B-day dinner for husband's 30th

Hi, I'm trying to decide where to take my husband for his 30th birthday. Here are his choices:

Moto
Alinea
Avenues
Tru
Trotters

Now, my question is, for those who have dined at these types of places before, where do you get the most bang for your buck so to speak?
We probably will not do something crazy like a 20 or 25 course meal, just something in between. Will we get full that way? And who has the best meal right now for that in between option? I know plenty of people have posted on this topic before in the past-- I'm looking for a fresh answer, not a dated one, and for the person who has dined at one of these places RECENTLY, as I know menus change. He is not a picky eater, by the way.

Thank you!
Jen

Sub Spiaggia and Everest for Tru, and here's a great set of links to help answer the question.

http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=84932#84932

I should add, there has been a full Tru post since then, by Stevez:

http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=11145

And I think no one can answer that for you. I think if you're tempted by the more avant-garde places, you should read about them and see if you'll be excited or annoyed.

We chose Moto.
I'll let you all know how it was! I hope to take some pictures too...

I was taken to Moto for my 30th and had one of the best meals of my life ( I had the 12 course+ wine pairings). The wine pairings opened up my mind to what wine could be and I am not normally a wine guy. The food was innovative and had a wow factor, but the deliciousness is what really surprised me. I knew I would be surprised and shocked by the presentation but the food was more over the top in terms of great flavor and texture than I ever would have imagined. The service was heads and shoulders above what i have ever experienced before in both its execution and in the sense that it had a genuine feel to it that i have found missing at other high-end restos.
I have not been to any of the other mentioned restaurants, and the best celebratory meal I have had ever was an omakasi meal at Katsu which was also to celebrate my birthday (my brother, sungbros, wrote a lengthy post with a contraversial title if you would like to review that)

Hantav-

Clearly I need to work on where I celebrate my birthdays. Moto and Katsu -- quite the combo for you!

-The GP