trying another new place

As cold as it was last Saturday, Sunday was even colder - with no new snow - so we didn't bother to ski: I just don't find it that fun when I have to go into the lodge for a warm-up every other run.  The weather started to change with the start of the week, however, bringing the best storm of the season which was actually a series of storms that should continue through this coming weekend (24" and counting).

The new week also brought my birthday and we headed out to a new (to us) restaurant to celebrate: Epic Casual Dining (707 E. Ft. Union Boulevard in Midvale).  Epic had been recommended to me by a coworker and is (or was) the more casual sister restaurant to Tiburon, also recommended to us; we weren't in the mood to pay Tiburon prices so Epic it was.

There was a decent crowd for a midweek evening, with a live singer/guitarist playing in the corner.  We noted that most of the tables did not have alcohol although there was a bottle of white wine here, some beer there.  Our waiter was pleasant if a little poky.  We got a bottle of Castle Rock pinot noir and an order of flatbread with house-made hummus to start and perused the menu more closely.  The hummus was very good, dense and flavorful, and the flatbread, sliced like a pizza into six pieces, was fresh and light.  We split a Caesar salad - which was enormous - that came as whole Romaine leaves, lightly dressed and draped with pale anchovies. 

For entrees, H had the grilled beef tenderloin, served with mashed potatoes and sauteed vegetables, while I went with the flat iron steak (medium rare) which came with roasted red potatoes and "creamed spinach."  For the price, H's meal was a little on the small side so I shared some of my steak, which was delicious, with him.  My spinach happily turned out to be less creamed and more sauteed and then drizzled with a cream sauce, and it was good.  We were tempted by the New York-style cheesecake but ultimately decided against it.

As far as our track record goes for my birthday dinners, this one was in the plus column (2010: Citrus Grill, meh; 2011: Pat's BBQ, bleh; 2012: Aristo's, yum; 2013: Cafe Trio, okay).  I'm not sure the restaurant lives up to its Epic billing exactly, but the food was good and we had a nice evening.  It's hard to complain about that.