partying in style

A few weeks ago, D and I attended a birthday party in San Francisco. It was fabulous; there's really no other word for it.

The party started with brunch at La Mar, a great Peruvian restaurant in San Francisco. We'd been there once before, and had found the food delicious, if a little bit pricey. The setting is gorgeous; it's located at Pier 1.5, right next to the Ferry Building, and has a great view:


The guests of honor had requested that everyone be dressed in white, and although my selection of white clothing was extremely limited, I managed to throw together something that looked halfway decent. I thought at first that it was a bit silly, but in the end, the visual effect with all of the 30+ guests dressed in all-white was really great.

The menu was pre-arranged; we feasted on various cebiches, cherry tomato and heart of palm salad, mini lamb spring rolls (yum!), lomo saltado (beef with tomatoes and onions, very familiar from my recent Peru trip), and a seafood fried rice dish.

After brunch we hung out for awhile on the patio where we were seated, before heading over to the Hotel Vitale. There, the Cielo Terrace was decked out with couches, heating lamps, and a live jazz band. Here's the view from the terrace:


Inside, there was tons of wine, champagne, and even more food. There were cheeses and charcuteries, mini cupcakes, cheese puffs, homemade marshmallows, caramel corn, and tons of other snacks. After a few hours, the catering staff brought out additional desserts: mini root beer floats, mini champagne sorbet floats, and coffee pot du creme. Of course, I had to try them all...

At this point it was after 5pm, but we had made plans to meet up with another friend to celebrate her birthday that evening. Our reservation at Bix was for 6pm, so we had to take off just as the remaining guests were lighting up their Cuban cigars.

Amazingly, I actually managed to eat nearly half of my lobster pasta dish, as well as half of the famous brioche chocolate bread pudding for dessert. I thought the food was okay but I was actually a bit disappointed in the bread pudding; it came with a big scoop of whipped cream and I think it would have been better with ice cream, or something a little sweeter. The ambience was excellent, though, and the four of us enjoyed our nice dinner.

In retrospect, I should have expected the profusion of food at the party, given what I know about the guests of honor. Next time I'll definitely know better than to double book on them!