For Shalimar's 37th birthday, I took her to Ame Restaurant in San Francisco. Ame has been on my short list of restaurants to surprise Shalimar with for the past couple of years, so when I found out that Hiro Sone and Lissa Doumani were the chefs, I immediately knew where to celebrate her birthday! Hone and Doumani are also the proprietors of the amazing Terra Restauranat in St. Helena, where Shalimar recently brought me to celebrate my birthday. For appetizers, Shalimar and I shared the Salad of Heirloom Tomatoes, “Pan con Tomate” and Smoked Paprika Accented Tomato Water Gelée with Burrata Cheese. We also shared the Summer Squash Soup with Duck Carnitas, Padron Peppers and Corn “Truffle”. The kitchen split the appetizers for us before bringing them out, so the presentation was preserved - a very nice touch by the restaurant. For her main course, Shalimar had the Grilled Breast of Liberty Farm Duckon Braised Lettuce, Quinoa and Duck Gizzard Confit with Red Wine Cherry Sauce, and I had the Grilled Half Maine Lobster and Hokkaido Scallops with Potato Gnocchi, Forest Mushrooms, Corn and Caramelized Cipollini Onions in Lobster Sauce. The food at Ame was delicious!

All photos taken with a Canon Powershot S95.