New Years Eve Dinner 2016 at Duexave

FINALLY I’m GONNA POST THIS!!!!!!!!!

So I’ve been backlogged… I have half written blogs up all in this shizz and it doesn’t seem to be coming out (ha! – Sorry dirty mind!) I keep having ideas and then writer’s block… my current obsession with watching Frozen and Tangled and seeing their soundtrack 24/7 isn’t helping either… haha “hashtag dork”… and I also started obsessing (yeah a few seasons… like 6, late) with 2 Broke Girl$ (hastag ILOVEMAXSHEISMYHERO) so yeah.  Work, Disney, iTunes is ruining me…. in a wonderful way.

So let’s catch up on 2017… Let’s start off with my last night of it…. NYE 2016 :) which sadly I had a stomach bug so I threw up all night with my date.  Which was funny cuz my date and I went to watch college football first, and me being over-underdressed  puked a few times at the bar.  My stomach finally calmed down on the way to Deuxave (owned and cooked by one of favorite chefs Chef Christopher Coombs) And while I was being careful with my tender tummy… I am NOT about to throw up any good food… I didn’t eat my usual overstuffed way, but all the food was amazing!!!! I haven’t been in forever!!!

We started off with delicious warm sourdough (great crust and fluffy middle) with a ribboned creamy butter.

Funny story [sidenote] about sourdough bread.  This total bully that lived across the street from me when I was a kid in New Mexico, LOVED sourdough bread. I played with her because 1. She lived across the street from me. 2. She was a bully. 3. She had no friends. 4. I am overly nice even though she did horrible things to me…. etc. etc. ANYWAYS, she loved it, I hated it and she even held it against me. She also forced me to watch Child’s Play which I ran home crying after. I was like 7. Bitch. Her, not me. She also grabbed my arm and bit it once because I said I didn’t want to play with her anymore… #whyineedtherapy [/sidenote]

Then came the complimentary amuse bouches…. All topped with microgreens!!!…

Crap, I forgot what these balls were.. they were fried balls of yumminess though… I think it was crab… When in doubt just shove it all in your mouth (ha!) when in a spoon… especially if shaped in little balls (double ha!)

Some Creamy Lobster Bisque. (HA! The lady next to us even asked for spoons… LOL duh you sip it, it’s a tiny little cup… and if anything just freaking eat your balls and use that spoon… LOLOL.. she complained a lot all night LOLOL!) Anyways.. tasty, thick and rich.

And some duck liver terrine with pomegranate seeds on cute little crostini…. I could never turn down anything duck liver… or things on a crostini.  I admit it. I love the trend… it shall never grow old… anything on toasted bread (preferably buttery… even more buttery and garlicky) will forever be delicious!!!!!

For appetizers (thankfully my date was happy to go with my (get two of everything we would eat so we can try more foods) we got the Wagyu Beef Tartare with Forbidden Rice Chips, Green Papaya Salad, Avocado Puree and Crispy Shallots!

And the Hamachi Crudo with Fennel Dill, Pickled Shallots, Rye Crisps and Smoked Aioli… which is fresh and delicious…. simple and perfect! And gorgeously plated…. and oh oh oh how I love the roe :] Roe roe roe!!!

And then came the seafood plates!  With Seared Nantucket Bay Scallops with Maitake & Black Trumpet Mushrooms, Brodo, Fines Herbs and a Chili Oil….. hehe I always love when they table side pour for you… I had to whip out the camera in time to catch it in action.

Look at those beautiful cute things.  Now, date doesn’t do seafood, but he did for me :] And liked it!!!! —- Although he did pass on the hamachi crudo… still need to ease him into sushi…. (bad experience, supposedly)

And obviously anything with pork belly.. am I right?  Crispy Spanish Octopus(sy) & Pork Belly with Chorizo, Choucroute, Potato, Parsley and Aiji Amarillo.  Octopus on point with crispy ends… and a melt in your mouth pork belly :] NOM!

And then comes our main courses!!!!! Which contained the highlight of the night… Prime Beef Tenderloin & Perigord Black Truffles with Egg Yolk Raviolo, Celery Root and Bordelaise.

This Raviolo was the dish I was waiting the whole night for, especially since Chef Chris posted the instagram online.  Yeah, you should follow his instagram.  I stalk it religiously for amazing food porn and cute baby pics :]

Spiced Long Island Duck Breast & Housemade Sausage with Romanesco, Baby Shitake Mushrooms, Foie Gras & Cipollini Vintrigrette and Persimmon.

Perfectly cooked and I adored the small chunks of all the foie and sausage.  It didn’t overwhelm and the duck was amazing.  You know I’m a duck girl, if there is duck on the menu, I am sure to get it.

We were nearing close to midnight……..

We got complimentary bites nibbles whilst waiting for our desserts…. nervously so, since it was nearing midnight.  They weren’t a hit…. Not to be a party pooper but the other customers around us didn’t seem to enjoy them either…..

And the desserts came…..

