Little Star birthday

I like birthday dinners. Food, friends, general merriment--what’s not to like? Last night was Ryan’s 26th birthday (I forgot how he described what it feels like to turn 26 but it surely warranted Hallmark status) and he had his birthday dinner at Little Star Pizza. I like Little Star Pizza and I like Ryan, so dinner with him and his friends was a definite must.

I met him at his place and we walked up the hill to Divisadero with his two teacher roommates. After a not-too-long wait in the cold (even for a group of nine) and a bit of a snarky remark from the hostess, we had a spot inside. We left the cold for the dark, loud, tomato sauce scented warmth.

We shared the Classic, the Mediterranean Chicken, and the Little Star deep-dish pies. And, Carlo ordered me a light beer. When the pizzas came, I had no idea which one was which and what had what in it. A slice got put on my plate and it was time to play Name That Pizza Topping. I tasted and felt the dry texture of overcooked chicken breast (it was the Mediterranean Chicken one, apparently). And, I tasted the saltiness of olives, although these weren’t the usual black rounds from a can that usually top pizzas but were green and tasted nothing of tin can. The next slice I encountered was the Classic with sausage and bell peppers. The flavors of the Classic were more robust than that of the Mediterranean and it’s by far my favorite of the two (I think this was a shared opinion among the others of our group as well).

When our pizza plates got cleared away, the waiter brought over a slice of cheesecake with a candle in it. We sang “Happy Birthday” to Ryan in what seemed like almost muted tones (I couldn’t tell if we were singing at all halfway through the song) and then dug our spoons into the cake and the rich chocolate ice cream that sat beside it. Both were great, as was hanging out with Ryan on his birthday.