(NOTE: Please click on each photograph to get a larger view... and forgive the poor quality of the photos - there wasn't enough light and I was using my iPhone.)

For my 40th birthday, I celebrated at the famous PROVIDENCE restaurant in Los Angeles. It's a 2 star Michelin restaurant whose chef, Michael Cimarusti, is considered to be the best seafood chef in America right now. The food is elegant and refined, yet uses the freshest seasonal ingredients, and combines the latest techniques in molecular gastronomy with rustic flavors. I've eaten at some gourmet restaurants in the past, but never a place that does things like cook veal at 135 degrees for 6 hours or uses the sous vide technique to create the buttery texture of halibut or flash freezes sorbets. I felt like a real grown up, eating at this restaurant. Plus I've always wanted to try this kind of fancy food as seen on TOP CHEF!

We also asked for the "worst table in the house" reservation because you get 10 percent discounted for your meal! The table was all the way in the back by the exit door, and it was totally a nice table and not "worst" at all!

The waiter saw me jotting down all the meals on a scrap piece of paper, so he kindly provided me with a printout of our 9 course tasting menu. The menu is listed below along with my thoughts. I will admit by Course #4, I started crying, because I was totally STUFFED and was now terrified because I still had FIVE MORE COURSES TO GO. But I soldiered on bravely and managed to finish all nine courses. Haha!

MENU:

-- Asian Pear Martini: I thought this was a fantastic cocktail made with freshly squeezed pear juice. It wasn't too sweet or syrupy (I tend to avoid fancy cocktails because of the sugary content) and tasted quite refreshing.

-- Bread, butter, and sea salt: We enjoyed some hot French rolls and homemade foccacia with butter and a little box of sea salt. Yummy!

-- Amuse bouche: a gelee of gin and tonic, a raindrop of mojito, and a tiny cup of carrot curry soup. We had to drink from left to right - the gelee was a tiny cube of gin and tonic that melted in your mouth. The "raindrop" of mojito had to be eaten in one bite - you put it in your mouth and it burst! An amazing flavor. And the final cup of carrot curry soup had amazing spices to ait.  An amuse bouche is a "bite"of food that one eats before the meal. I learned that on Top Chef! 

-- Japanese Kanpachi Sashimi (crispy rice crackers, flowering coriander, endive sous vide, soy creme fraiche):  Great way to start off the meal with a very light sashimi. The fish reminded me of red snapper meets yellowtail. The rice crackers provided a nice crunchy contrast to the silky smooth sashimi! And the soy creme fraiche and foam was a nice touch - I was surprised by how the creme fraiche actually worked with the sashimi, because milk and fish doesn't normally sound like a good combo!

-- Uni in a farm fresh egg (Santa Barbara sea urchin, fines herbes, brioche): I love eggs and anything served in an empty eggshell. I only wish this was bigger!

-- Bobby's Block Island Sea Scallops (first of the season ramps, largreta almonds, red wine vinegar gastrique): If this was a tasting menu portion, I can't imagine what a real meal portion is like! These scallops were huge! They were so tenderly cooked and the red wine vinegar and ramps and almonds enhanced the scallop's flavor.

-- Wild Day Boat  Halibut Alaska (burdock, shiso, lemon): I think this was cooked using the sous vide method. I have never eaten a fish that was so silky smooth, almost like soft silken tofu. It practically melted in my mouth.

-- Artic Char Iceland (carrot miso butter, tokyo negi, carrots braised with lime, Chinese black bean): Artic Char is the hip new fish, and it tastes and looks just like salmon, altho not as "fishy." It's a more delicate version of salmon. The carrot miso and other flavors were quite strong, almost overpowering the char but not quite. I loved how the black beans were like foam - really fun way to eat food!

-- Roasted tenderloin of veal (sweet peas, celery root, shimeji mushrooms): This was when I almost started crying because I was so FULL and could not eat anymore. The veal was almost too rich for me at first because I was sooooo stuffed. But man, was it tender and yummy. They cook it at 135 degrees for six hours. Wow. Note: I had to take this  home because I was too full, and I ate it straight from the fridge for breakfast and it was incredible!!! Soft and moist and delicious, even cold!!!! My favorite of the night, I think. (NOTE: I know many people, rightfully so, are against veal because of the cruelty inflicted upon the animals. Our waiter asked if we wanted to eat the veal or not. It was a tough choice because I know eating veal is not cool, but ultimately, I had to try it. I know some of you will be very disappointed in me, so I apologize.)

-- Cheese plate: We had a cheese cart and got to choose several goat cheeses. We asked that they wrap it up to go because we were too full! We ate the cheese the next night and it was delicious.

-- Pre dessert: It was a dollop of refreshing yogurt and fruit including rhubarb!

-- Dessert: Kalamansi gelee (white chocolate soy milk soup, litchii shiso sorbet) This was a mix of sweet and sour and chocolate and soy and boy did it WORK. Amazing. I also loved the little tapioca balls in the soy milk soup.

-- Take home candies! We were given several candies to take home, all homemade!

Overall, I would highly recommend going to Providence. It's a once in a  lifetime experience and worth the money. You can save money by ordering a bottle of wine (they have more affordable bottles) and the beers are only $5. Anyway, I can't stop thinking of this meal... wow!