Best. Dinner. Ever.

Katherine's birthday is just a week away, and one of her favorite things to do is to go out for a fancy dinner to celebrate. We have become big fans of the Buckhead Life Restaurants, who have run some pretty cool promotions over the past few summers. These promotions are a great idea, because eating there at full price can make one feel a little guilty, but with a gift card or a special deal you feel like you're not only getting a great meal, but you're saving money too!

The most recent promotion is Ultimate Restaurant Week, which is good at all of their restaurants and runs for two weeks. To celebrate their 29th anniversary, each of the restaurants is offering a prix fixe three-course meal for $29. Considering that an entree at one of these restaurants can easily exceed $30 by itself, that's a pretty good deal. We really enjoy several of their restaurants, but there are some dinners we've had that stand out more than others. One such dining experience came at Chops last summer, when the chef's special of the night was a trio of beef tenderloin medallions in three flavors: Pepper Steak, Point Reyes Bleu Cheese, and Cipollini Onion. This special was offered as one of the Entrée choices on the Week 1 menu, so we knew we had to go.

We came in with very high expectations, based on our experience last summer, but this meal completely exceeded those expectations! Each bite of steak was an absolute delight (and I'm not even someone who uses words like "delight"). The mean was so tender and cooked to perfection. Any one of the three medallions would be enjoyable enough on its own, but the variety offered by the combination of three truly enhances the experience. The Cipollini Onion medallion has a rich, savory flavor and is served with a delicious juice/sauce (I'm not quite sure how to describe it—it's thicker than an au jus, but thinner than most sauces). The Pepper Steak is just the right amount of spicy, encrusted with cracked black pepper on top and served with a creamy peppercorn gravy. My personal favorite is the Point Reyes Bleu Cheese, with the cheese seemingly baked into the top of the steak. My mouth is literally watering as I type this. With each bite, we found ourselves saying, "Oh my gosh - that's amazing." This is where the brilliance of offering the three of them together comes in. After you take a second or third bite of one and the novelty of the deliciousness begins to wear off, you switch to another flavor and are wowed once again by the tastes.

Simply an exquisite meal, and the perfect way to celebrate an exquisite woman.