wine in the lotus position

if you don't know about lotus wares yet, yuh need to know about the spot. i knew about it a while now, but i really don't know what to call it. i just describe it as the spot you have to go to if you really want to trick out yuh pad. 

the items here are anything but ordinary. good quality. really impressive stuff. but even more impressive is the prices aren't what you would think. i eh sayin charlotte street kinda low prices, but good value for money. glasses you want to display long before you serve in them.

loads of wine stuff like the corkcicle. oh! what's a corkcicle? answer = click here.

dishes that look more like artwork than anything else.

scented candles in all sorts of interesting flavors.

and all sorts of different pieces.

things that could give you ideas.

but anyway, i went there the last time around for another thing that happens at lotus (part of why i can't explain what the place is in just a word or two), wine appreciation. why? because a man as spontaneous as myself can end up drinking anywhere from the neighborhood rum shop to a 5 star restaurant according to how the breeze blow. a little wine knowledge can help to make the vibes right sometimes. 

so lisa from aries services hosted a session with mucho wine info. types of wines, types of grapes, regions, how to read labels, we even went through some local restaurant wine lists. good stuff.

and for the practical part, lisa paired 5 wines with 5 flavors available at lotus wares (see? another thing you can find there. great food items like sauces and pastas).

so we had:

potel-aviron julianas with a spicy corn relish

chateau caronne st gemme with cherry berry jam

late harvest sauvignon blanc private reserve with an old farmhouse chutney

santa cristina toscana rosso with a mango peach jam

houge gewurztraminer with an apple jalapeno jelly

the gewurztraminer was my stand out. mainly because it's kinda dry but fruity. good to go with curry and geera and such. The spicy corn relish from stonewall kitchen was also outstanding for me. real nice.

long story short, lotus wares is a spot to check out. start by checkin their page on facebook (don't by shy to click like). then head down for the full experience.

big blate @ buzo

plain talk bad manners... i really do think i am a buzoholic. i mean, i've blogged about it about 3 times. and i make any excuse to go. so when chef grini invited the blogger's table for a lunch blate, nobody had to tell me twice. i was in like flynn. 

the buzo experience PLUS the company of sarina from trinigourmet, sharon from my chutney garden, the elusive trinichow and of course corey from learning patience... why would anybody say no to that?! 

we started out with a focaccia al rosmarino. a nice buttery flat bread seasoned with rosemary. tasty. i was wondering if i should keep some back to try it with a sauce from another dish or something... well, that failed.  i couldn't stop picking at it.that + talk = done!

but it was all good, because the next dish was fine as is. actually, it was my favorite thing on the menu. fried polenta with a cheese fondue. couple thin slices of radish in there for the eyes. the outside of the polenta was crispy, revealing a creamy inside. with that four cheese sauce and truffle oil... *head explodes*

next up came the focaccine farcite. mini pizzas more or less. not mini flavor though. this one was a zucchini and goat cheese. interesting combo.

but more interesting to me was the mushroom, truffle and arugula combo. yeah, i'm a mushroom fan.   

prosciutto crudo brought the meat. i lean more towards the pizzas without meat. i find they have more interesting flavors. but sometimes i dig the salt. especially when some nice wine is flowing. which is exactly what was going on here. 

the sausage and artichoke had the balance though. it was the first time i had artichokes on pizza and it was good. with the cheese, a tomato based sauce and tasty pork sausage, the flavor was off the chain. 

so this is what my pizza plate looked like. in other words, had no way for me to go wrong. 

i spoke about these before, and i will speak of them again. portobello fries. a must have at buzo. meaty strips of mushroom in a crispy tempura crust. they come with a tasty roasted garlic truffle mayo. always glad when corey ensures that these end up on the table. 

prosecco. what more is there to say about that? just prosecco. time to change the pace a bit.

correct. one of the things i love about buzo is that the pastas are all made fresh in house. yuh can't beat that with a bat... especially at these prices. anyway, lobster ravioli was up next. it was well done as usual, but i wasn't over the moon with it. i think at that point i realized i'm a-boil-the-lobster-and-serve-it-with-some-butter kinda guy. that said, my plate was empty. 

the next dish stopped the show with presentation. a brown paper bag and a rubber sealed glass jar. what kinda bizarre savannah-like fare is this? 

it all opened up to reveal a grilled shrimp on top of a prosecco risotto in the jar. which was a full six runs in my book. and a fritto misto, fried calamari and shrimp in the brown bag. it wasn't just a fun presentation. the risotto was off the chain. 

what i didn't mention before was that sarina has dietary restrictions which chef grini was skillfully handling. while we were doing the shell fish and so on, sarina was working on some choice salmon. i was satisfied with my dishes, but couldn't help but peep over at her plate.

as attractive as it looked, i didn't have the fragole. a strawberry salad. straight up, i was full at this point. and i'm not much of a salad lover either. it looked very appealing though.  

the dessert section started up with strawberries and cream with glazed nuts and a mint garnish. my kinda thing. not too sweet, but fruity all the same. i appreciated the simple treat right at that point.

but as most know, i'm also not a huge dessert guy. however, this tiramisu looked good enough to get me to taste a spoonful. rich... creamy... chocolate... delicious. i'd recommend it to any of my sweet tooth friends. 

