Party Recipe: Amber’s Birthday

I have a wee bit of a hangover this morning from last night’s party. We took the 47 bus up Van Ness at 7:00 to meet Matt and birthday girl Amber at House of Prime Rib. Ryan, Lindsay, Emily and Steve also joined in the celebration! We started with drinks served in authentic HOPR shakers. I had a vodka shirley and Amber had a Manhattan:

The restaurant seated us at a big round table in front of the copper fireplace. Very cozy! The whole place was packed. About 50% birthday parties and 50% Korean tour bus groups. The famous HOPR beet salad, tossed table side, was very good. I had a fun conversation with the Emily from Boston who was sitting to my right. Amber was a ham, as always, and provided a lot of laughs. She seemed to enjoy the birthday present we brought her: a hair crimping iron with four interchangeable face plates!

By the time our slabs of meat arrived, most everyone was already stuffed. I had the swordfish, which was lovely and we all split a few bottles of wine. Now reaching a deadly fullness, the waiter took our plates, scraped the crumbs off the table and brought out some cheesecake.