When I visit Philadelphia to meet up with my friend L so we can celebrate our April 15th birthdays and 27th years, we will go out to dinner. We love trying out different cuisines. Since she chose sushi last year and it wasn’t my favorite try, it’s my choice this year. …and I’ve picked Parc and its fancy French fare. This French brasserie sits on lovely Rittenhouse Square.
This is actually my second time dining at a French Restaurant. I helped my friend J celebrate her graduate program graduation with her family at one in Maryland a few years ago. I believe I ordered chicken, with maybe a mustard sauce? I know I have many Francophiles in my audience. What should I have this time around, you guys? I was thinking something classicly French like Coq Au Vin or Beef Bourguignon...
I hope we have a big crowd! The more, the merrier! I still know a couple more people in Philly, as well as having new friends in New Jersey. L and I want to go for drinks afterwards, probably at nearby NoChe, which more than being a bar, serves “gourmet pizzas and pub fare.” The ambience of this second story place seems cool.
The next night I’ll have returned home and will be going out with friends to the Italian restaurant Piccola Roma in historic Annapolis. I hope to collect a big group of friends at a charming bar called Galway Bay Irish Pub and then walk down the street to the restaurant. I can’t wait to spend time with these fantastic friends of mine, many of whom I don’t happen to hang out with too often. A mix of high school, college and since school friends, they haven’t all met one another.
The following afternoon/ evening I will be helping to prepare my “Italian Feast” shared with my immediate family members and maternal grandparents. It will be adapted to my family’s American tastes. I’m going to shop at The Italian Market for wine, proscuitto, an Italian cheese, bread, maybe olive oil for dipping bread, maybe more! The menu below is fairly simple for my family of big-eaters!
The menu will be:
Antipasti:
-garden salad
-good Italian bread with olive oil
-an Italian cheese like mozzarella or something
-sharp cheddar cheese
-proscuitto
Main Course or Primo Piatto:
-my specialty: penne pasta and tomato basil sauce with red pepper, yellow pepper and asparagus
-meat lasagna
Side or Contorno:
-sauteed spinach
Dessert or Dolce:
-devil’s food cake with buttercream frosting and dark pink roses
(I know… not very Italian, but very Michelle. I’m looking forward to my cake!)
Wine or Vino:
-plenty! especially red!
A perfectly cultural birthday with friends and family! Plus a trip thrown in. I love it!
One to dress up for dinner, I gotta figure out what to wear those three times!