“Cafe Chocolate” with Coffee Biscuit, Cardamom Cremux, Caramelized Vanilla Glace…. Super yummy!!!!!!!!…. I loveeeee cardamom in sweet desserts…!!!!

And I, being a lover of Chestnuts, I picked “Chestnuts Roasting On an Open Fire” with Chestnut Cream, Vanilla Meringue, Kalamansi and Banana Glace.  The Ice cream was delicious but unfortunately the citrus inside the ball was just way overpowering so I ended up getting no chestnut flavor. :[

We sipped on glasses of a delicious Rose bubbly the whole night and had such delightful conversations… (I think I might be a bit loud and embarrassing to him) —-and even got to chat with my buddy, Chef Chris for a bit [yes! Hang soon! And I’ll be in for the waffles & foie ASAP]… unfortunately we were rushing to our venue at the W Hotel to countdown to the New Years so I couldn’t squeeze in a pic with him :[ WAA WAA… It’s okay… it’s not like I’m far from this place.  Adore this place!!!!!

 

Miami Day 3… Pool, Cigars, Bubble Bath and Blade Sushi at Fountainbleau

After a super crazy fun night… we just wanted to relax… and cover up from all our sunburns.. of course J took caution and I didn’t…

Ready to beach….

After our free breakfast!!!

That’s a pulled beef  benedict…. OMG….

We also got some cigars for later…

Adult Pool

Beach

Yep I got tanner and burn-ier….

And then it was cigar time.. the “cheaper” one so we can compare

GANGSTA YO

And then I left J to the balcony and a good book and I decided to bubble bath…. not enough bubbles….

CAW CAW CAW CAW

Ok too many bubbles…

Drowning…

UHHH…

I am now dubbed the bubble/foam Queen <3

This is After I let the water out and got out of the tub…

And awesome BF cleaning up my mess hahaha

SO MUCH BUBBLES

This is for you Steve. Stellar Revival shoutout YO. Wait what… yo… way to be so famous and have a FAN OFFICIAL FACEBOOK PAGE….

OK cleaned up and time for my last night in Miami… Mokai here I come….

So first we had dinner at Blade Sushi Bar/Lounge at Fountainbleau… yes yes remember I came here last year? Well we were supposed to go to Hakkasan… but decided that partying after dimsum and Cantonese food/dimsum [omg I’m so craving dim sum tho] would suck [food coma] more than sushi at Blade.

BLINDING menus. Unnecessary

Magical hot towels that grow…

Edamame

I love piping hot edamame… freshly steamed and large sexy sea salt flakes… :]

We couldn’t choose which sake to to buy so our waiter suggested we try a flight first and then choose what we liked most.

Sake Flight

The Sake we ended up choosing… delish! Oh and J called it… we liked #1..  the others were way too sweet…

Octopus Carpaccio
Sweet pepper, Tomato, Red Onion, Cucumber and Spicy Vinegar Dressing

AMAZING. I remember I loved it when I got it the first time and was asked if I was in the food industry/food critic – cuz I guess, people don’t REALLY get the things I do?!

Yellowtail with Yuzu Miso Glaze
Asian pear, Avocado, Micro greens, Yuzu Miso vinaigrette

Amazing… delish yellowtail… yuzu tang… and the sweetness of the asian pear and creaminess of the avocado… this literally MELTED in my mouth. SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO GOOD.

Salmon Sushi and Uni Sushi

You can never fuck up OG sushi. AMAZE.

Geisha Maki
Yellowtail, Ooba leaf, Orange, Asparagus wrapped in Soy paper,  Wasabi, Tobiko, Yuzu Miso Glaze

This was my roll choice. I loved it… jalapeno… light, refreshing.. definitely super fusian…. so Miami.. reminded me of Samba Sushi.

Bleau Maki
Tuna, Yellowtail, Salmon, Avocado, Scallion, Masago wrapped with Daikon, Soy Onion dressing

J’s choice. Also good. It was tasty but WAYYYYY over-doused in that dressing…. ugh.. drowning in it….

And dessert…

A gorgeous Key Lime Tart with pineapple and blackberries

The tart was creamy and also grainy from the sugar. Not sure how much of a fan I was… but it was quite delicious, super sweet…. hey we had a HUGE ASS bottle of sake to finish, we needed to keep on eating until it was gone… and while, yes, if you havent noticed we rarely do dessert, we did it and loved it.

Afterwards…. we decided we were old. We hit up the Lobby Bar… got some scotch, whiskey and champagne… brought it up to our balcony and had our other cigar and drank the night away in the beautiful weather and view. Life is perfect.

P for Pabu & Perfection [Baltimore, MD]

PABU.

SAll I can say is that I have heard so so so SO much about this place. And I am a HUGE Japanese / Sushi fan. I’ve eaten a LOT of it. EVERYWHERE.

Literally. EVERYWHERE.

Definitely lives up to the hype. I suggest you take a trip to Baltimore specifically to eat here. Make sure you have a big empty tummy ready to fill up.  If needed, walk around the aquarium first.

