Today is my brother, Robert's birthday! Typically, I would make a phone call to him to greet him on the day of his birth, as he's usually found in sunny California. But for nearly the past month, my brother has graced us with his presence with an extended visit back "home" to Chicago. As a result of this, we've had the opportunity to hang out, eat home-cooked meals at Mom & Dad's house, and tonight celebrate his birthday. My parents wanted to take Robert out for dinner at a local restaurant in my neck of the woods called Bonfire. It's a reliable and tasty Greek-owned restaurant that specializes in grilled meats, seafood, pastas, Greek dishes such as saganaki ~flaming cheese~Opa! and an overall good dining experience! Now, typically, if we had celebrated Robert's birthday at home Filipino-style, there most definitely would be the requisite platter of Pancit, long noodles gently stir-fried with veggies, chicken, shrimp, chinese sausage, and shredded pork for a quick description. Pancit is THE birthday dish, as it symbolizes long life in the form of the long rice noodle. A birthday just isn't quite a birthday if there isn't pancit on the table...Well, seeing as to how we had dined at Bonfire, a non-Filipino restaurant nor home, some improvisation was in order. So after perusing the menu, my Mom & Dad settled on the Garlic Shrimp Sorrentini, which was basically "long" linguini pasta dressed in luxurious olive oil, aromatic garlic, parsley, shrimp and grated parmesan. It wasn't long rice noodles dressed in a soy sauce/citrus broth with fresh veggies and savory meats, but it was noodles nonetheless, long in nature, and delicious throughout. And to accentuate the celebration of life, my Girlies insisted on Spaghetti from the Kid's Menu, so they knew the appropriate dish to order, since that's how we Filipinos roll~ha! So in effect, tonight's restaurant-style celebration of Robert's charmed life to date also celebrated the long life ahead of him and the long life of good eats to come! And to make things even more delightful, really good wine and dessert also filled the table, Robert's belly, and his birthday feast! Happy Birthday, Dear Kuya Robert, Happy Birthday to You!!
Here's to trying your hand at serving up some Pancit or Long Life Noodles at the next Birthday Celebration coming your way! Cheers!
No comments:
Post a Comment