We're Back In The Kitchen!

To celebrate Dave's birthday on Tuesday and Chris' birthday last weekend, we treated ourselves to a posh night out with a Chef's Table experience at One Market. This restaurant is special to us because it was our first "grown up" dinner Dave and I had together...back in 1998!!! We were 20 years old and it was our first trip to this far, far away place called California. We had a fabulous dinner 9 years ago (ostrich and a fabulous white grape juice) and then took the trolley back to our hotel. Some of that magic was recreated last night, but with an entirely new perspective and a new set of friends to share in the experience! Back to the present day, here is a rundown of our fabulous evening!

5:00pm: Chris and Valerie come over to our apartment for a glass of Veuve (my fave) and some light hors d'oeuvres.

6:30pm: Our reservation at One Market begins as they lead us through the restaurant and into the back kitchen where a private booth awaits us and custom menus celebrating Dave & Chris' birthdays! Dave filmed this video and it gives a good feel of what we experienced....from the calm elegance of the front room through the organized chaos of the kitchen and into our secret hideaway at the chef's table!

And here are a few photos of the area....

6:32pm: Open our first bottle of wine! The first bottle is one we've saved for a few years and was quite tasty. Chris and Valerie also brought a bottle - their selection was a Cabernet from Honig and was AMAZING. Definitely a highlight and we're so glad they shared it.

6:40pm-10:00pm: SEVEN courses are served! The team of waiters served each course so they were placed before us in one motion.

You can see on the menu what each item is, so I'll just post the amazing photos and hope you can get a taste through the visuals. Unfortunately, you'll have to visit One Market on your own (or with us!) in a visit to SF in order to get the true feeling.

After the 4th course of delicious day boat scallops, we had to ask for a 20 minute intermission just to let our stomachs settle a bit! After the 5th course of an amazing duck with cocoa rub on it, the restaurant manager took us on a tour around the restaurant and into the wine cellar where a tasting was awaiting us.

10:00pm-10:30pm: Dessert! For the final course, Valerie and I were invited into the pastry kitchen to finalize the SIX desserts the pastry chefs prepared. In addition to these samplers, they THEN surprised us with two full-size desserts to commemorate Chris & Dave's birthday one final time.

10:40pm: As we stumble (yes, it's a bit of stumbling at this point) out of the restaurant, we were looking for a taxi when instead we saw a Cable Car! Since arriving in San Francisco, we haven't taken one before so it seemed like the perfect opportunity (late evening, only 2 tourists on board so we weren't exactly clamoring to get on) and it was a blast! I highly recommend it. Here are a few pics from our adventure (the lens is a little blurry b/c we were a little blurry....oh, did I forget to mention that we capped the night off with an Irish Coffee each? oops).

We had a super fun evening with great friends. It was an excellent way to celebrate Dave and Chris' birthdays!