Foodbuzz Festival 2011: Day 2 (Nov 5th, 2011), Part 2

Well my friends, Day 2 has not ended yet, that's for sure. Can you recognise the guy up in the photo above?I have not told you about Chef Tyler Florence's surprised show up at the Tasting Pavilion. Yup, that is right.. Chef Tyler Florence people!! He's one of the chef that I idolised amongst others and shall not name them right now, as I prefer to have this post spotlight on Chef Tyler Florence.

There was this queue, and I was so blur that I didn't even realised people were all queueing up to get an autograph signed book from Chef Tyler Florence. By the time I went to queue up, I was told by one of the staff from Alexia and I quote after her "Sorry Miss! Am afraid the queue up to the line has ended". Do you know, to hear that remark and she couldn't even make an exception for me since I did fly half way across the world to attend this event was really heartbreaking and painful to my ears. What a bummer right? I could feel my eyes tearing up, but I remained calm and composed and walked away like any lady would. So I told myself in my mind, okay it's just Chef Tyler Florence, but who am I kidding right?

Since I couldn't get any luck from trying to get a photo taken together with Chef Tyler Florence; Emily, Elisabeth, Angela and I started to head back to the hotel since we were pretty much done with all the food tasting. Before leaving, we took a couple more shots of course and grab a taxi back to the hotel.

So here it is.. when we arrived back at the hotel, there he was; Chef Tyler Florence standing in the lobby of the Grand Hyatt talking to some PR people. I could feel my heart beating so fast and I told myself that I must seize the moment. However, I kind of chicken out since there were PR people around him and didn't want to interrupt their conversation. So there I was, left standing together with Emily feeling all bummed out again with myself kept telling Emily that I really really want to take a photo with Chef Tyler Florence, was just driving me or probably drove her insane too.

The moment my dream came true..,.

The next moment, I realised Chef Tyler Florence was leaving the Grand Hyatt. With lots of Emily's encouragement, I held my breath, brave myself and went after Tyler Florence by calling out to him"Chef! Please wait.." To my surprise, Chef Tyler Florence stopped and there he was; I finally had my chance to talk to him. He is such an awesome Chef, a really nice humble fella and made me felt comfortable in my own skin. This is an experience that I had to share with you because in my entire life I have not chase after somebody whom I idolised..and I finally did it. It was really a liberating feeling. I think I rambled and he knew am sure, due to my nerves. He helped me setup my camera and got the bell boy to take a photo of us. Woo hooooo.. fireworks were just popping in my brains. Now like any fairytale in a storybook, everything always ends well and this time it really did. I was so happy that I couldn't stop jumping in the lobby, yup I was literally doing tiny hops cause it sure felt like there was a 'guardian angel' who heard my prayer and granted my wish.

Now isn't that something? The day has been really fun and when evening came by, that's even more exciting. The Gala Dinner is held in the Grand Hyatt and we have Chef Tyler Florence as our guest chef for the night who will be cooking LIVE right in front our very own eyes. For me, that's almost like a cherry on top of a cake. These were the times I recall myself watching Chef Tyler Florence on TV during his younger days and now his latest cooking show titled 'Tyler's Ultimate' which airs on The Food Network Channel.

Moving on to the evening. While on our way heading back to our hotel room, Elisabeth and I couldn't stop talking about our experience we encounter after having met Chef Tyler Florence in person. Don't get me wrong here, we have no intentions on bragging about this, but we both were just so thrilled for one another that we kept on talking over the same subject. However, I shall stop now and move on to our Gala Dinner.

The Gala Dinner is hosted by Alexia Foods, and they have collaborated together with Chef Tyler Florence to show us a LIVE DEMO cooking show. The dinner was also aired live on Facebook via Alexia Foods. Apart from live demo, it was also an event for the finalist of Alexia's next flavour re-invention of the fries.

Elisabeth & Angela

Nam & Devaki

Angela & myself.. photo courtesy from Elisabeth

At first, little did I know that Angela @ Fab Find Foodie is one of the finalist. It was certainly a pleasure to meet her in person as she is genuinely friendly. So if you ever meet her next time in person, go talk to her or even introduce yourself to her. She's definitely a celebrity blogger in my eyes as she is not arrogant or what so ever. Plus if you listen to what she's going to be doing soon, her story will definitely inspire you to follow your dreams.