[Note that it’s day time and bright out… we ended up skipping our original train ticket to eat more and go home later!]

I’m ready to rock and roll… [WOK and roll HAHAHA get it? Yeah I know bad joke, but AT LEAST I’m laughing!!!!]

Look familiar? Apparently they donate 1$ to breast cancer research everytime someone orders this. YAY

It’s called the Maiko Onee and contained hakutake sochu, pamplemousse rose, and yuzu. YUMMMMMM…

And before we knew what we were getting ourselves into, a little plate of small bites arrived. DELISH

Happy Spoons [oysters, caviar, mine had uni and lots of happiness], eel rilette, miso- carrot/burdock, ohitashi [the spinach], lotus root and tiny tiny white fishies.. I forgot what they’re called but so tender and yummy

SUCHHHH a palette opener. SO delicious. I could’ve used another plate. Haha. Sharing is hard when food is this good.

Good thing next course W and I both had our own bowls of sashimi.  AMAAAAAZING.

There was this one fish, seared… you eat with ginger and scallions. OMFG. Amazing. This was the most amazing fresh delicious creamy sashimi EVAAA

And suddenly we got free sake

Next came the most beautiful creamy custard-y soft homemade tofu. SOOO much better than the other day.

Some nori, scallion, mushrooms, japanese yam and OMG the tofu…….

Seeng this guy at work knew… yakitori was in the works

Foie Gras Pops wrapped in Nori.

HOLY FUCKING HELL. SOOO GOOD.  I love my foie. This was amaze balls.

At this point I was about to burst.  So I ordered some hot tea to help wash it down…

But I’m a trooper, so off I go go go

I’m pretty sure there were more nigiri… but.. just relooking at all of these makes me full again hahaha… we ended with this.  “Just one more… just one more…”

And it was simple and delicious.

But of course there is always ALWAYS room for desserts.

Gingerbread amazement. MIND BLOWING.

Dessert

No words just perfection. Go. Now.

Sushi Taro — Kaiseki & Sushi Tasting

Me and my W wanted Sushi… so after a day of work we finally decided to go find sushi. We KNEW we wanted sushi and didn’t know where to go.

THANKFULLY we met up with L and some of W’s friends and we decided on SUSHI TARO – a tiny walk up next to a CVS

Mr Octopussy says hi

So I’ve been back and forth about how to blog about out food since we both got different tastings.. So I’m gonna do it separately.  We shared our food but it’s easier to separate it.

We decided to get two different tastings.   W got the sushi tasting minus shellfish…

Sushi

Liver……. something….. and eggplant

Sashmi

Sushi

He’s so Jiro

We actually both got this soup so you can see more detail on my tasting.. except his didn’t have shellfish i it.

More sexy sushi

W totally shared his sushi with me…

Looked gross.. but very very soft and tender… W wasn’t into the texture as much.. i think it was beltfish.. but still.. NOM

More sushi sexiness..

And for the last course he got MY spicy tuna roll…

And I got the Kaiseki with wine pairing for me…

Kaiseki

Delicious aperitif sake with flower petals…

The most beautiful soft tender tofu

With a yummy pairing

Monkfish, oyster and eggplant

By this point my pairing kept coming super super late.

My Sashimi – DEEEElicious

The soup I talked about before…

Squeeze some lime…

Shrimp, fishcake, fish, etc.. YUM

SOOO GOOOOOD….. fried soba, fried fish, wasabi lotus root, squid, sweet potato, pome seeds, tomato and squid ink fried wakame.

OH and a escargot W helped open for me.

I got a yummy fish… that tasted SUPPPER sweet.. shisito pepper and then some… YUM

A duck meatball in a daikon wrap and surrounded by crabmeat. Sadly the duck meatball was COLD so  only ate around it.

I got W’s sushi in exchange for him getting my maki roll. Eel. Scallop and Salmon. <3

Next time we will try TURTLE!!!

For dessert, W picked the chocolate cake:

And I picked the chestnut cake…

YUMMMMMMMMMM. Will go back.

WTF is this? Hipster Sushi? — Sushi Roku at Caesars Palace in Vegas

We got in that afternoon and after room service, a few drinks and then  shopping around Vegas in the Forum Shops in Caesars – and me buying a few new things – probably one too many things, including this dress, we popped some champagne and got ready for dinner.

Kisses from us Taiwanese Girls

We walked ALL the way over to Sushi Roku on the opposite end of where we were in Caesars… SO FREAKING FAR.

We ordered a bottle of sake, it was HUGE [see] and some Edamame to start…

Flashback a few years back at Sakae– we ALWAYS get sushi together!!!  First or Last day together <3

NOM – Sake and Edamame.. almost always a good choice, almost [haha]

We didn’t know what to get so we got all recommendations from the waitress.

