First dinner in Recife by Chef Amir

After we got back from the beach, I passed out for a few hours. I woke up just in time for guests to arrive for a small dinner party prepared by Chef Amir.



Delicious risotto with basil oil - the way it's supposed to be made! (NO mushy porridge here!)


"Piperade" with Brasilian sausage to be paired with deliciously braised pork


Me and Amir


Bon app !


What a wonderful start to my stay in Brasil. We didn't finish dinner until past midnight. Everyone went out that night to a club except me. I couldn't hang since I was so tired from the flight. Tomorrow though!

Finally made it to Recife, Brasil

After "only 2 days," I finally made it to Recife, Brasil. At least I got upgraded to Business Class. Thanks, Daniel Gonzalez from Miami AA! The only competent AA rep I've met thus far...



Me and Amir


Queijo na brasa - Grilled cheese with oregano and Brasilian honey. GOOODDDDD


WORD. Caipirinhas with fried marcaxeira root (yuca). I am a big fan of marcaxeira root. They use it a lot in Brasil for various foods.


YES


Passion fruit, sugary coconut


Eating very young coconut after drinking the coconut water


A full afternoon at the beach, eating beach "street" food. Not a bad start.

Stuck in Miami, Florida

So my flight to Recife, Brazil was delayed an hour at SFO, therefore causing me to miss my connecting flight to Recife. They claim the earliest flight they had was 20h15 the following day (!!! F*CK YOU, American Airlines! You suck!) Seriously, each time I fly American, it gets worse. When I got to SFO, the check-in attendants were too busy having personal conversations. The lady at the desk was rude. Not to mention how unfriendly they were in Miami. So yes, DO NOT FLY AMERICAN AIRLINES. Sometimes it may be worth it to pay $100+ for a better airline.

Ok, the positives? I got a free night at Holiday Inn (well, they better offer this) and some vouchers for food - just enough so that I don't die of hunger, however, American Airlines expected me to eat only in the hotel or the airport. So yes, they expect me to stay here for 24 hours doing what? And get this, check-out time is noon. WHAT AM I GONNA DO - stay at the airport for 8 more hours? Even the guy at the front desk was like "Why didn't they just pay for two nights?" I can't walk around Miami in the rain with my extra bags. I still need a place to wash up before my 10+ hour flight. Blech. When life gives you lemons, you gotta make lemonade, right?

This was my chance to sort of check out Miami. First on the list: eat Cuban food. I took a cab to Versailles restaurant. The ride itself was quite interesting. I had a very interesting conversation with a Colombian cab driver married to a French woman. He got so excited talking about Colombian, Cuban and Peruvian food, crepes from Bretagne, apple cidre, and his extensive travel in Europe that he missed my stop. He didn't charge me for the mix-up either. Moments like this in life are fun.



I opted for something traditional - Beef stew with rice and plantains. I could eat plantains every day!


I really wanted to try dessert since they are also popular for their sweet things and bakery, but was way too full. I can always finish up with a cafecito though.






I am full and life is good.

Employee golf day

Aside from golf, there was a big meal made for everyone which includes grilled tri-tip, roasted chicken, chili, Spanish rice, guacamole, pasta salad, and potato salad. I volunteered to make dessert. I made super duper dense, fudge chocolate brownies, tiramisu, and apple crumble.

Here are a few photos of the course. It was completely gorgeous today. I didn't do much but putt around since I didn't want to slow anyone down.



Here's Scotty, one of our golf pro's

火鍋 a.k.a Huǒ Guō a.k.a Hot Pot

Had dinner at my sister's place.

Everyone needs a little huǒ guō in their life!

Last day of work

Season is over as of today. I couldn't help but paint my nails even though I had one more day left. It's been so long!



Coffee siphons that didn't work so well during service.


This is what $3?,??? looks like






A bittersweet moment. Now all I have left is to make dessert for 50 people. Monday is an employee golf/get together. Mainly the golf pros, caddies, and maintenance workers. Should be lots of fun. =)

Last staff meal

Our last staff meal. I always enjoy these moments since they don't happen very often. Hilda made chicken flautas, guacamole with habanero, Spanish rice, and a salad.



Jose made delicious margaritas. Toned down the alkie for me too. =)


Life is good.


Oh yah ~ Happy Halloween!

Les cocottes, chocolate, and my lil jardin

I <3 Cocottes

Lobster Lobster and more Lobster

By the way, I am completely lobster'd out.

President's Cup - Harding Park

Worked at the President's Cup this week. We were "camping."



Nice view






Who needs a grill when you have immersion circulators?




We had to get up really early to get to work, but it was an easy week.

Squab with pomegranite sauce

+ chickpea bites

Tradiciones Peruanas

Had lunch with my sister today at Tradiciones Peruanas in Sunnyvale. She has travelled extensively through Peru, so naturally, I would trust her judgement for finding a decent Peruvian restaurant in the Bay Area. I have only been to a handful of Peruvian places - two in New York City which were excellent, two in San Francisco that were whatever, and now this place.

It was quite rustic and wonderful. Like the name, it is traditional Peruvian food. We opted for the ceviche, the lunch special which was a chicken dish, and picante de mariscos (which was not picante, unfortunately). Everything was excellent. The ceviche was really good. Well-marinated, and not overcooked. Slightly spicy, and lemony.



The Picante de Mariscos was great despite the fact that it wasn't spicy. The seafood here is cooked perfectly. How refreshing to not have rubbery scallops and shrimp. Great comfort food.



Sadly, they didn't have a lot of the desserts that were listed on the menu. Next time. At the end of our meal, we had a nice conversation in Spanish with the chef (or rather once the chef heard us say three words in Spanish, he figured we were fluent). We were curious to see if he was really from Peru (which he was). Super nice guy who brought us to the kitchen. It was funny because he was talking about how you have to cook with love, which is something I always say at work! I asked him to teach me Peruvian basics - he said to come on in when I want. Perhaps when my current gig is over (five more weeks until freedom!!!). Anyway, check it out:

Tradiciones Peruanas
1161 N Lawrence Expy
Sunnyvale, CA 94089
(408) 734-0209

Fog

This is the 2nd time that we have had fog like this, this season. I rarely see fog, but I actually kinda like it.

On the 101

Santa Barbara Spot Shrimp

These mofos are huge. I was contemplating on getting them live, and then having the clients grill them on a Hida Konro grill, but then I remembered Raf's reaction to grilling shrimp that were still moving...

"Comfort food" - Foie gras, Lobster, Lamb, Warm Valrhona Chocolate Molten cake

Amuse bouche: Seared foie gras, quail egg, Sterling Caviar


Lobster, heirloom tomatoes, shiitake mushrooms. There was a lobster consomme that was poured into this at the table.


Dry-aged Colorado Lamb, Ras al Hanout, Medjool date sauce, Quinoa


Valrhona Chocolate molten cake - goal is to ooze down the plate just enough to hit the Strawberry ice-cream (which I was quite proud of). Simple but the clients this week loved it and practically licked their plates clean.