When You Hire a Personal Chef for your Birthday

Every year I celebrate my birthday with food and wine. In the past, I've gathered my closest friends and made reservations at the newest up and coming restaurant. Last year was Lincoln and that was fab! Having moved outside of the beltway this past year, something more intimate at home sounded better.

Kirstyn, One Chic Chef, is a great friend who I met while managing the wine shop a few years back. We met by chance and she began to prepare food for a few wine tasting events at the store. Since then, she has visited my home and gave my girlfriends and I cooking lessons multiple times. The idea of hosting a dinner party with her just seemed perfect.

Throwing around ideas of what food to serve, we settled on a summertime salad, homemade lobster ravioli with vodka sauce and individual molten chocolate cakes for dessert. YUM!




As always, I started the evening with Champagne and an appetizer; baguette and bacon fig jam. Sparkling wine is a must at any event, IMO ;) I served Claude Baron Champagne, given to me by a dear friend. It was a great way to welcome everyone to the celebration and light enough for even the beer drinkers of the group.




I also opened up a bottle of Chrysalis Mariposa (Rosé). This was great for the first course which was a mixed greens salad served with a grilled peach, slice of prosciutto, goat cheese and balsamic reduction drizzle. Kirstyn explained that peaches are usually in season a little later in the summer but due to the warmer winter, they are perfect right now. She was right! What a great addition to the salad. Chrysalis Mariposa is always a crowd pleaser and perfect for a light salad and summertime evening. The bright color comes from the Norton grape and is a full-bodied rosé that can be paired with a variety of dishes.

Grilled Peach and Prosciutto Salad. Photo courtesy of Nancy Hott

On to the entree course, homemade lobster ravioli! She called this drunken ravioli because the lobster filling was made with sherry and the sauce was made with vodka. She knows me well :) Large raviolis filled with chunks of lobster meat and that creamy vodka sauce made for a perfect entree course. By this point, the rosé was gone and we were onto the next bottle. I opened the Girasole Organic Chardonnay which was a great accompaniment to the ravioli. Since the ravioli wasn't too heavy like a lot of pasta dishes can be, this chardonnay paired perfectly. It was full-bodied but not overly oaky, again, another crowd pleaser.

Lobster Ravioli with vodka sauce, basil and garlic bread. Photo courtesy of Nancy Hott

 Last but certainly not least, she served individual molten chocolate cakes with fresh raspberries and a dusting of powdered sugar. This was melt-in-your-mouth good and quite the dessert! Cakey on the outside and ooey-gooey on the inside. The raspberries were perfect with the melty chocolate. As we were devouring our cakes, no one spoke a word. All you could hear was the mmmm's from everyone! It was a perfect way to the end the meal.

Molten Chocolate cake with fresh raspberries. Photo courtesy of Nancy Hott

Feeling like a queen, I could not thank Kirstyn enough for all that she did to prepare such a fantastic meal. It was amazing from start to finish. She served every course, explained each one and answered any questions we had. She's a great chef who does multiple things from catering to meal delivery to cooking lessons. She comes highly recommended! Look her up.

The group! Photo courtesy of Nancy Hott

If only my meals could turn out an A+ like this one was :)