Yellowtail Sashimi with Diced Chilies

Kelly didn’t care for it, but I didn’t mind it.  Nom nom nom. I like heat.  It wasn’t really heat, just some mild jalapenos, it was fresh but nothing special and over-doused with some oil

“Hanabi” Spicy Tuna with Diced Chilis on Crispy Rice

This was kind of weird. Cool concept, but I wasn’t into the crispy rice.  A bit too chewy and stuck to my teeth.  I ended up just eating off the tops – which wasn’t even spicy.  Just chopped mushy tuna with a little sprinkling on top.. was there even chilis? I think it was just scallions.

Salmon Sashimi Carpaccio with Black Truffles shaved tableside

In concept, it seemed amazing but it was meh.  WTF was that sauce?

Sea Bream and Shiso with Ume

Katana Roll with Spicy Tuna & Shrimp Tempura with Tuna and Yellowtail

These rolls?! I don’t remember anything great about them.  So disappointing….

Conclusion of food? MEH.

We even stopped our last orders of Salmon Nigiri, we wanted OUT.  Since when do I ever OPT OUT of eating?

I don’t even think we wanted the rest of the sake.  It was overpriced and under-tasty.   I know I was expecting too much since we were just lazy and wanted to get dinner somewhere close.. [plus we have a tradition of eating sushi together] but this is just embarrassing. Contemplated NOT blogging about this, but just wanted the world to know that I do eat NOT good food. I usually don’t go for sushi trying to be cool and trendy, but I’ve never had it this bad. MEH.  I’m glad I was tipsy to not really remember the bad experience to detail.  If you can’t do it right traditionally, don’t try to be HIPSTA about it.

We left and headed off to TAO at the Venetian…

The best fun we had all night:

We actually don’t remember these happening..

TEE HEE*

The Morning After… at Wagamama & SAVORY FROYO at PINKBERRY!!!

Okay, fine. It was the AFTERNOON after.  We didn’t really drink close to enough to be hungover but WHY NOT eat for it? W and I slept in, obviously, but A worked so she met up with us for lunch….. we were gonna head to Cafeteria [MMM Mac&Cheese]… but it was kinda crappy out and W wasn’t feeling well [and had to buy pants!] so we went to Wagamama. MMMM, always a tasty noodly treat.

After going back and forth between a lot of items… we chose.

A got the  Veggie Itame – rice noodles in a spicy green coconut and lemongrass soup topped with stir-fried chicken breast or fried tofu, beansprouts, chillies, red onions, scallions, bok choy, peppers and mushrooms. garnished with cilantro and lime

She let me have a slurp and it was tasty!!!!  I find coconut broths to be heavy but this was pretty good.  Altho fav one would still have to be from Urban Belly. Anyways.  You dont miss the meat at all.

ONE COMPLAINT: They served A’s dish to someone else… next to us.. apparently they always eff up orders here.. it’s good but srsly?! And then “rushed” the re-order but she got hers sooooo long after ours. UGH. Annoying.

I got the Chicken Chili Ramen – spicy broth and ramen noodles topped with fresh chilies, red onion, bean sprouts, cilantro, scallion and a wedge of lime

And W got the same as me but with grilled steak. I should’ve gotten steak :[ My chicken SUCKED and I only had like 1.5 pieces.  But I added a lot of shichimi 七味唐辛子, “seven flavor chili pepper”  in it and made it even spicier.  My nose got sweaty.  They also have soy sauce and chili oil for condiments.

After our bellies were full… A and I hurried over to Pinkberry, right next to Wagamama.. at first W resisted but he gave in and got a cup of froyo too.  BUT, OMG, they have SAVORY toppings now?!?!?!

Yep, those are diced peppers, tomatoes, olives, cucumbers and basil….

Since we’re curious we got given samples.  I tried the cucumber, pepper, EVOO and a tasty spice.. maybe paprika?!  And a salty sunflower cracker.  A had the one with olives, pesto, tomato and another cracker :]  It’s actually served with their Greek Yogurt and was surprisingly really tasty.  *cue W’s face squishing in disgust* hahaha…

I ended up with this tho, sweet for me !!!
Half strawberry, half salted caramel with mangoes and raspberries!

DEEEEEEEEEELISH!

After shopping around a bit and relaxing W went to prep for the dinner and I did a little work.. and by little I mean little… cuz soon I was dressed and ready to head out for drinks and dinner with the chefs.

When I finally got to shake Ken Oringer’s hand, I may have a giggled one too many times. OOPS. These may have been to blame.  I had a champagne cocktail, some of W’s drink and this tequila/jalapeno smokey drink [with mango ice cube YUM].

We ended up not eating dinner with the chefs, just had a few drinks and then W and I went to O Sushi for a delicious sushi/sashimi dinner.

It was the first time I had their Hamachi Kama – only disappointment was this Tako [octopus] dish that was just salmon and octopus chopped in cubes with cubed tomatoes and cuc and etc… meh.  But Hamachi Kama had crispy skin and juicy moist meat. YUM – I had a delicious Lychee Saketini along with the meal as well :] NOM!  They give you a shaker full so you get about two martini glasses!!!

