Food Porn: Central by Michel Richard

This week I celebrated my birthday. And no birthday week would be complete without an awesome meal, good friends, a bit of birthday cake.

My first birthday also included cake. And I really dug in. As my parents explained it to me, they weren't sure what to do for a 1-year-old's birthday so they gave me some chocolate cake and put a hat on me. I'm clearly quite content.

My tastes have become a bit more refined over the years and my table manners have vastly improved. But I still can appreciate a good piece of cake.

During my birthday week, I was treated to a great meal at Central by two fellow foodie co-workers. This place is known for their burgers, so it was only right for me to get one of their signature dishes. This dry-aged beef burger was awesome. It included carmelized onions, and potato crisps on top. So tasty. I paired it with a warm spinach salad with bacon vinaigrette because as we all know, I don't turn down a good bacon dish. But the lunch food didn't end there, despite my full stomach and objections.  Because you can't have a birthday celebration without something sweet.

This something sweet came in the form of a chocolate lava cake with the creamiest ice cream I've had in a long time. I have no idea what they did to make it so tasty, but it just was. And they even put a candle on it and added an edible little birthday sign. For someone who doesn't like desserts...I did like this. It hit the spot and contributed to the sugar high and the subsequent crash mid-afternoon when I just wanted to curl up in the fetal position under my desk and take a nap.

But you're supposed to indulge on your birthday. And indulge I did, even if I didn't smash my hands in it. A 33-year-old really shouldn't do such things. In public. :)