Age 28 has finally arrived. I’m officially out of the “mid-twenties” and have been swept into my “late-twenties.” I’m not gonna lie…I don’t like it very much. But, the good news is that I had a fantastic birthday dinner to usher in my 28th year.
On my actual birthday I wanted three things.
1- To sit in my hammock
2- To blow out a candle
3- Fun, delicious comfort food
I spent my birthday at Avalon Restaurant in Downtown West Chester. They just added a new hand-carved cheese and charcuterie table that seemed oh-so-fun. And boy was it ever.
Di Bruno Brothers helped pick the cheese selections available on the table, like a Bertozzi “Riserva” Reggiano, caccio di Roma and an extra creamy gorgonzola dolce along with seasonal farm cheeses from smaller local productions, like California’s Andandte Farms and Pete Dempsher’s fresh goat’s milk basket cheese.
Charcuterie selections included (I left this up to the waitress and she picked) a variety of meaty bites, like Talula’s Table’s Birchrun Farm’s beef breasola, spicy copa and triple hickory smoked juniper sausage and imported Prosciutto di Parma & sweet Casalingo salami.
Yes, the cheese and meats were tasty, but my favorite part was the unique and artistic selection of condiments, like strawberry-balsamic jam, Amerena wild cherries, imported truffle honey (my favorite), 12-year aged balsamic vinegar and mostarda di fruita (like wasabied cherries…mmm.) Note: At first glance the portions seem very small but if you savor each bite and eat it with bread you’ll fill up faster then you think.)
After this sampling it was time for the prix-fixe meal with fresh mozzarella, tomatoes and a drizzle of balsamic. Baked ricotta cheese ravioli with smoked mozzarella san marzano tomato ragu (a perfect comfort birthday food) and a fabulous (again, the waitress’s pick) molten lava chocolate cake complete with a candle.
I was warmly filled with Stargazer’s red wine, fun meats and cheeses, lotsa mozza and warm, gooey chocolate cake filled with a wish.
The Final Dish:
I walked my plumped-up birthday self home to digest in my hammock and hope my birthday wishes would come true. Oh yeah, and I had to be on a plane to CA at 7 am the next morning.
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