Wow, this birthday week just keeps getting better and better even though my actual birthday was a week ago.. It has just been good food and good desserts nonstop! I wish I could blog about all of them but I’m too lazy.. Instead, my Facebook page and Instagram and blog will encompass all of the foods together. Today, I was blessed with the presence of David and Linda in Santa Monica and Manhattan Beach. David has been one of my closest coworkers at HH and not only did I get to meet his wife for the first time, but the both of them took me out to a day of good food for my belated birthday! It was seriously the sweetest way to meet his wife!

For lunch, David’s wife picked out a predominantly cheese restaurant because she’s heard that I love cheese. This place couldn’t have been more perfect for me! I LOOOOOOVE cheese! They picked me up (and detour to a tea place first called Tea Republic for the road) and drove to Santa Monica where we ate at Forma Restaurant & Cheese Bar.

This place is a bar of cheese, wine and beer! There is also happy hour on weekdays from 3-6PM. I didn’t eye out what the happy hour menu was because it’s for only dining at the bar and we wanted table seating for ease of conversation and family style sharing.

Here is the cheese bar, which includes half of their whole pieces of cheeses, including the cheese bowls in which they mix all of their pasta dishes in.

Here is the bar, in which you can sit at for happy hour seating. Look at those bottles of beer (I thought of my boyfriend when I saw this). Then there are 6 mini fridges of cut pieces of cheese storage.

Here is our cheese board, which consists of 4 cheeses (one from each genre of cheese that they offered).

semi-hard: FULLY LOADED WHISKEY CHEDDAR – BEEHIVE CHEESE CO. Fortified with rye whiskey for complex flavor with a kick. past cow. Utah.

truffled: THE TRUFFLE TREMOR – CYPRESS GROVE. Elegant and sophisticated. Pasteurized goat. California.

semi-soft: TETE DE MOINE – FROMAGERIE H. KAMPF. Sweet and intense with a dense texture. Raw cow. Switzerland.

bloomy rind: TRIPLE CREME BRIE – MARIN FRENCH. Rich and smooth. Slightly sweet flavor with fluffy white rind. Past cow. California.

ALL of the cheeses were delicious! I always opted for the familiar creamy brie cheese, but what was my ultimate favorite was the truffle cheese! It was just the perfect amount of stinky and creamy yet flaky at the same time. The loaded cheese was almost like a flaky sharp cheese, which was a stronger taste that I enjoyed in contrast to the smoother flavors. The tete was very visually appealing, but didn’t taste anything special.

CHARCUTERIE. Daily section of only meats. None of these meats can go wrong with!

A glass of red wine. A girl always needs a glass of wine with her cheese and meats!

BRAISED SHORT RIBS. 8 hours slow cooked boneless beef short ribs + short ribs ravioli. Parmigiano cheese. The ravioli was stuffed with short ribs AND the protein was all short ribs! This was an all short ribs dish all around! The meat was very tender and flaky and soft. The flavor profile was perfectly savory and saucy at the same time.

FETTUCCINE BOLOGNESE. Beef ragu – tossed with butter in parmigiano reggiano cheese. This is always my favorite bolognese that I opt for when I want to play safe. The pasta was al dente and there was plenty of beef in the ragu sauce.

TORTELLINI. Mushrooms, light cream, truffle oil – tossed with bella lodi cheese. THIS WAS MY FAVORITE!!!! You can smell and taste the truffle oil. The mushrooms were delicate and fresh and yummy to chew. The tortellini was soft and creamy and stuffed with more cheese cheesiness. This was just soooo good. This was everyone’s favorite dish! When I come back, I will definitely re-order this. 🙂

Thank you David and Linda for taking me out for a belated birthday! This is the best kind of birthday present to give to a foodie like me! I enjoyed every single bite. The company was good. The food was good. The ambience was great!

Did I almost forget to mention we dropped by Manhattan Beach Creamery for dessert! I opted for a cookie cupcake and David’s wife suggested getting something for my mommy too! How sweet of her!!!! I’m too lazy to post the pictures here but it’s already on my Facebook page if you guys are curious enough. 😀