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Apr 1, 2006

My birthday is tomorrow, and, serendipitously, two of Erin’s law school classmates offered to babysit as a break from their studies, so my beautiful wife and I got gussied up and zipped over to Magnolia Grill, a restaurant we’ve been wanting to visit since we first moved to North Carolina in 2001. (I first ate there last fall with some business associates.)

The meal, naturally, was delicious:

• Warm Celebrity Dairy goat cheese on peppery greens with roasted walnuts and marinated young early spring vegetables

• Shrimp risotto with Andouille sausage, tomatoes and baby butterbeans, shrimp “redeye” essence

• Pan-roasted Alaskan halibut on leek and asparagus fondue with porcini broth, fines herbes salad and white truffle oil

• Slow-cooked pork osso buco on creole red beans with smoky brandy-garlic jus and creamy, spicy red pepper slaw

• A to Z 2004 Oregon pinot noir

• Chocolate chip pound cake with chocolate malt ice cream and baked bananas

Now, Erin’s at the kitchen table with her classmates, reviewing constitutional law, and I’m off to see a late movie with my mom. Tomorrow, my sole birthday wish is to buy some new kitchen tools, such as a citrus juicer, pizza paddle and a sharp paring knife.

Anton Zuiker ☄