Carrie’s Birthday Fun Day!

Today was Carrie’s actual birthday and we decided to celebrate in numerous and diverse ways. It was truly an action-packed day, starting off in Palm Springs and eventually ending up at Disneyland. All in all, it was a great way to ring another fantastic year in the life of Carrie Kim!

As you know, we stayed overnight at the Viceroy and relished its swankness. Our first stop this morning was the Parker Palm Springs to get the birthday girl (and her husband) all pampered up at the spa and for a crazy good brunch.

The Parker is an incredibly fun-loving homage to early ’70s style, designed by Jonathan Adler. The grounds themselves once belonged to Gene Autry, but after Adler’s revamp, it’s a pleasure palace that will make anyone who experienced the ’70s smile. Anyways, after getting rejuvenated in the spa, we walked over to Norma’s, the Parker’s in-house breakfast/lunch eatery.

As it was my wife’s birthday, I saw fit to wear a shirt showing my birthplace and year of birth!

We started off with these amazing crab cakes – some of the best we’ve ever had.

I had Norma’s Eggs Benedict, which had asparagus and pancakes instead of the usual English muffin. Carrie had Claw’s and Chip’s Gone Fishing, aka fried sea bass and lobster done fish & chips style. Wow.

But a birthday lunch wouldn’t be complete without a cake. So I had them bring out the big guns: Chocolate, Chocolate Ice Cream Cake. But I had no idea it would be THIS big! We barely made a dent in this giant thing! But it was unbelievably delicious.

What next? How about spending the rest of the day at Disneyland? So that we did. Since it was Carrie’s birthday, she got a button announcing the occasion…and since I was celebrating with her, I got one that said “I’m Celebrating!”

Here’s the birthday girl in front of It’s a Small World.

Carrie even got a picture with Mickey and Minnie!

What a fun day it was…I think we’ve decided that from here on out, we should always not work on our birthdays!

Happy Birthday, Carrie!!!

Pics from the whole birthday trip are here:

Palm Springs Weekend 2009

Dinner at Circa 59

So after we got fully settled into the Viceroy, we headed out to dinner at Circa 59, the restaurant in the newly remodeled Riviera. We pulled up to the Riviera, completely unprepared for what we were about to see!

In short, it was visually amazing, if ever so slightly slightly derivative. It’s a little bit Philippe Starck in its grandness and glamour, but no worse for it. It’s very impressive to look at, and very well thought out. It deserves to do well, and we hope it succeeds. Here’s the view as we pulled up:

Here’s me sitting on one of the fancy couches:

And here’s Carrie!

Some neat shots of the interior:

Our meals were OK…Carrie had salmon with a jalapeño pesto sauce, and I had red snapper with Spanish chorizo and shrimp. Both were pretty good, but not enough to knock your socks off.

In all, we’re glad we went as the Riviera re-opened in October and we love checking out the newest stuff, but we’d probably rate the food as a 3 out of 5. Definitely not bad, but lacking the sort of bang and innovation you’d expect from the sheer looks of the surroundings.

Still, we were plenty happy, as you can see here!

See the rest of the pics here.

Palm Springs 2009 – We have arrived!

Carrie and I have a tradition of going to Palm Springs for her birthday. Each year, it gets just a little bit swankier and swankier. Now all these years, we have visited the glamorous Viceroy, whose interior design was done by the fantastic Kelly Wearstler (designer extraordinaire and one of our favorite Top Design judges), for dinner, drinks, and even massages, but we’ve never actually stayed here.

Well this year, we decided to finally make it happen. No matter that we’re currently in the middle of a huge rainstorm; it’s just a reason for more indoor cocktails! ;)

Here’s us walking up to the door…the Viceroy Palm Springs’ signature yellow and black theme is foretold by the big yellow doors!

And the swanky lobby!

Love the yellow chandelier.

They gave us champagne when we checked in, so here’s me happily settling in. :)

Carrie more than dressed for the occasion in her yellow cardigan!

And here’s Carrie reveling in the big comfy bed.

We’ll be updating the blog throughout our stay, and you can find all the photos from our trip here. Much more excitement to come – we’re going to dinner tonight at Circa 59, the restaurant at the newly remodeled Riviera, and we’ll have some good fun at the Parker tomorrow! Stay tuned!