Blade Sushi Bar/Lounge at Fountainbleau

On our last day in Miami, W had an early start to a busy day so I just slept in cuz it as rainy/thundering on and off all day in Miami… woke up around 1130 and got ready to spend a day shopping and eating…

After some shopping around and fell in love with the most gorgeous Philipp Plein seude biege crystalized skull bag/tote… UGH I WANT IT… it was almost 5grand SIGH… AND these jean shoes… I finally headed over to Blade for some sushi.

I was surprised to find out that Bladen and La Vida are actually one.  La Vida is american and Blade is, well duh, sushi/Japanese but you can get both in the same place.

Sushi Bar

My view

Ready to eat

…with my Sparkling Sake Mojito

Sparkling Sake, Bacardi Superior, Fresh Mint, Hand Pressed Lime, Soda, Cane Nectar

Water a la Z with Lime & Lemon

Edamame
Steamed Soy Beans with Sea Salt

It was a huge piping hot STEAMING bowl. YUM!

Octopus Carpaccio
Sweet Pepper, Tomato, Red Onion, Cucumber, Spicy Vinegar Dressing

This was the dish that got people thinking I was in the food industry/restaurant biz hahahaha….

Green Salad
Rice Vinegar, Dressing, Carrot, Radish Sprout

This was so much more decadent than I expected.  Squash, avocado, tomatoes, carrots, amazing. SOOO GOOD.

Naruto Maki
Thin Sliced King Salmon, Crabmeat, Masago, Avocado, Scallion, Vinegar Dressing, Wrapped in Cucumber

Not that great but fresh

Salmon & Scallop Sashimi

The scallop wasn’t on the menu but I asked for some.  And I asked for them to give me thin slices of lemon with it.  Can you believe they charged me freaking 23$ for that one thinly sliced up scallop?!  It was delicious, but I’d hav appreciated more lemon in the slice lol.

Apprently this was too much food for lil ol me?! So said food neighbors… waiter also thought I was in the restaurant biz/food industry cuz I got the octopus hahaha and probably cuz I was picky about scallop.

Half way thru I finished my mojito so I got a Lychee Martini.  Grey Goose, Lychee Liqeur, Orange Bitters, Lychee Juice.  I was trying to eat super slow and enjoy myself and scenary.  Fuck the girl next to me who told her mom “OMG I wouldn’t even go into a STORE by MYSELF” go back to your salads bitches.

Delicious.  I also ended up buying W a Blade Roll / Panko crusted Toro, Pickled Ginger, Asian Pears, XO Sauce and Bleau Roll / Tuna, yellowtail, salmon, avocado, scallion, masago wrapped with daikon, soy onion dressing.  But we didn’t get a chance to try them cuz we were in a hurry to make it to the airport, boo :[ Next time, maybe… lol…

Truffle Dinner at CLINK

After our pre-eating at No. 9 Park.. the restaurant got us a cab back to the Liberty Hotel!  Quick ride later, we were back at CLINK and ready to eat – okay we were a little bit late ;]

“Set on the lobby level of The Liberty Hotel, a national historic landmark that was once the storied Charles Street Jail, CLINK. offers Bostonians and hotel guests Modern American Cuisine prepared by classically-trained Chef Joseph Margate. Each dish reflects his intense focus on flavor and dedication to seasonal, sustainable, and local ingredients.

Vestiges of original jails cells create cozy nooks for dining, and an open kitchen displays the theater of cooking as each stylish dish is prepared. Warm gold leather seats, butcher block tables and granite accents add contemporary style to the dining experience.”

We had a cute little table by one of the jail cell windows… :]

I looove the look and feel of this place… outside the place was POPPING!!!! Very crowded.. lots of pretty peoples.. but we were busy inside eating….

The Menu:

Deep in conversation… no recollection of what they were talking about….

HUGE pours!!! We started off with some bubbly.. and then instead of wimpy “Tasting” pours of wine, they gave us HUUUUGE full glasses. YUM!

Sashimi of Yellowtail with Black Trumpet Mushrooms and Black Truffle Butter Powder

Paired with: 2010 Innocent Bystander Pinot Gris

The fish was fresh but was WAY overpowered by the truffle butter powder.. I suspect a bit of “faux” truffle flavors.. truffle oil? Truffle essence?  Could not taste the fish at all… which is strange since it’s Yellowfish, very oily and pretty strong tasting… It paired BEAUTIFULLY with the wine tho.. a bit oversalted. We ate it all anyways!

Fresh Pasta with Truffled Pecorino and Domestic Black Truffles

Paired with: 2007 Saia Nero d/Avola, Sicily, Italy

Not really truffle-y and just had more of the Black Trumpets from the first dish.  The pasta was fresh and actually tasted great but I needed more than just two shavings of truffle on top.  I might have been spoiled already from our pre-dinner.