What is this whole Flavour Re-Invention Fries about? Basically the chosen finalist are the ones where Alexia loves the idea of their new take of mixed rub or flavour used to coat the fries. And if they win, they will have their fries produced and sold. How cool is that!?!

Angela came up with Classic Dill Julienne Fries. Honestly, I was torn between two choices as I really liked Angela's Classic Dill Julienne Fries as well as another finalist who came up with Thai Spiced Sweet Potato Julienne Fries. To me, they are both winners and I will definitely buy them any time. Both had their own distinct flavour and trust me will definitely have you ask for more. If you like, you can still vote for them and judge based on what you think taste good in your mind. To vote, go to www.facebook.com/Alexiafoods . So go show some support to our fellow bloggers. Every little bit helps right?

If you are wondering what did Chef Tyler cooked live? I think everybody pretty covered this part in their post update and I will keep it short here. He cooked roasted pork chops with braised cabbage and spaetzle. A note of advise from Chef Tyler to us all and I quote after him "Colour Equals Flavour". So remember this peeps, whenever you are planning to pan fry, grill or roast meat or poultry.

As for his lovely dish, it's too bad we didn't get to try them.. but according to Angela that spaetzle was really light, fluffy, crumbly and taste real good [sigh....].  Thank god for the beautiful center piece that diverted my attention, so I wouldn't feel sad for not being able to try his dish.

Thinking back, if you asked me, we were all hoping to be able to sample the dish or at least that would be our dinner. Boo.. hooo.. Too bad, because our dinner menu is completely different. Not that I am complaining, but in retrospect, it would have been nice to have the pork chops served with braised cabbage and spaetzle for dinner. Ahh.. then that will be the perfect dinner.

Dinner menu was not too far from short either. It was a 4 meal course dinner. For Appetizer, we had Butternut Squash Risotto Bites, Roasted Wild Mushrooms, Vegetable Samosas with Tamarind Dipping Sauce [no photos here as I was too busy listening to Chef Tyler during the cooking demo..]. I have to say I did enjoy the Vegetable Samosas or maybe because it was cold and I was starting to get hungry..LOL.

Then came our Salad Course, where the Bibb Lettuce was served together with Honey Roasted Pears, Glazed Pecans and you get to drizzled as much of Bleu Cheese Vinaigrette. Yummm.. Bleu/Blue Cheese vinaigrette dressing is definitely an acquired taste. I do love my cheese, so that got a thumbs up from me. The only thing I wasn't crazy about was the Honey Roasted Pears, as I found them to be overly sweet. If I'm not mistaken, I think they used Warren Pears and if so, Warren Pears are already naturally sweet. Then again, it's up to individual preference.

For Entree, we were served with Brandt Beef Farms Filet Mignon and Meyer Lemon Roasted Prawns. I love both beef and prawns, and I particularly like how my filet mignon was just perfectly cooked medium. The only issue I had was that the generous amount of  Black Peppercorn gravy. Trust me I do love gravy. But for this case, the gravy pretty much overpowered the lovely filet mignon. As much I love black pepper and in this case black peppercorn and have heaps of sauce on my mash or even a steak, I think good meat should be seasoned well and have the just right amount of gravy served along with it. That's just my preference. Overall the Entree was really tasty.

Then came my favourite part, Desserts. They served us San Francisco Trio which comprises of Sourdough Bread Pudding, Cowgirl Creamery Cheesecake and Sharffen Berger Chocolate Mousse. The only thing which I really didn't like was the Bread Pudding. It's overly sweet, dry and quite hard. Unlike any bread pudding I've ever had. My favourite had to be the Cowgirl Creamery Cheesecake then followed by Sharffen Berger Chocolate Mousse. The Cheesecake is just perfect. Light, creamy, fluffy and melts in the mouth. Now that's a good cheesecake.

Us ladies ..toasting the night away to our new friendship!! (Photo courtesy from Elisabeth)

That's all for now,and I will leave you with photos of food to feast on. If you are interested to know, the night didn't end there. I went for drinks with the ladies, Emily, Visda, Angela, Elisabeth, Gina and Bonnie and chat the night away..

xx

Foodbuzz Festival 2011: Day 2 (Nov 5th, 2011), Part 1

Waking up to a wonderful bright and shiny morning in San Francisco y'all seems like a dream come true. After having watched Full House when I was way younger, and seeing the Golden Gate Bridge on TV countless times; being here in San Francisco was indeed a sheer joy. Sometimes I even need to pinch and remind myself that this is real. What a surreal feeling for me having flown in from across the world. Did I tell you my flight was close to almost 16-18 hours?

