Dan and I agreed we had the best anniversary celebration ever, and Dan is already nervous that we won’t be able to top it. We’ve learned from our past mistakes to a) avoid restaurants that are too fancy and that b) although everyone else in the world seems to love Circue de Soleil, I do not get it and therefore it’s NOT a good idea to get front row seats as an anniversary surprise.
So for our one-year wedding anniversary we decided to do a not-too-fancy fun dinner, and got a reservation at the hardest restaurant in SF to get reservations to AKA State Bird Provisions. Thank you to my amazing coworker who surprised us with the rez. Of course, this meant eating at 5:30pm – perfection. We were set up for success.
I was worried that the restaurant would be totally over-hyped, so we went in preparing to feel underwhelmed – but were not at all. It’s hard to describe, but the dinner was a really fun experience. We had a blast. When we arrived at the restaurant a little before 5:30pm, there were over 30 people waiting in line for walk-ins. On a Monday night! At 5:30pm on the dot, the doors were open, and Dan and I were the first ones in. There was music playing and all of the waiters were smiley, there was great energy, and as we walked in with all of the excited waiters looking at us it totally felt 1% reminiscent of walking into our wedding reception.
In addition to a standard menu, the restaurant is known for its ‘untraditional’ dim sum carts pushed or carried by wait staff from table to table.
Our favorite dim sum picks were lobster salad, hamachi on a seaweed cracker, and a roasted cauliflower dish; menu favorites were the famous state bird and the amazing ‘everything’ pancake (described by our waitress as kind of like an ‘everything’ bagel) with horse radish, beets, and smoked sturgeon. We also had some delicious ‘chocolate birdseed’ that was sweetly presented with a candle to celebrate.
Everything was so YUM. I cannot wait to go back…if we can ever get a reservation again. Thank you, State Bird Provisions!!!! (or Saper Provisions, as Dan now likes to call it).
On our walk back to the car after dinner we passed Kabuki theater where the 7:15pm Gravity in 3D showing had just started (perks of an early dinner) and bought some last minute tickets. We haven’t been to a movie in ages so this was super fun and I was so inspired by Sandra Bullock’s performance that I put on my own performance when we got home.
You had to be there, but I will tell you we have never laughed so hard. Happy best anniversary ever to my hubs.
Jill Adventure 