We celebrated my dad’s birthday last week back in my home state of California. My high school age cousin was visiting my parents and that made the festivities even more fun. With the excuse of having a younger visitor we could indulge in all acting a little bit younger than our age on my dad’s special day. We spent the day booming and banging on roller coasters at Great America and getting all a bit nauseous from the ice cream to french fries to upside down rides.

Rosewood Hotel & Resort Madera Restaurant California ©2014 Everyday Cooking Adventures

But it was all in the name of fun and we knew that the end his day would be celebrated in  much more age-appropriate manner with dinner at the one Michelin starred restaurant Madera in Menlo Park, California’s Rosewood Hotel. Located in the town next to where I grew up and my parents still reside, this upscale California-French restaurant is the perfect place to indulge one’s inner foodie and celebrate in style.

You can sit outdoors on the lovely terrace and watch the fog rolling in over the Santa Cruz mountains as the sun sets. We chose to sit indoors however for a slightly cooler dinner as it was in the 90s and we were a bit overheated from the day’s sun exposure at the Park.

Pictured above is the appetizer of Hearts of Palm salad with carrot slices and savory Thai seasonings. I enjoyed a summery Melon Gazpacho made with cucumber, tomato, and a lemon verbena cream dollop here and there. Perfect first courses.

For the main course I was lucky enough to have picked an extraordinarily beautiful Alaskan King Salmon that was accompanied by an assortment of garnishes such as micro cilantro, cauliflower florets, lightly fried capers, pistachios, and thin white slices of a mushroom I’d never even heard of. It was extremely delicious, full of flavor, and everything paired nicely together.

Then came the dessert course which was like being served small works of art from the pastry chef. My dad was given a free adorable cupcake topped with a sugared and perhaps even baked rose petal. We all took little bites to try to determine if it really was a genuine rose petal and came to the consensus that somehow magically it was. A new dessert on the menu was the purple concoction above that was a mousse made of licorice tasting anise seed and dark chocolate studded with berries and other bits of sweet goodness. All our desserts were almost too beautiful to eat but even better tasting than they looked. Each dish that came out of the kitchen from starter to dessert was both creative and absolutely delicious. Perfection.