I did sign up for some talks and was supposed to make my way to Foodbuzz's Federated Media Headquarters. However, I was really tired from my long haul flight and decided to get a little more shut eye. Instead I decided to stroll down along Sutter Street together with Elisabeth, where we went out on a hunt for her coffee and breakfast to kick start our day.

Along the way, I found William's Sonoma and I told Elisabeth that I got to head in there right now..LOL.. Can you imagine, I put coffee and breakfast on hold just because of William's Sonoma??!? I think I might have upset her then cause I chose William's Sonoma over a cup of coffee. Elisabeth said graciously to me "Jo, we are suppose to get breakfast and right now you want to make a pit stop at William's Sanoma?" I felt pretty guilty at that point of time. Do forgive me peeps, there isn't a William's Sanoma back home here in Malaysia, so you could only imagine my excitement when I saw one of their outlets. The best part, it's just right behind our hotel. So I said to myself, I shall be back.

Now, looking back I thought it was really funny how it turned out. I put William's a side and continue to look for a shop for us to get our breakfast. We ended up getting bagels at Posh Bagels on Sutter Street  for breakfast. It's only about 1 block walk down along Sutter Street from the Grand Hyatt on Stockton. I hate to do this but I didn't quite like the lady serving over the counter. She's quite a meanie I tell you; so you better make up your mind quick before placing an order. No offense to her, but she strike me as a person who's impatient and has quite a sense of sarcasm in her tone. Other than that, the bagel breakkie was not bad at all. Maybe because I got all my appetite worked up..LOL

After we got our orders, Elisabeth and I sat along the window on the bar stools and people watched. San Francisco like any other city has a culture of their own. Therefore I would say, when you travel, ALWAYS go with an open heart and mind. Don't critic or judge. What you see on the surface may not be as bad as you think it is. Adapt to their culture and blend in as much possible to enjoy San Francisco.

Something hit me though, is that seeing an old lady digging into bins for recyclable tin cans or plastic bottles. I felt really bad for her, and wished that sometimes people don't have to go through that in life. All I could think of was "Gees, where are her children?". Also I made another self discovery of myself knowing that how fortunate am I to be sitting in a shop having breakfast in a chilly morning. That really made me appreciate every single thing that I have gone through during my high and low times and treasure everything that is  happening right in front of my eyes.

After breakfast, we headed back to the hotel to get some directions on how to get to the Metreon for the Taste Pavilion session. That is right peeps..more food and I recalled that I can't wait to check out what Foodbuzz had planned out for us. Throughout the whole event, there were 2 big sponsors based on what I observed. One of them being Alexia Foods and the other is Godiva.

This time round, a lot of the food stalls were geared towards promoting organic produce. I definitely can do that, as organic produce is free from pesticides. Although, at one point while I was walking together with Emily @ Savory and Savage; I recalled mentioning to her that I wanted more sinful food, as all of them looked so healthy.. LOL. What can I say, I am a foodie and I had an appetite to try out the real American food.

Emily and I head back to some stalls for second helpings too. There was this one particular stall which was serving seafood. Instead of what everybody always know of the famous Crab Cake or Crab Croquette, they were serving out Alaska Halibut and Caramelized Onion Croquettes with Fig Dijonnaise. One word to sum up this juicy filled halibut croquette which was lightly coated in breadcrumbs and fried to a golden perfection served with a doll-up of fig dijonnaise "YUMMMmmmmmm". It was so "YUMMMMmmm" that Emily and I went back for a second round. Did I make you drool here, cause thinking back right now is sure making me drool. We just couldn't get enough of it and wish we could have more.

Speaking of being a glutton, be prepared for the next photos; cause there I was stuffing myself with all the delicious treats, I snapped as many I could for you to feast with your eyes. To reassure myself, I paced back and forth and walked from one end back to the other to burn off what I consumed..LOL.. as though that would work, in my mind I think it did.

