miami - #sobewff day three

day three here we come.

today was EXCEPTIONALLY hot.  the last couple of days were hot, but there's a difference in hotness walking around town going in and out of stores and at an event, on the beach, with no shade with thousands and thousands of people!

first, denise and i went to a fun & fit kids event for #sobewff at jungle island, miami's zoo.  it was really cool seeing the festival put together an event for the kids and families to enjoy.  that's definitely something that we want/should to incorporate into our festival.

they had fitness activities for the kids to teach them to be active and healthy.

those are actually just white styrofoam planters!  creative right??

teaching you to grow your own veggies.

how appropriate!

although i thought it was weird that tony the tiger was short.

like really.

cooking class for the kids~  notice there are no parents close by?  that's because they weren't allowed in the there!  they are all standing along the staircase behind the window to the right!

ok, now on to the HOTTEST part of the day.  denise and i made our way back towards the beach to attend the whole foods grand tasting event.  

notice that sign says "village" - believe me you.

it WAS a village.

what a production - i was just in awe!

want to buy a cook book and get it autographed?!  you can do that!

this is just the beginning of the "village".  probably about 30 booths of sponsors showcasing their product.

this is looking into the entrance of the tents.

YUP, tents - plural.

i took this picture so i can show you what an awesome venue this is - literally on the beach, overlooking the white sand, blue water and sky.  whaaaaaaaat!!!??

this is inside the first tent.  there is another one!

denise and i left early after we made our round through the two tents because it was too hot, long lines and lots and lots people.  regardless, i was so impressed with the caliber of the event and how well each event was executed.

and to give you a better idea of how ginormous this event was, this is the directory of all the sponsors, food and beverage, wine, liquor, beer vendors that were present at this grand tasting.

it's jaw dropping!

moving on...  the last event of my stay in miami.  the tribute dinner to nobu and christophe navarre.  this event is similar to our halekulani event we have at the hawaii food & wine festival, except they probably have an extra 50-100 attendees, they have a live auction and we don't tribute anyone... 

the event was held at the ballroom at loews.

beautiful set up with elegant center pieces.

mistress of ceremony was ms. martha stewart.  

decked out in dashing sequin black leggings and sequin silver jacket.  

fab.  she rocked it.

denise and i before the dinner started.

it was nice to be at an event, sitting down, being served and not sweating!

first course:  scottish langoustine in sea water gelee, uni custard and nori tuile

by daniel boulud

i didn't like that this first course on the table prior to us sitting down, but surprisingly, it worked out to its benefit - it was so delicious!  the uni custard with the crisp caviars, gelee and a full, flavorful piece of uni.  mmm.  perfection.

second course:  homemade tofu with orange miso

by yoshihiro murata

interesting...  with the terrazas reserva torrontes wine pairing, it tasted great, but on its own, i felt the orange overpowered the miso and you couldn't really taste the creaminess of the homemade tofu.

third course:  steamed pork, crab and vegetable dumpling with mushroom sauce

by yuji wakiya

another interesting dish from my motherland.  the dumpling was steamed in the cellophane, which i'm sure shocked the americans, but i must say, the flavor of the dumpling with the mushroom sauce was very japanese and i enjoyed it a lot.

(yuji wakiya will be joining us in september!)

fourth course:  scallion crusted madai, congee and abalone salad with korean miso sauce

by roy yamaguchi

there's a reason why i always say roy is the shit.  'nuff said.

fifth course:  lemongrass braised short rib with kabocha squash puree and maitake risotto cube

by fredric delaire

risotto cube, amazing.  add maitake, even more amazing!  the short rib was very tender and well prepared.  well done.

dessert course:  matcha parfait with almond praline, sesame, kumquat and soy caramel

by johnny iuzzini

thank goodness i'm not doing that "no dessert" crap anymore!  this dessert was fabulous.  all the components eaten together just enhanced all the flavors and was a party in my mouth!  the parfait was creamy, the almond praline was perfectly crunchy, that soy caramel was... so good.  the kumquat on its own was waaay too sour for me, but like i said, together with everything was delicious!

nobu-san graciously accepting the tribute.  he is an amazing man.

group photo - used the panorama on my iphone, but half way through the group put their hands up so that's why the picture is like that!

this is nobu's acceptance speech - it was very heartfelt and sincere.

i hope you'll take the time to watch the whole thing.  i think you'll appreciate him too.

i'm bummed it's blurry, but i love this picture.  

