Got paid back for three days of foodie excess last night with a bout of queasiness and poor sleep. Oh well... I wouldn't change a second or give back a bite. Well, possibly the steam table burger from Friday dinner (but only to swap it out for another barbecue sandwich instead). Foodie adventure, day one: Thursday. Sarah and I celebrated my birthday with dinner at Acme. I tend to forget about Acme when I'm thinking of nice restaurants for dinner but this meal was right up there with ones I've had at Starlu or Piedmont. We had a tomato sampler appetizer -- three kinds of heirloom tomatoes, just dressed with salt & pepper and olive oil, some fresh mozzarella, plus sungold cherry tomatoes with pesto and a nice piece of pistachio-crusted goat cheese. Awesome. I'm of the opinion that when it's tomato season you're a fool not to grab every opportunity to eat some. For main course, I had the fried chicken, served over mashed potatoes, topped with a tomato gravy. On the side were green beans and shallots, with some roasted tomatoes. To die for! Sarah had a piece of sea bass, over jasmine rice, with a fish broth (grouper, maybe) and jalapeño bacon. I believe there were some vegetables involved there as well. My dessert was a blueberry shortcake, with whipped cream and creme anglaise. Delightful. My only quibble was that the biscuit was a little dry but there was plenty of cream to compensate for that. Sarah had a warm lemon pudding cake that was just stellar. In its simplicity and directness, it reminded me a bit of the chocolate cake I had last year at Magnolia Grill.

(the story will continue in our next exciting episode...)