The Day of Love

This year we decided to skip the crowded restaurants and just enjoy a home-cooked meal for Valentine’s Day. We were shopping at Sprouts on Friday night and discovered they were selling Lobster Tails for $4.99 each, and it inspired us to cook up a Seafood Feast!

We were pretty excited that we actually pulled this off! One of our favorite meals ever was a “Seafood Feast for Two” at an incredible restaurant in Seattle. We tried to replicate it in this meal. Basically, we got two mini-lobster tails, 4 crab legs, a dozen shrimp and a tilapia fillet to share. Add fresh asparagus and a baked potato and – voila! – that’s a serious seafood restaurant classic!

One thing that was kinda funny was that once we got the Lobster Tails home, we realized we didn’t know how to cook them. Thanks to the FoodNetwork.com, Ed grilled ’em up just like a pro.

And finally, it just wouldn’t be Valentine’s Day without a sweet ending. We got these Petits Fours from The Great Dane Baking Company, the same place we got our wedding cake. Awww!

Another Amazing Evening in Food and Wine!

Tonight was the highly anticipated Winter Truffle Tasting Menu & Wine Pairing Dinner at Brittany and Wade’s house. We are going to try and recap this incredible evening as best as we can, but we are buzzing off not only the delicious wines that were paired with every course, but also from the incredible food and company!

As usual, Brittany artfully set the table to impress. We were celebrating her birthday tonight … and nothing could be more appropriate than the way she played close attention to every detail!

Love the chandelier plates!

For those of you who don’t know, Wade is an incredible chef. No formal training, he is fueled by a passion for delectable tastes, a close study of all things food, and a sharp artful eye! Anything he’s made for us has been simply divine, and tonight was no exception. If it wasn’t for Wade, I wouldn’t know that I liked guacamole, olives, cream-based soups or truffles! Reid was also there to do the wine pairing, and honestly, I tasted the 4 best wines I’ve ever had tonight! Thanks to Reid, Ed & I are definitely sculpting our wine tastes!

On to the good stuff …

Appetizers

Prosciutto de Parma with Truffled Honey

AND


Strawberries and Cream
Paired with: Domaine Allimant-Laugner Cremant D Alsace (Sparkling Wine)

I knew the night was off to a good start with this opener! Prosciutto? Strawberries and Cream? Bubbly??? Enough said!!!

First Course

Caesar Salad with Black Truffle Cacio de Bosco Crisp
Paired with : 2007 Chateau Guiraud Bordeaux Blanc Sec (Sauvignon Blanc)

The presentation on this dish was lovely. The onion ring around the salad, the gorgeous truffle crisp on top … and that crouton on the bottom! Everything about this was impressive, and the wine was my favorite of the evening.

Second Course

Potato Leek Soup with Fresh White Truffle (and Cauliflower puree!)
Paired with: 2007 Broglia Gavi

I wish I would have gotten a better picture of this soup! I have never enjoyed creamy soups before, but I ate every last bite of this dish – right along with everybody else! The texture was wonderful … it coated your mouth with a comforty-warm feeling, and that crisp white wine refreshed and reset your palette each time. Probably the most impressive pairing of the evening, this course got many compliments!

Third Course

Linguini with White Truffles and Chanterelles
Paired with: Domaine Pierre Guillemot Sabigny-Serpentieres

Again, this photo does not do this dish justice. This was Ed’s favorite of the evening. It had a hearty satisfying flavor without being overpowering or heavy. This was my favorite Red Wine of the night!

Fourth Course:

Braised Short-Rib over Black Truffled Mashed Potato with Brussel Sprouts.
Paired with: 2005 Chateau Belles-Graves Lalande-de-Pomerol

There is no way we cold possible tell you how savory and delicious this short rib was via internet. Literally, the meat shredded on contact. We could’ve had seconds … and thirds … but we respectfully restrained. Simply put, this was delicious! And, I love me some Brussel Sprouts! (This dish also has a fancy special kind of ginormous mushroom with it, but I cannot remember the name)

Desserts

Assorted Belgian chocolates and adorable Petit Fours from the Great Dane Baking Company! Paired with Vanilla Haagen-Daas Ice Cream with Truffled Honey on top! Decadence!

This night was one for the books, and we feel so lucky to know such great friends with such talents!

Our chef and wine expert:

The birthday girl with the chef:

We are extremely happy guests!

Happy Birthday, Brittany!!!

More pics here:

Winter Tasting Menu and Wine Pairing