as usual, the experience was beyond great. chef cristian's brilliant dishes, frances' stellar service, and this time (not exclusive to buzo) the excellent company of fellow bloggers. now lets see how long before my next buzo visit.

the hills are alive with the taste of seafood

one of the great things about being a blogger is finding out about cool new events. for example, SEE FOOD ON THE HILLS; a food inclusive, "bring-yuh-cooler-an'-come" lime at the aripo cottage, coming up on march 23rd. i heard a lot about the nature resort up in the hills, but due to my love of concrete and air conditioning, i never ventured to it... until recently. went up to take a peep at the location for this grand seafood affair. 

as expected, the eco resort had its own community of animals. many a mischievous monkey

swine of the wild variety.

unicorns. hmm. on second thought, they might have been ponies. 

and no serious collection of animals would be complete without some birds.

then there's the river. 

relaxing. though the event wouldn't allow access to the river as it's a decent walk away from the main cottages (a walk that made me renew my gym membership immediately after), knowing it's there is enough vibes.

there's still lots of water to be enjoyed though. the liming spaces include pools...

more pools...

next to pools...

numerous bar spaces...

gazebo... 

and just a lot of open spaces to assemble with your squad, your cooler and platefuls of seafood inspired dishes. i can't let the cat out the bag as yet, but the menu sounds impressive. 

all in all, the visit was enough to make me sign up for the 23rd. seems like it would be a different experience, i'm thinking brunch meets seafood joint meets cooler fete. interesting if yuh ask me. but don't wait on the review to find out how it was. grab yuh cooler, grab yuh crew and come. i even took a few tickets so if you need some, you can message me. 

the late late blate @ chaud cafe

seems like everything about this blog entry was late. i arrived to the blogger's table late, i ate late, i left late. i guess it was inevitable that i would post late. and believe me, it wasn't because i didn't try. just like the accident on the highway in the middle of rush hour jus so jus so which stuck me in the east, things just kept popping up. and carnival didn't help.

aaaaanyway, this all started when corey from learning patience decided it was a good idea to include more bloggers on some blates. so she did her usual campaigning and sold the idea of a bloggers' table to alison at chaud cafe. next thing yuh know, emails were peltin' back and forth and the lovely alison was welcoming me to chaud cafe... my first time. 

nice. cozy inside and a nice spacious terrace to dine or have drinks on as well. i could see myself doin' this.

great settings to link up with all my homebloggers. sarina from trinigourmet (left) and corey. 

melissa from belly in hand.

and the elusive trinichow herself, who only volunteered 1/3 of her likeness for the camera. well honestly, she didn't volunteer any of her likeness for the camera, but i had to post something so people wouldn't think i was makin' it up.

i love pork. there, i' said it... again. so the portuguese garlic pork belly was a nice way to start. a crispy log of well seasoned pork topped with salsa verde. very very tasty. literally mouth watering. the really nice part about this dish though, was 3 out of the 5 bloggers aren't pork fans, so guess what? epic mealments of the pork variety!! 

i snapped a shot of this grouper po boy served with slaw and a creole remoulade on french bread. it wasn't my intention to sample it, but i took a little bite. nice. well seasoned fish with the tang of of the creole dressing and the fresh bite of slaw. i'm no lover of fish sandwiches, but i could be in the mood for this now and again. 

the salmon crudo was gape-worthy and sounded interesting. salmon, orange slices, olives and crispy fried capers drizzled with a balsamic syrup. all the raves about the great crispy capers were tempting, but i didn't venture in. 

my experience with cous cous is very limited, so i try to sample it whenever i can to see what people do with it. the grilled vegetable cous cous was a nice spin on it. earthy is how i'd describe it. a nice veggie flavor with the versatility to make a great side for a lot of things.

case in point, this atlantic salmon spiedini. this was my favorite for the evening. i'll swing back for this fuh sho! from the time it came out i was feelin' the presentation. the lil obscure mound of cous cous balancing on the side and the skewer of herb topped salmon across the top. then the burst of color from that tomato sauce.

even though when it came down to business, all that went to hell. if ripping fish off the skewer and mixing everything up is wrong, call me a circle... because that produced the perfect bites. explosion!!

the guava bbq diver scallops came recommended by a friend (mel mel, where yuh at?!) so i ordered it. what i didn't know was that the dish comes with cheesy grits and topped with sweet potato paille. i like grits, but i'm not an expert, so i can't say if they were well done or not. cheesy and nice however is something i think i am qualified to say. the scallops were grilled and topped with the guava bbq sauce. cooked perfectly so they were tender and succulent. i enjoyed the flavors. and the fried strips of sweet potato created good texture.

by this time, a brotha was filled to capacity. so dessert wasn't happening in qtown. meanwhile, the table was going wild over this flourless chocolate cake with sour cream sherbert. only mmms and aaahs. 

just when i thought it was a chocolate thing, the warm apple crumble with brown butter-pecan ice cream came out on a fancy platter. i sat this one out too, but the cinnamon smell was a huge clue of what was taking place. 

my dessert however... gin and tonic. wedge of lime. 

so after sharing all the trade secrets of our blogging worlds and exchanging stories about where to eat, where not to eat and why, it was time to head out. apart from hooking up with fellow bloggers, chaud cafe was cool enough to entice me to head back again. nice variety, great ambiance to share with friends. yeah... i'll be back.