July 7, 2013: L.A. Day #3! The birthday report! And such!

Shhhh.  Please keep your comments to a whisper.  We’re still recovering from last night’s festivities.

The invitation said “7:00 p.m. until late” but we arrived fashionably tardy, around 8:00 p.m. – which was when, coincidentally, we were told the lobster food truck would arrive.  We actually got there for 7:45 but the truck was already parked out front.  Akemi noticed it first.  Her excitement at spotting it was rivalled only by her happiness at seeing Martin again (“He has skin, soft like baby,”she would always say back in Toronto).

We rang the doorbell and, when nobody answered, assumed/hoped it was the right place, opened the door and strolled through the house to the back yard a crowd was watching the birthday boy decapitate a bottle of champagne with his new sabre. Yep, we were at the right place!

Our hostess and host on this evening: Chelan and the birthday boy.

The lobster food truck offered an insane variety of choices.  You could have a chilled lobster roll with mayo or a hot version with melted butter, lobster bisque, clam chowder, crab rolls, shrimp rolls, lobster tacos, lobster tails.  There was even lobster ice cream!  I must have made a half dozen trips!

Akemi rarin’ to eat.

A lot of interesting people in attendance: actors (including several familiar faces), writers (a mix of everything from comedy and dramatic writers to an animation writer working on the awesome Adventure Time), even a delightfully fascinating/charming sex educator/podcast host/consultant/coach, Sex Nerd Sandra (The Podcast, Blog, SexNerdSandra’s channel – YouTube).

The lovely Jewel Staite and her beau.

The Connecticut Roll: served hot with melted butter.

Akemi’s buttery lobster bisque

Chelan’s homemade cookies and cupcakes!

I was standing by the food truck, waiting for my fourth lobster roll, when I noticed a pink van pull up.  ”The donut girl is here!”I heard someone say.  A woman hopped out of the driver’s side, swung around to the back of the van and opened the doors to what I expected would be the donut delivery: maybe a couple of dozen boxes. Instead, she started unloading a bunch of equipment and it was then I realized she wasn’t there to simply deliver the donuts – she was there to make them!

Akemi celebrates the arrival of the doughnut gal!

Lobster tail

The donut woman set up shop in the back yard and got to work, frying up tiny two-bite size versions of the golden treats with a variety of toppings:

Your donut choices

I brought white wine to the party, figuring it would go with the seafood but it remained unopened because I discovered something that went even better with lobster:

Jefferson’s Kentucky Bourbon.

I’ll have to see if I can pick up a bottle at the Duty Free Shop on my way out tomorrow.

Martin’s cherished pizza oven.  Will have to test it out next time I’m in town. 

It was quite the birthday party.  I may have to hire Martin to host mine in October.

This morning, breakfast consisted of this -

And this -

Why, yes, it IS wallpaper paste.

But lunch consisted of this -

And this -

It was our first visit to Mozza and a memorable one.  Hands down one of the best crusts I’ve ever had.

We worked off lunch with a stroll through Santa Monica.  By the time we got back to the hotel, I was ready to swing by those two cupcake shops we’d passed the other day so that I could do a head to head taste test.  For the blog, of course.  But Akemi forbade me on the grounds that it wold ruin my appetite for tonight’s big blowout dinner

Today’s entry is dedicated to blog regular and birthday gal Das!