nobu calls me aya-chan :)

see you in september.

what an amazing experience #sobewff was.  i am very lucky to have been able to travel to miami and have the opportunity to check out how other festival does things.  again, at the end of the day, it's all because of roy.  i'm not sure that i personally would want the hawaii food & wine festival to be on south beach's scale, however i hope we can execute amazing, well planned, beautifully designed, impressive events highlighting hawaii and all the bounty that comes with.  i hope the festival will be able to educate attendees about hawaiian culture through our daytime programs with kamehameha schools and let them experience hawaii at its roots.  i hope that we can instill an appreciation for locally grown products and those hands that have prepared it.  i think what differentiates our festival from many others is that we have a very unique product - the state of hawaii and its people who are passionate about supporting "local", taking care of our ʻaina, growing our future culinarians and aloha spirit.  if we can share that passion with the rest of the world where maybe, just maybe a few chefs can take that back home to the mainland and share with their team or attendees have a better appreciation for hawaii and the importance of its culture and history, i think the festival has done its job.  and as a result, if we're able to donate $200,000+ again in 2013 to our local beneficiaries, even better.

my flight back to hawaii was dreadful.  17 hours of traveling is very tiring.  the only thing i had looking forward to my three hour layover in la was hanging out with my parents eating my in n out burger.  priceless.

i savored every single bite till the very end.

miami - #sobewff day two

day two:

denise and i went looking for a place to get lunch and on our walk, we came across this cute, quaint street - espanola way.  felt like a italian village.

at night, we went to #sobewff second night, wine spectator's best of the best event.  this was by far, my favorite tasting event for the weekend.  the event was at the fountainebleau, another beautiful hotel in miami.

there were over 75 wineries participating at this event!

this is a yogurt lollipop prepared by the FIU students - this was amazing!  that's a frozen board - he piped down a strawberry yogurt, adds a lollipop stick, adds a dollop of whip cream on top and THEN soaks it in nitrogen really fast to give a quick flash freeze.

amazing AND delicious!

look how gorg!

black truffle.

does she look familiar?  yup, this is anita lo - she was on top chef.

you can see her again in september at our festival!

and of course, we went to go eat after!  tonight, we went to scarpetta, an italian restaurant in the fountainebleau.

hamachi.

mediterranean tako.

ummm, yah, that's a steak tartare under alllllll that shaved black truffle.

burrata.

from top left to right to bottom:  tagliolini (butter & parmigiano AND shaved black truffle - my FAV), spaghetti - simple but delicious, and butternut squash raviolini with veal cheeks.

long island duck.

polenta crusted cheesecake with strawberry gelato.  i've never had polenta crusted before, but it worked well!

pistachio souffle.  eaten together with the cherry gelato was perfection.

this was my fav.  budino di mascarpone with mango sorbet with homemade crisp mango fruit roll-up!

dinner was amazing.  there was an after party at the sls hotel, although denise, roy and jackie didn't want to go with me, i wanted to check it out - so i went solo.  and i left solo.  ;)

mastercard was a sponsor, can you tell??  the after party was cool - they had a cigar bar, a oyster bar, and a photo booth.  if only i had someone to party with....!!

i left shortly after making my round.  miami has lots of interesting people walking around late at night.  reminded me of my life in downtown la, but a bit more crazy!  sophisticated men trying to start a fight with a bum (as if the bum doesn't have enough problems..), people yelling at cars passing by, cab drivers yelling and throwing their hands up, security guards scolding pedistrians...  haha, jeez.  it was quite entertaining walking and watching all this happen!

i was able to fall asleep around 2am that night.  one more day of excitement and learning~

miami - #sobewff day one

here's my day one experience in miami for #sobewff..

i must say, miami is kinda nuts.  different than waikiki nuts.  drivers are ruthless, cab drivers are mean, people on the street are.. interesting, i rarely saw any asians!  haha.  plus, they tack on 16-18% gratuity automatically on your tab, regardless of how many people in your party!  

during the day, denise and i walked around, shopped and ate.

i HAD to stop by the kardashian sister's miami shop.  it wasn't as impressive as i hoped for, the store was empty.  they did have a security guard at the door and their service was nice.

at night, we went to #sobewff opening event beachside of the delano hotel.  

the size of the event is amazing.

the decor at #sobewff was spectacular!  i mean, the amount of people the event had was outrageous!

probably about 3,000 people?

art smith - he used to be oprah's personal chef, he was on top chef.. 

and he will be at our festival in september!

