Baci Bistro Birthday Dinner

After hearing so many great things about it, Bryce and I went to Baci Bistro for a belated birthday dinner for my 26th. 

I swear this is the last obnoxious birthday post but I JUST LOVE BIRTHDAYS. Read about the trip to the Le Creuset outlet to acquire my gifts and the birthday BBQ celebration! Now that mine is offically over, Bryce's is in just 3 weeks.

So we'd heard all about Baci Bistro, a small Italian restaurant in Kailua with incredible cheesecake and a Monday night offer of 25% off of your entire bill! We'd pushed our date back for four Mondays in a row due to scheduling issues and illness, but we finally made it. There's no way we were going to go on any other day of the week - NO WAY.

Clearly I don't look too upset to stretch out my birthday celebration with one last meal! The key to a great dirty martini is to order it dirty, take a sip, and then send it back for more olive juice.

The interior of the restaurant was small yet very charming. Because the discount was so great, every table was filled at all times. Clearly everyone was jealous that I got to sit with this guy!

This wall looks like a combo of ideas from my head! We had a red accent wall 2-apartments-ago and currently have a picture frame/decoration gallery wall of varying silver and gold textures in our living room. Love it!

Now let's get down to the food!

We adore the gorgonzola salad at Buca Di Beppo, although after eating the gorgonzola served with a side of salad at Baci, we can never go back. Officially it's called the Insalata Pere and includes seasonal greens in a raspberry vinaigrette with fresh pears, a ton of gorgonzola, and almonds. It was heavenly and I'm shocked to tell you that we couldn't eat all of the cheese, it was just too much! This salad set the bar high for the rest of the meal.

My restaurant selections lately have leaned toward the richest seafood available. My dinner that night was the Ravioli d'Aragosta which is ravioli filled with lobster, prosciutto, and ricotta cheese in a lobster cream sauce. Yes - lobster on top of lobster! It was just as good as it sounds. The homemade pasta, rich sauce, and significant amounts of filling made it incredible. I resisted scarfing them all down at once and brought some home for leftovers the next day, and to save room for dessert!

Bryce always seems to order chicken at restaurants, which is something I'm generally against. He ordered the Pollo alla Cacciatore sauteed chicken breast with a bell pepper, black olives, and fresh tomato sauce. He loved it, although sometimes the differences in our tastes are incredible. I'd die before I'd voluntarily eat a pepper and choose veggies over pasta! Clearly the leftovers were eaten by the original order-er the following day.

The bar was set high by the salad and both entrees were up to standards. I'm happy to let you know that the cheesecake took the bar, jumped over it, and tucked it in for a nap! This isn't just any cheesecake, it's Mascarpone Cheesecake made with white chocolate and topped with berry sauce.

It was so light and delicious, we ate it in seconds and I truly wanted another slice. Bryce insisted that I get a grip but I'm still thinking about the next opportunity to get my next piece! Actually, it will be this Thursday, hehe.

Our server let us know that the restaurant only makes one cheesecake per day. When it's gone for the night, that's the end! I really sharpened my hunting and gathering skills, right?!

The restaurant will be on our places-to-take-visitors list from now on, especially on Monday nights of course! Our reservation was at 6 pm and it was perfect: we got cheesecake and didn't have to wait. By the time we left there were people crowded around the front door and I'd guess they didn't all get a slice of heaven mascarpone!

Great dinner, great food and drink, great birthday! Even after all of that was said and done, we paid just over $50. Seriously.