Tomato Sugo, buffalo mozzarella, anchovies, parmesan and basil), The Porcino (Mozzarella, porcini mushrooms, asparagus, tallegio, parmesan and truffle oil) and The Broccoli (Mozzarella, broccoli, garlic, anchovy, tomato, caramelised onions and goats cheese). The only arguments over dinner were which of the three were superior. The ever reliable Napoletana won out, but only just from the Porcini then shortly followed by The Broccoli. The service was exceptional with the only downside being that I got the dreaded door seat on a blisteringly cold Melbourne night. Overall, I reckon 8.5 out of 10.
No photos for this one but we managed to organise to have our party down-stairs at the George on hip-hop night. The music was great, the bar-staff were friendly and the crowd was getting into it. With special guests the Wu Tang Clan rocking up after their earlier gig at Festival Hall, it was truly a special night!
Mum went seriously to work on a middle-eastern feast complete with menu and multiple dishes which would have made Greg Malouf swoon. The dishes included Crunchy Red Swiss Chard Felafel (pictured below), Pomegranate Glazed Kebabs, Pilaf Rice with chick peas, apricots and pistachio to name but a few. The highlight (by unanimous decision I believe) was Basil and Kaidifi Wrapped King Prawns with Pine Tarator (pictured).
So that is that: 4 candles, 4 events and 2 birthdays (yes, that includes my twin brother!).
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