robert irvine and i throwing up the shaka for hawaii~

i know you must think it's weird, but we went out to eat after checking out the event.  :P  we went to michael's genuine food & drink - it was a casual place, with an open kitchen and patio seating.  the food was great and our server was so knowledgeable and entertaining!

deviled eggs - bomb.

hmmm those small oysters were so good! my fav.

denise & roy, it's always fun going out with them. <3

fried pig ears - the first time i had pig ears was in la at the lazy ox.  i haven't had it much since then and this one was so good.

fried hominy - you know, corn nuts!?  those white corn that's in those spicy mexican soups?  add some lime and pop it in your mouth.

desserts by james beard foundation pastry chef nominee, hedy goldsmith.

that beer float back there was amazing~

after i got back to the hotel, i didn't fall asleep till 5:30am!!  but all in all, day one was really fun!  i'm ready for more food!

miami trip

i'm in miami biaaaatch~  

gawd, first off, can i just say...  traveling to miami from hawaii SUCKS.  there's no direct flight, you're traveling to the other side of the united states of america, literally.  and it took a total traveling hours of ten to twelve hours (i lost count).  i left home at 10:45am wednesday.  i got to miami at 6:30am thursday.  i'm in miami for "business" - really.  it is a lot of eating and drinking, but lucky for me, that's my job!  roy is a participating chef for the south beach wine & food festival and i'm here to check out how things are done on a grander scale.  hoping to take some ideas back for our hawaii food & wine festival coming up in september.

this is the first sign i see as i walk out of my terminal to baggage claim - genius.

sunrise in miami.

this is TOTALLY the image i had of miami - palm trees dividing the freeway.

i'm staying at this fancy-pancy hotel.  loews will probably be one of the nicest hotel i'll ever stay in my life.

i got to the hotel waaaaay too early.  obvi, my room wasn't ready, so i tried to nap by the pool.

rough life.

this is my room at loews!  click the link --> aya's fancy room

(and if you're not one vine yet, you don't know what's up.)

that's all i'm going to share for now.  coming up will be my adventure around miami and the south beach wine & food festival (sobewff).

stay tuned.  xoxo.

bubble nails by aya - valentine's day

although i don't care for valentine's day, i must say, i'm pretty excited for this year's.  this is the first valentine's day that i am off in 10 years!!!! yup, TEN. i do feel that valentine's day is a silly, but hey, it's good for business so i'm all for it!

pa'a and i don't have anything planned for the actual day. we enjoyed a very nice dinner on friday night at japengo at the hyatt waikiki and we have dinner plans with friends from oc on wednesday so that's more than enough celebrating.

anyway, lets get to the important stuff!  nails!

here's my special valentine's day nails.  (got the idea from pinterest!)

sexy hot lovely nails

pink:  gelish - pink smoothie

red hearts:  gelish - hot rod red

glitter:  gelish - high voltage

iridescent holograms 

mid-january hawaii weather

**i was suppose to post this in mid-january when i first wrote it, but then i thought my shiitake rice was more interesting.  :P

am i so spoiled that i get to enjoy beautiful mid to high seventy-something degrees weather in mid-january??  although, it's been pretty cold at 5:30am...

should you be jealous that i'm wearing my hot pink bikini, soaking in vitamin-d and working on my tan?

hahaha, yah you should.

this was a sunset image i captured real quick as i was driving home from the gym.

it doesn't get better than this.

i'm lucky to live in paradise~

shiitake & chicken broth rice.

with my hopes to live more frugally this year, i'm trying to get the most for my bang.

by that, who doesn't love costco's rotisserie chicken?  it's $4.99, it's flavorful and a good size.  i usually eat half the chicken for dinner the day i buy it.  then i'm sick of it that it sits in the fridge for a day or two.  then i feel so bad throwing half the bird away so i thought to myself, "why not make chicken broth?!" 

but then, i make about four quarts of chicken broth and... uhhh.. what the hell am i going to do with this much broth??

my friend and chef suggested i make rice with it.  and to make it even more flavorful, add shiitake mushrooms.  it definitely reminded me of the rice my mom used to make, but her's consists of sake, mirin, etc. that i don't have on hand.  (i also did get a new zojirushi rice cooker, so it cooked the rice soooo well!)

can you smell that???

it came out so delicious, no salt, no additives, pure chicken broth, shiitake and rice.  full of flavor.  i could eat BOWLS of this!!!  now go try it and tell me how amazing it is!