Birthday Plans? This Year, No Bridge Involved.

We rarely go out to dinner, which is one of the reasons I've loved having a job that requires travel. It's been our habit to make a big deal on our birthdays and our anniversary, when our destination is almost always the City. The first restaurant that felt like "ours" was Joyce Goldstein's wonderful Square One (sadly long gone), and we've enjoyed many special evenings at Rubicon and at Hawthorne Lane. We've tried Boulevard and Town Hall and One Market and Azie and Bacar and A16 and La Folie and many others, but there's something about returning to a restaurant - it can't be your favorite unless you go more than once.

This year, after the Italian extravaganza (same word in Italian as in English!! Who knew?), and with my upcoming reduction in "billable hours", I don't need (or deserve) indulging, so we're sticking closer to home for the birthday dinner. We've got reservations at Rivoli in Berkeley, a restaurant that's been on the Chronicle Top 100 Restaurants list for six years in a row, and we've never been. Up to this point, it's been too East Bay for a birthday. But EVERYONE says that the portabello fritters are amazing, and so in the guise of "going low key" this year, I'll get to try a place that I've been eying for a long time.

What I REALLY want for my birthday is for David to oil my desk chair.