Bordeaux: "Birthday Ballin'" At La Pressoir D'argent Bordeaux.

It is our last night in Bordeaux. This has been my first time traveling solo with Bail, and it has been awesome. The whole crux of this part of the European trip was due to wanting to celebrate a significant birthday for her... So tonight - after a long day of Bordeaux wine education and touring the St. Emillion region - I treated her to dinner at a one-star Michelin restaurant in our hotel called "La Pressoir D'argent Bordeaux."

We each started off with a glass of champagne. I reserved most of mine to drink with my starter (you'll understand in a sec), so given the dinner we ordered, we went with a buttery white wine from Bordeaux to drink.

Yes... That's a decanter next to the bottle. Who knew you could decant white wines? I certainly did not. Until, that is, the wine course today.

My starter was something I hadn't eaten in about 12 years. The last time I had a taste of it was actually at my engagement dinner in 2003, where my finance took me to the iconic River Cafe under the Brooklyn Bridge in NYC.

Tonight, I indulged in a proper serving of the stuff. And it was just as epic as I remembered it being.

It was served with an herbed waffle and an oyster foam of cream. It was so good, the small amount I had. It was perfect with the popping of the champagne. I vowed to never let another dozen years go by before having it again. I am thinking every year on New Year's Eve would be a great time to have a very, very, very small tin of caviar and champagne.

At home. Of course. To avoid the mark-up of restaurants.

Our main course... Was truly and substantially unlike anything either of us has ever had.

We shared a "pressed lobster."

This is a lobster presse...

There are only five in the whole world. And one of them is owned by a restaurant that just went bankrupt. (So start checking eBay, people!) After they cook the lobster, they remove the meat... And then take the shells, along with some of the broth from the poaching, and put it into the presse. The presse is then turned and twisted down... Squashing all of this, and getting every last possible bit of flavor out of the shells.

It produces a minerally-seafood broth... That is then mixed with some shallots and cream... And then poured over the lobster and some sweetbreads (pancreas).

The picture on the left is before the sauce. The picture on the right is after it was poured. It was amazing.

Neither Bail or myself have much of a sweet tooth... So no birthday cake for her! Instead, we went with the cheese cart. We had shaved sheep's milk cheese... Some aged gouda... And some comte.

Afterwards, I ordered an espresso. And as I have learned with these types of high-end fancy places over the years (which - again, I don't go to too often... As my taste is more "In-n-Out" and "Taco Bell" than fancy stuff... Unless I am cooking it myself), they always bring you something sweet at the end.

We got to choose our sweets with our espressos. I went with a chocolate macaron (which was the first decent one I have had here in Bordeaux) and a caramel.

It was a lovely way to celebrate an awesome friend... And a great way to end an awesome day.

HAVE I MENTIONED HOW MUCH I LOVE BORDEAUX IN PREVIOUS POSTS???