Sometimes, the best birthdays are Italian dinners out on the town. Sometimes, the evening is best captured in little glimpses.

And sometimes, restaurants are dark.

Nonetheless, below are 15 hazy-blur images from my recent 35th birthday, including dinner at Trattoria Rustica. My photos do the restaurant no justice, nor their cuisine; but I hope they at least whet the appetite.

The menu:

Goat cheese ravioli with truffle oil

Pork Scallopini with House-made Mozzarella, root vegetables, and kale

Salmon in Port Wine Sauce

House-made gelato in a cocoa pod

House-made cannoli

Wine: Piazzo Barbera

Others:

1. Birthday wine glass, 2. Birthday schwag, 3. Candle lights, 4. Brick oven, 5. Candle stairs, 6. Trattoria Rustica, 7. Cannoli, 8. Chocolate sorbetti in a cocoa pod, 9. pork scallopini, 10. Salmon in port wine sauce, 11. Plates, 12. Cork, 13. Piazzo Barbera, 14. crest, 15. antichi sapori – ancient flavors