Author Archives: Alan Ilagan

Birthdays are often a meld of disappointment, relief, enthusiasm, ennui, and if you’re lucky a couple of unexpected but happy surprises. My 44^thdawned without fanfare or let-down, on a beautiful sunny day in Boston, with blue skies and gentle breezes.

It began in simple and quiet form: a breakfast at Sonsie’s. Now, apart from a cocktail or two, I’ve never had a proper sit-down meal at Sonsie’s. I remember when it first opened so many years ago, and how popular and crowded it had been, and ever since then I’ve sort of avoided it. Not for any specific reason, it was one of those places that was always there. The older I get however, the more I realize how fleeting our time here can be. No day but today, and so we began with a mimosa, and a panhandler reaching into the cafe area for donated spare change. He was quickly chased off by a manager, and the live theater of Newbury Street resumed.

We made a few shopping stops before winding up at my favorite place in all of Boston, the Public Garden, where a fleet of geese and a few very sociable squirrels crossed our path. By this point. Andy was tired out and headed back to the condo, while I went on to Downtown Crossing for some solo shopping.

On every birthday, and every special day in my life really, I somehow manage to find a bit of alone time. Usually it’s not intentionally-planned, it just happens, and I am always a little grateful for it. I traipsed around the bustling stores downtown, then returned to the condo with enough time for some stoop gazing.

The Braddock Park fountain gurgled in the near distance and I watched the people and dogs walk by. It was a perfect afternoon – sunny but comfortable, and a beautiful breeze kept things cool. We had an early dinner at Explorateur, and though the Avery bar at the Ritz Carlton was closed, we found another place nearby that served a pre-theater cocktail.

Then it was time for Betty Buckley’s penultimate performance in ‘Hello, Dolly!’ at the Boston Opera House. The show was spectacular, so much more than I realized this chestnut of a musical could be, and at the end all the joy and love it exemplified put the perfect cap to my day of birth. A coda at the Bristol Lounge closed us out in the same way that we began: at the Four Seasons (albeit a different one).

The next morning was overcast and windy, the leaves of the oak trees lining Columbus Avenue were turned inside out, and when the host at Petit Robert asked if we would prefer to sit outside or in, we chose the latter, where we could watch the windy day safely ensconced behind a pane of glass. A post-birthday brunch made for an enjoyable Sunday morning, and after procuring cookies at Cafe Madeleine, we were back en route to Albany. Another trip around the sun had begun…

Not every birthday has to be a big bally-hoo, but when it falls on a Saturday, I say why not? To that end, I crafted a long birthday weekend that began with a fancy dinner on Thursday night and carried all the way through Sunday brunch. The highlight was getting to see Betty Buckley on her penultimate night as Dolly Gallagher Levin in ‘Hello, Dolly!’ at the Boston Opera House, but I’m getting ahead of myself.

It began with a Thursday afternoon entrance to Boston, which was super-hot and sticky, and not at all conducive to walking, so we took an Uber around the corner to the new Four Seasons residential building which housed Zuma. Surrounded by construction, Dalton Street looked like it held promise, but it was still a bit far off. No matter. Once inside, it was a different world, and as we dramatically ascended a winding staircase that led from the lobby to the restaurant, I was a happy camper.

Andy was game and generous enough to try the signature omakase dinner of eight to ten chef-curated dishes (or so they told us) and the endless parade began.  We ordered a pair of cocktails: the lychee and rose petal martini for me, and the burning history for him (Suntori Toki whiskey, honey, ginger, egg whites and barrel stave smoke).

Then more dishes came.

And still more dishes.

By the time the dessert boat of molten chocolate cake, raspberry meringue, and a couple of different ice creams arrived, we were beyond full. But you only live once, and this was worth it. (Even if it filled us up for the entire weekend.)

The next day we headed over to the Museum of Fine Arts to see the Gender Bending Fashion exhibit. They seem to be in step with the Met’s ‘Camp’ theme, and did their best with some memorable ensembles that I actually recalled from various red carpet moments.

We also got to try out the newly-refurbished restaurant (formerly Bravo and now 465), which had dishes that looked as gorgeous as they tasted. One would expect no less from the MFA.

Part of my birthday celebration included a visit to the Downton Abbey exhibition at the Castle at Park Plaza, and it was better than expected, as well as perfectly-timed for the release of the movie next month. 

After experiencing the pomposity of that, we headed across the street to Nahita for some pre-dinner cocktails.

It’s my new favorite haunt, with a glorious cocktail menu, including the artfully-rendered ‘Sunset Over Instanbul’ – a perfectly-balanced concoction of gin, lemon, apricot liqueur, and orange bitters.

We ended the night across another street – at Strip by Strega – where a delicious steak dinner granted Andy his beef wish. We returned to the condo, where I spent my last night as a 43-year-old, peacefully convalescing until the clock ticked to #44…