Beef Shortribs with Brussel Sprouts, Potato Puree and Black Truffle Jus

Paired with 2008 NXNW Cabernet Sauvignon Columbia Valley Washington

The menu said fingerlings but we got Brussel Sprouts. Which is great cuz I LOOOOOVE Brussel Sprouts and I devoured them. AHHH!!! :] SO GOOD!  The Shortribs had the two shavings of truffle on top – didn’t really taste the truffle in it but it was so tender, fatty and falling apart. NOM NOM NOM.

And then came the dessert… was kinda excited to try a dessert with truffles… butttttt… this is what we got…

Truffled Rice Pudding Brulee

Paired with 2006 Mulderbosch Late Harvest Sauvignon Blanc

Ok, I LOVE rice pudding but when I think brulee, I def think of something at least lukewarm. This was cold :[ A bit of truffles on top, and yes you could taste the truffle… flavors weren’t bad but it was COLD!!!!

:[

While the truffle dinner was disappointing, the wine was a-flowing, the company was great, awesome conversations!!!! :] And of course many travel destinations being planned for M & I hahahaha…. we’re fat and sexy and we know it! LOL…. Thanks for a great time and for my water and your scarf HAHA, I’m holding it hostage. Keep those mimosas on ice for me ;] Piggie tails SOON!

And so it begins… with AKA Bistro

It’s that time of the year, again, when I turn 21.. AGAIN.

No wait, I think last year I turned a sweet 16 with a party at Momofuku, Carnival, Maze and Blue Ginger. And while Family birthday dinner is ALWAYS at Blue Ginger… every single year… we thought we’d change it up a bit this year and go try out a new suggestion from my mommy… AKA Bistro – “boast[ing] the best of two distinct and sophisticated cuisines.  Half the menu offers French fare; authentic recipes derived from the owner’s mother, a native of Marseilles.  The flip side of the menu features a creative roster of Japanese dishes, with an emphasis on elegant sashimi.  Ingredients are sourced from a handful of small farms [within] a few miles of the bistro, and pristine (often sustainable) fish is sourced from around New England and the world.”

AKA Bistro [pronounced “ah-kah” not “A KAY A” like the abbreviation hahaha] is definitely something fresh and new and not what I’d expect in Lincoln, MA.. especially next to a train station….

I was excited – we had reservations for 7:30… but by 5 I was STARVING.. it didn’t help that my mom was making some of her famous spicy beef noodle soup to freeze for later… [yes after dinner I had a bowl back at home… and some marrow.. #fattie]

Me getting ready :]

The weather was kinda gloomy and wet but inside it was popping.. the atmosphere was loud and it was a little.. not hot.. but it felt stuffy and humid inside – slightly – decor was really nice tho :] Happy chipper place.

AKA Bistro
145 Lincoln Rd.
Lincoln, MA 01773 

Bread.

Cold. Chewy. A bit hard. But COLD :[ Sad. I want French CRUSTYYYY bread… fluffy inside… alas, no.

DOT DOT DOT

But let’s get to the fun part. Or in the case of my daddy “at least the champagne was really good tonight…” yeah that’s kinda a preview of what’s to come.

We popped a bottle of bubbly :] I got ID’d :[ The hostess also treated me like a little kid. BOO!

Escalope de foie gras poelée et compote de fruits secs
Seared foie gras and dried fruit compote

Not my favorite Foie Gras…  definitely not the worst.. but it was okay.. I thought it tasted slightly off… but mommy liked it. Daddy didn’t like it so mommy got most of it :] The fruit compote was plums and was pretty tasty.. loved the wilted spinach underneath the foie.. the tart on the bottom was kind of madeline like…

So pretty tho…

Hamachi Collar

This was a special of the day – AND cooked to medium rare – altho definitely more rare than cooked… the outside was slightly burnt…. MEH.

Scallop Ceviche

Banuyls vinaigrette and fresh winter black truffle

This was my favorite dish of the night. But it was SOOO SMALL… thinly sliced fresh scallop sashimi.. a very light vinaigrette and delicious truffle..OMG.. the truffle.. subtle and not overpowering – a little goes a long way – LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE. I wanted MORE!

This was SUPPOSED to be a Kumomoto Oyster with Uni and Caviar.. but they didn’t have the oysters and had another West Coast Oyster… and no Uni so they said they’d give me extra caviar. They didn’t but it was still good – wayyyy tiny tho :T

Os à moelle, fleur de sel aromatique,pain de campagne grillé

Bone Marrow, aromatic sea salt and toasted country bread

Delicious. Wish the Bone Marrows were bigger tho… I miss big fat delicious bones filled with marrow… MMMMM. This marrow was fatty, drippy, creamy… SOO GOOD and came with a little dish of a salt/pepper concoction to sprinkle over. This is the first time my parents have had Bone Marrow like this and they really enjoyed it :] Altho daddy thought it wasn’t that flavorful – which is why I said sprinkle more salt teehee.. but they both LOOOVED it…

