I left my DSLR at mom's, so I must resort to using my smartphone tonight! Cheryl, Mom, Valerie

Eric, Linda, Peter (Photo by Valerie)

We start with the Crostone - mashed avocado, fresh lemon, tomato checca, ciabatta

Polipo - grilled Spanish octopus, cannellini beans, fresh basil, cherry tomatoes, and lemon garlic sauce

For her main course, Valerie orders the Bucatini con Polpette - Bucatini pasta, mini meatballs, spicy Calabrian peppers, fresh tomato sauce

I order the Tagliatelle Bolognese - ribbon pasta, hand ground chuck and pork shoulder, white wine, pureed tomatoes, parmesan fonduta, fresh basil

Cheryl holds the wine bottle so mom can photograph the label

For Valerie's birthday, a slice of Ricotta Almond Cheesecake...make a wish!

The birthday girl!

For dessert, we share a Torta di Cioccolato - dark chocolate flourless cake, roasted almonds, vanilla gelato