Orinoco, Brookline

When you hear me say I am truly blessed,  believe it.  It may be that I recently turned another year younger, or you can call it wisdom or whatevs.  But I try to live every day by the rule that we should be thankful for what we have.  Too often I hear people complaining and wishing their life away.  We all need a reminder to take a step back and a gander at ourselves and just say thank you.  :)

My birthday falls during the last week of April and as you may have guessed, food was a major priority in my celebration planning.  It was so awesome to receive tons of birthday wishes from my fabulous family and fantastic friends.  Whether it was in the form of a text, Facebook message, email, phone call, card, gift, homemade dinner, or outing, I sincerely appreciate all of you.  THANK YOU!

As you may know and if you have been following my bloggggggg, my family and I share a birthday dinner tradition.  Orinoco, A Latin Kitchen, (http://www.orinocokitchen.com), in Brookline was this year's choice for my comida de cumpleaños.  And damn!  I am good.  The joint was spectacular.  There are two additional locations in the South End and in Cambridge.  The cuisine is South American with a Venezuelan focus.  And just an fyi and according to the back flap of their menu, the Orinoco is one of the longest rivers in South America.

The hubs and I decided to head to the restaurant a bit early to grab a drink and reserve a table.  When we arrived around six, the place was pretty dead so we grabbed a seat at the bar where we were greeted immediately by the server/host.  He was super friendly, informative, and chill.  Two other dudes who turned out to be runners/servers were also really nice.  The chick bartender was cool and kinda all business but WOW does she know her mixology.  I loved the sweet and refreshing Sangria with a hint of nutmeg and the hubs enjoyed a Presidente.  All the wine, beer, and cocktails are of Latino decent.  While downing our beverages, we glanced at the menu and around at the funky artwork and decor.  The restaurant itself is not that big.  There are about five or six booths along one wall, a huge family-style dining table in the center, some seats at the bar, and ten more smaller tables along the wall.  Cute and cozy.

For our second libation, we each decided on a Mojito.  OMG.  This was my first experience having an authentic one.  Freaking delish.  The hubs and I can vouch for the Orinoco (Myer's, mint jelly), the Autentico (Pampero rum), and the Cojito (Parrot Bay and shaved coconut), all variations of this classic drink.  Totally recommend.

Right before seven, mi madre, my bro, and his girlfriend walked in just before a huge deluge of people starting pouring in.  Since I had told the dude beforehand, he had our table ready to go.  They don't take reservations for parties smaller than six.  We were seated at the gigantic table in front of the open kitchen in which other patrons shared with us.  It wasn't annoying though.  At this point the place was happening and lively.  Spanish music streamed through the speakers, food was sizzling, conversations were brewing and the feasting was about to go down.

Right away, because we were famished, we ordered our starters and another round of drinks.  This time a pitcher of Sangria, another Mojito for the hubs, and a Pacifico for mi madre and water for everyone.  Oysters Rodriquez (oysters with fufu, horseradish cream, and saute manchego spinach), Datiles (bacon wrapped, almond-filled dates), one Arepa de Pelua (corn pocket filled with Venezuelan-style shredded, stewed, beef with edam yellow cheese, and lastly, two Empanadas (corn flour turnover patties).  One with Venezuelan-style shredded beef and one with shredded pork, served with fresh green salad, tossed with queso blanco and a sherry vinaigrette.  Que rico!!  All of it was spectacular.  Fresh, tasty, different, devoured.

For my main course, I went with one of the specials and of course a red meat option.  Lomito Guayanes, beef tenderloin served with guayanes cheese, over a cabrales viniagrette arugula salad and panela asado veloute.  Savory, tender,  and sensational are three words that come to mind.  The combo of the meat, cheese, and salad was the bomb.  And I added, out of of principle, an order of Arroz con Caraotas (white rice and beans) to share.  MMM!  The hubs went with and inhaled one of the other specials, the Panela Salmon.  Panela marinated salmon, cooked medium, served over Aji Amarillo creamed quinoa with jicama/arugula salad and broken olive vinaigrette.  My bro got the Churrasquito, a seven ounce beef tenderloin cut churrasco style, char-grilled, with crab picadillo, grilled asparagus, and salsa chimi.  He thouroughly enjoyed his dish.  My bro's girlfriend went with the Pollo Adobo, adobo criollo marinated-halved chicken with oregano oil and grilled scallions with malanga gnocchi, which she really liked.  Lastly, mi madre had an Orinoko salad, grilled chicken breast, spring mix, jicama, green grapes, sherry vinaigrette, tossed with feta and toasted almonds.  Totally up her alley.  Per usual, we sampled each others meals (which were sizable and reasonably priced) and I can say fo sho, all of our dinner choices were yummy.  And the menu lists various other traditional Venezuelan delicacies and dishes.  I could have ordered one of everything!

You know I could not leave, although stuffed to the gills, without appreciating some sort of sweet treat and/or Postres.  We ordered two of each, along with more drinkies, homemade Quesillo, traditional Venezuelan flan with caramel and homemade Torta Fluida, molten chocolate cake made with 100% Venezuelan dark chocolate.  I am not a huge flan/custard fan but the fam was pleased with it and I loved the warm and delectable cake.  YUM!!

As we chatted, laughed, leisurely ate and drank, the evening flew by and before we knew it, it was almost 9:30.  My birthday gathering was outstanding.  The hubs and I have already made plans to return for apps and drinks in the very near future.  Highly recommend Orinoco.