Mommy’s Confit de canard et pommes Salardaises

Duck Confit, potato roasted in duck fat

The duck was cooked perfectly.. the skin was a bit TOO fatty and not crispy but still delicious.. a bit soggy tho.. the crispy bits of the sliced potatoes were delicious but even with the salad everything was WAY too greasy from all the duck fat from the potatoes and the confit.  The salad was DRENCHED in duck fat…. but I ended up eating all of the potatoes and the rest of my mommy’s salad and duck for her :] #tummyache

Daddy’s Bacon Wrapped Pork Tenderloin

I can’t find the exact dish on their old menu on the website but the stuff on the bottom was very herbby and gnocchi like… Even if you didn’t get a bacon piece the pork was cooked sooo tenderly and the bacon flavor totally infused itself into it. DELICIOUS.  The “gnocchi” like pasta or “dumplings” I suppose weren’t too bad either.. a little too mushy for my liking.. but probably the lightest dish out of the three we ordered.

My Saumon poche, beurre fines herbes, courgettes, fenouil et rattes

Poached Salmon with “beurre fines herbes”zucchini, fenneland fingerling potatoes

I… hated it.

But they were nice enough to take it off the bill. It was.. ick. Too buttery.. I hated the consistancy of the salmon.. which was bland… the fennel and zucchini I liked but the sauce it was in and the butter it was cooked in was just TOO MUCH…. :T I wanted to like it, I wanted to love it – I love salmon but I just hated it. Which is why I went to eat my mom’s duck fat drenched leftovers… if

Creme Brulee

Perfect.  Just wish maybe a little warm inside of cold custard on the inside.  BUT. Nice thick, but not TOO thick, perfectly burnt sugar crust.  Delicious innards… beautifully speckled with fresh vanilla bean. MMMMMM

FUNNY story. My mom and her friends had come here before when it JUST opened… the got the Lunch tasting menu and each had their own creme brulees for dessert. They had NO idea that it was vanilla bean and all took a bite, saw the black specks and freaked out – thought it was bugs or mold or dirty.. hahahahaha my mom JUST told me this story a few days ago and then AGAIN tonight…  Silly ladies :]

Complimentary Guava Jellies

They gave these at the end of the meal – SOOO good.. methinks there was grapefruit in it too?!… But can’t really remember… a little sweet but sooooo guava-y :D JOY! Made me miss Taiwan…

Chocolate Cherry Cheesecake

SOOOOO FLUFFY!! The cheesecake part was SO light and delicious… like whipped cream consistancy… the chocolate crust was flakey and cookie like – delicious.  The cherries were SOOOOOO GOOOOD and juicy!!!!

I wanted to have some family photos but part way thru the dinner my parents, especially my dad got super reminiscent and I got all emotional and teary and burst out crying and ended up being blotchy and sniffly for the rest of the meal – until I got a funny phone call from my sis Kate ;D but yeah… so no pix… I was splotchy in the above pic but it was far away enough that you can’t tell TEEHEE.. BUTTTTTT. PROPS to my makeup.. NOOOO gross masacara lines!!! :D Not ONE bit of makeup out of place.. I’m like halfsobbing and giggling with my mom about how my makeup wasn’t drippy.. LOL

OKAY so this wasn’t exactly a good meal – the desserts were great… the food was subpar :T The salmon was horrendous, the texture the flavor.. bland and fishy… overly buttery.. mommy’s greasy overly soaked with duck fat – even daddy’s delicious pork looked a little sketch and on the pink side… so far no food poisoning though, all three of us had some… but it seems like the Japanese food seems to be going more towards my liking… if I ever come back here, slim to none chance, I’ll get sushi.  I’ll stick to L’Espalier and Sel de la Terre and others for my French choice. Speaking of which.. I miss Chef Ed Cotton’s food at Plein Sud. NYC Trip ASAP! Sorry AKA Bistro. Good concept, poor execution. At least tonight… for my table :T Servers were nice, altho as soon as our waiter got the check he BOUNCED… how rude. At least the other servers said bye.

Happy – Almost – Birthday to Me :D

I’m SUPER excited about the coming week…s…. :] Vegas. Friends. Special Birthday Day :] Super psyched about it all….. Life has been so good to me lately. I’m glad to be pushing out all the negativity in my life and just focusing on the positive and the good people.. the good things… :] I may be “young at heart” forever, but some people are just freaking immature, childish and I don’t need them in my life. So good riddance. The past year and a half I’ve been dealing with a lot of negativity… settling for things even though I wasn’t happy – with where I was, who I was with.. what I was doing.. where I was going… with age comes wisdom… for most people – I’m blessed that I’m one of those people.

Thank you to all the amazing people in my life. Friends, family…. DIOR <3 This is gonna be a good good year – “21” is a good age ;D

Mopeds, Fish Tacos and Dinner at Beachhouse

After a crazy day of renting moped, driving around Hawaii [YEP, I drove it an hour East of Waikiki and then back…] and getitng caught in the FREEZING rain on the way back…

wait for it wait for it…

My cute little toot toot moped which Z let me drive :D

Blowhole

We had fish tacos, chips, salsa & guac from the Wahoo Taco Truck down by one of the beaches…

And shared a coconut for some thirst-age…

We were hoping that it’d be a refreshing cold coconut but it was room temp :T Kinda lame, but it tasted great…!!!

