happy bday, pops.

from the desert garden at the huntington library.

another food-filled weekend.

steve hosted a surprise birthday party for lucas at tinto tapas on friday night. the food was pretty good, the sangria was strong. and we met some very cool people from the entertainment industry.

saturday, we had brunch at mi piace in old town pasadena, then spend the afternoon roaming the gardens at the huntington library. for dinner, mike cooked almond [correction: praline] crusted duck breast with sauteed rapini and apple&potato au gratin. dan and my contribution was short rib and spicy pork tacos from kogi. afterwards, mike had some people over to just hang out and drink wine and what not.

we went to tart on sunday for brunch with colin, a friend of dan's from college visiting LA for the weekend. unlike the past couple times we've been, it was packed and the service was a tad slow, but the food was still very tasty. sunday night i treated my family out to dinner at takao for my dad's birthday. we ordered the omakase, which was $120 per person. this was what we were served:

_mirugai with spicy sauce
_albacore tartar with caviar
_toro sashimi with fresh wasabi
_halibut sashimi with warm truffle oil
_king crab legs with vinaigrette
_single lamb rib
_fried japanese oysters
_assorted nigiri sushi
_miso soup with clams
_dessert
and of course we ordered the eggplant extravaganza on the side.

all that plus a bottle of sake was quite price-y. after tax and tip, it was more than i take home in a week from work, but it was well worth it. everything was delicious and spot on - i would have gladly paid even more for the meal we had. good, and delicious, times.