Nick of Time

Yesterday was my friend Nick’s birthday. With the exception of last year, we’ve celebrated annually with him since moving to Los Angeles. In 2010 we went to play pool, last night we gathered at Rosewood Tavern.

As you can see, the place was packed. Nick’s wife Meredith (the adorable redhead between the “V” and “E” below) arranged for us to have a cozy corner to ourselves.

At one point, an outside group infiltrated, but Abe got them to leave so we could serve the cake. We were all very impressed.

The entire bar serenaded Nick!

Chocolate from Sweet Lady Jane…

…and Strawberry from Ralph’s Grocery

I started with super fancy time…

…but once I traded bites with Abe…

…I knew I had to have some more for myself.

Aside from the two slices of cake, I also noshed on a side of french fries…

…polished off most of the bowl:

I actually read a bad review of the water here, so I was pleasantly surprised that it was drinkable. But I still wound up nursing this ginormous Diet Coke most of the evening – probably the reason I’ve been up since 5am!

They might not receive accolades for their H20, but Rosewood Tavern won a Burger Award last night! Meredith agreed that it is quite excellent – and better than Umami’s…

…you know what that means – I gotta get back there to try one for myself. But cake + fries = the perfect birthday celebration dinner. Reminds me of parties at the Bergenfield Roller Rink.

(Speaking of awards, there’s only two more days for The Kitchn’s Best Healthy Cooking Blog Nominations. Would love it if you took a second to vote for “The Actor’s Diet!”)