We came back, took a shower and got ready for our last night out in Honolulu…

It was hard to chose what to do on our final night… the first place we wanted to eat at was completely booked for the night, and the weather was just really bad to go to Paradise Cove for a luau……. We had reservations at Roy’s.. but ultimtely ended up going to the Moana for a drink and staying there for dinner at Beachhouse.. as much as Chef Roy Yamaguchi is super famous…. we can’t help but be slightly biased of the “chain” of restaurants all over the place.

The Moana Surfrider [a Westin Resort/Spa] is a GORGEOUS hotel and super old school – it was the first hotel to open on Honolulu and it still looks exactly the same as it did then as it does now. GORGEOUS!

We didn’t have reservations so we had to wait an hour or so to get a seat – which isn’t too bad. It was kind of odd since there were tables that were just not getting sitted… satted? Sat in? Sitted in… hahahahah…. SET. Ok whatever.. but still… and even AFTER we got seated were the tables finally filled [even though the hostess said they were taken for, LIES! Hahahaha…]

Anyways, while we waited… we looked around the shops and art gallery in the hotel and we took pictures.. lots and lots of pictures [yeah and I bought more stuff.. obviously.. TURTLE EARRINGS!!!]

We ended up sitting at the bar having drinks and chitchatting with the bartender and each other!!! :D

Our view from the table….

Delicious rose champagne :D

Creamy Butter with a touch of Pink Sea Salt

Z caught me in a moment….

Ocean Raw Bar for Two
assortment of fresh seafood including northwest oysters, king crab, lobster tail, yellow-tail sashimi, ahi sashimi and tiger prawns accompanied with mango cocktail sauce, wasabi shoyu, and an asian mignonette served on a bed of ice

It was alright. Plain. Simple. Fresh. But nothing amazing about it – it’s definitely not the most delicious seafood I’ve had…  The oysters were HUGE and the sashimi was super fresh… I also didn’t like how they seemed a bit stingy on the portios… haha… usually they don’t give that little :P  Irregardless… still good…

Lomi Lomi Salmon
House cured Salmon Garnished with Truffled crème fraiche and caviar

OK get this. The chef actually let the dish come out even though they ran OUT of caviar and the server didn’t even TELL us that.  It wasn’t until I was like “UMMM… isn’t there supposed to be caviar?” to Z that we asked the manager and the manager, didn’t even apologize, just said OH we ran out and later took it away. We didn’t want it… our waiter suggested a replacement but we decided to just skip it.  The fish was meh.. like bland smoked salmon…. definitely needed the caviar.. and of course, more truffles creme fraiche…. The toast points were SO buttery and delicious though. Crispy and melt-in-your-mouth.

Steak Tartare
Rich Wagyu Beef alongside Brioche Toast, garnished with Whole Grain Mustard and Capers
The tartare was ground a bit too fine for our liking… thankfully, the tartare wasn’t too salty but it definitely needed a little more oomph to it.. capers perhaps? Instead of a whole caper berry on top… like I said about the Lomi Lomi toast points, these were SO delicious. It was alright….. Nothing too special… so far the appetizers were just subpar… at least the view and the decor was gorgeous…

Z let me choose the bottle of wine so I went with a delicious Spanish Red… Mas de Can Blau

So fruity and amazing!!! It was SUCH an amazing bottle of wine :] I must find it again….

Moyer Farms Bone-in 20 oz RibEye

Cooked to perfection, Black & Blue just the way we love it!!!  The outside was the most delicious crust of a sear and the inside was niceeee and rawwww!!!  And who doesn’t love a good bone.  Bone-in steaks are always preferred :]

Catch of the Day: Pan-Seared Opah

Tasted like a light Salmon or an Arctic Char… delicious. I’m glad I got the sauce on the side.. I find that restaurants always over sauce dishes…. this sat on top of the creamiest most delicious garlicky mashed potatoes.. I couldnt’ stop eating it… and of course some delicious asparagus!!!! White + Green :D YUM! The outside was crisp and the inside was SO SO tender….

Coconut Lemon Haupia cake
Chocolate marble straws with lemon verbena sauce
This was SO delicious. SOOOOOO much fresh coconut all over the cake OMG I couldn’t stop eating it. I ended up eating off all of the coconut around it :] Hahahah…. #fattie. Nothing like some really really good coconut.

A delicious last dinner [despite a slow start with the appetizers] in Waikiki.. afterwards we headed out to the famous Yardhouse for a few drinks. It was a long exhausting day so we hit the hay soon after… I’m lame.. :D But Yardhouse was no Senor Frogs like we went to on Cinco de Mayo.. which I’m about to post about after this :D WEEEEEEE