Sandy's Birthday

My friend Sandy's birthday is right before Christmas, so this year we went to see Sarah Brightman in San Jose at HP Pavilion. Being a Sharks ticketholder, I go there fairly often, and have been wanting to try Seven Restaurant on The Alameda, so I decided to take her there as a birthday treat. We opted to share small plates, and we are both oyster lovers so we started with a dozen Hood Canals, which were VERY tasty, served with a nice mignonette. We had a butter lettuce salad with beets, which was nice, and then our favorite dish of the evening, mushroom strudel. Yum. We also had the crispy spaetzle with pancetta, which we really liked, and the chili relleno, which was just OK. For dessert, we had the creme brulee with honey and lavendar, and it was good as well. Service was excellent and we finished in plenty of time to make it to the event. Needless to say, Sarah Brightman was amazing (although her speaking voice is a bit annoying) - boy, can she sing!