We started his birthday festivities by eating his favorite breakfast sandwich from Gandolfos. I had reserved a room at his favorite SLC hotel, Monaco, when our plumbing stuff was going on. So after breakfast he opened his first gift (MONACO!).
He was SO EXCITED! The hotel offers a Pet Package so Cleo got to come with us for free.
Since 2007, we've had a little birthday tradition....
Dinner at BenniHanna and Drinks at The Red Door. I totally didn't realize until J told me, but our hotel was RIGHT next to the Red Door and across the street from Benihana! Talk about some good planning ;)
We checked into our hotel after his practice with some friends and found lots of little cute dog stuff for us in our room.
For his birthday this year, I got him a new iPod Touch. The first birthday we spent together, I got him an iPod but over the years and several moves... we haven't been able to find it. He was THRILLED with his gift and all it's capabilities. He has been wanting something he can record song ideas on and guess what... there's an app for that! ;)
Now we absolutely love EVERYTHING about Benihanas! The food/the atmosphere/the drinks/the chefs! We were a little sad about our table when we first sat down because the other two couples were stuffy, stick-in-the-mud, anti-social, robots. Then a guy by himself sat right by J and refused to get up when the hostess explained that he would have to wait until his name was called. It was a rocky start but man oh man did it turn out WONDERFUL!
We had an AMAZING chef named Luis. Since no one else at the table was courteous or paid attention, J and I made sure to cheer for every fancy trick! The meal was the best we've ever had there... and the steak was some of the best I have EVER had anywhere! We were thrilled with our meal and our wonderful drinks!
After the meal, we asked to see the manager. They were a little skiddish about it but one of the main managers finally came over to talk to us. We complimented our chef and let her know that out of the four years we've been coming to the restaurant, tonight's chef was BY FAR the absolute best! We just raved about him for about five minutes. She was so thrilled to hear our good words and said that he is actually their newest chef! She assured us she would let him know how pleased we were. :)
After the meal, we continued to the Red Door. We didn't know that they would have a little band but they were awesome and played instrumental versions of top 40 hits. The Red Door has a really cool vibe and AMAZING martinis! J got a Prohibition and I got a Cocaine Lady. Mine was super tasty and very dessert-ish.
Cocaine Lady:
1 part Stoli® Vanil vodka
1 part Kahlua® coffee liqueur
1 part Bailey's® Irish cream
1 splash Rumple Minze® peppermint liqueur
1 part milk
1 part Kahlua® coffee liqueur
1 part Bailey's® Irish cream
1 splash Rumple Minze® peppermint liqueur
1 part milk
Mix all ingredients in a shaker with ice, shake, strain into shot glass. The amount of milk is optional depending on desired potency of shot. Then sprinkle powder sugar in a line across the top.
If you ever visit SLC, I DEFINITELY recommend The Red Door. I love that we are usually the youngest people in there. It's all 25-45yr olds usually so it has a really neat atmosphere. We continued back to our room where they brought us TWO free desserts!sidenote: When I had booked the hotel, I asked for a late check out due to our plumbing problem... little did I know that they had made note of it in the reservation. When we were getting ready to leave to dinner, we got a call from the front desk. They offered their condolences for our plumbing issues and told us to order a FREE dessert when we return to our room. We were shocked! Yay for good service.
And man, oh man... they were TASTY!
The room-service associate must have appreciated our tip because he came back with two free things of popcorn :)
Sunday we had brunch with our friends and their little daughter. We went to this cool little place in Emigration Canyon called Ruth's Diner! It was originally in a trolley car but they added onto it over the years! This is another place I recommend eating if you ever visit SLC.
Sunday Night was J's bday party at Bar Named Sue! He played an acoustic set to start out the night ...
... then his old band, Illborn, played a set. It was really neat to see his old band on stage together since they haven't played together in about 10 years.
They were followed by another friend's acoustic set...
...then J closed out the night with two songs!
Tons of his friends showed up (especially for a Sunday night) and I passed out cupcakes for his bday :)
Here's to the big 31 - hope it is oh, so much fun! ;)
1 comment:
I want to get the doggie package at a hotel now. How fun! I'm sure you guys will have a great year. I am just glad to not be the only one who is (shhh) 31. Haha!
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