We have a birthday tradition in our family: the birthday person gets to choose a restaurant at which to dine on the special day. I chose India Darbar’s lunch buffet, much to my children’s delight. Rarely do we dine in the restaurant. However, we order carryout often enough that the staff recognizes us.

On Peter’s birthday in April, he chose dinner at India Darbar. When our waiter found out we were celebrating, he brought us complimentary mango ice cream. He gave us some more next time we ordered carryout.

As we were paying for today’s lunch, the subject of my own birthday came up. Our waiter said that if he had known, he’d have brought me a glass of wine. I thanked him and said it was okay since I was headed back to work.

My kids thought it was the coolest thing. And we all loved the buffet. My favorite dish is palaak paneer, but the spinach dish on the line was just as good.