 

So what do you think? There were tonnes of selection to choose from. I think I was really spoilt with the choices, but I do have my favourites. If I were to choose, I would go back for more fluffy Alaska Halibut Croquettes, Warren Pears which were absolutely soft, not too crunchy when it's ripe and ultra sweet; absolutely perfect for poaching [that's how I love my pears to be..], Watermelon Infused Beer which leaves an after note of cooling sensation from the natural watermelon juice, Godiva's Pumpkin Spiced Latte with no sugar required and only needs about 2-3 tablespoons of good Maple Syrup, where this latte combination was absolutely smooth and had a real musky rich flavour from the blend of some cinnamon; perfect cuppa for any chilly days and to end it with Three Twins' Mint Confetti Ice-Cream which was ultra smooth, and has just the perfect balance of sweetness, blend of chocolate chips and mint infused cream.

I am going to leave you now to enjoy the above and hopefully you will come back for more? Do come back anyhow because Day 2 was a long fruitful day, and the next coming part 2 will be quite exciting.. Till then!!

xx

Foodbuzz Festival 2011: Day 1 (Nov 4th, 2011)

This is definitely a back dated post. Whatever it is I'm still going to post it up for you. I'm finally here in San Francisco, and it has been a blast over the weekend having met so many new friends, and also it was really nice to finally meet Gina @ SPCookie Queen and Elisabeth @ Food and Thrift Finds for the very first time.

I don't quite know where to begin while I'm drafting this for you, as I have so much to share and it feels like I like to pour everything out right now. To keep it short, first day was really fruitful. From checking into The Grand Hyatt Hotel on Stockton and getting ready to attend the Foodbuzz Awards Dinner at Terra Gallery on 511, Harrison Street.

Snapshots of the Grand Hyatt below for you my friends. The rooms according to the front desk personnel, have been refurbished and upgraded. Neutral tones filled the room with Zen style which immediately gives you the sense of calmness and tranquility. It sure did transform my tiring hectic long haul flight to a relax mode. The beds were covered with crisps white lush soft linens. Talk about staying in San Francisco with style and comfort. Elisabeth and I were so thrilled that we got to stay on the 17th floor and we had spectacular view of the Union Square. Just in case I didn't mentioned earlier, I got to share the room together with Elisabeth.



2 Beautiful Ladies: Gina & Elisabeth

Moving on now.. My oh my! The cocktail session was definitely fun.. I've embraced my nerves and stepped outside my comfort zone and started looking out for foodie friends that I recognise and introduced myself to so many that I've not met.You guys have certainly welcome me to San Francisco. A quick shout out to Angela, Bonnie, Emily, Gina, Visda, Heather, Luna, Julie, Joshua, Cora, Devaki, Nam, Krissy, and so many more.

During the mingling session, Gina introduced me to Visda @ Eat, Drink and Just Be!. To my surprise; she said and I quote after her"Hey! I recognise you Joanna. You made Top 9 today (November 4th, 2011)." I was super shocked [in a good kind of way] cause I didn't even know I made Top 9 since I was in a plane flying to the United States the whole time; and felt really awesome for that moment. Come to think of it, I believed I felt that my head got slightly bigger. Never in my dreams that a stranger who's a super nice lady would recognise me. She's no longer a stranger to me now ;).

Everyone helping to themselves and loads of food photo porno here..LOL

As for the food, I have to say some are not bad especially the ones from the Small Plates Action Station. I truly enjoyed the Pan-Seared DayBoat Scallop. Just perfect, juicy, tender and could just taste every bit of the fresh herbs and ingredients used. Delish! Sadly I didn't get to try the Glazed Marin Sun Farms Pork Belly. However, according to Elisabeth, she said the pork belly was tasty as well.

The Buffet Station had an interesting menu. However, I do have mixed feelings on the selection on the Buffet Station menu. It's comforting but I suppose it could be better and taste great in my opinion.

Moving on to the dessert selection, it was not not too bad. As you might already know I'm a sucker for desserts. So it's nothing new if  I had more photos on desserts..LOL.

Desserts were all made in mini bite sized. So the portion was just right. As much I love my desserts, I thought that the macaroons were a tad too sweet. My favourite dessert had to be the Mascarpone Cheesecake. The cheesecake base has a twist to it. Instead of regular digestives, the base was substituted with Gingersnap Crumble [yummm]. Overall the combination of the Mascarpone Cheesecake was really good and strike a perfect balance.

That's Visda..playing paparazzi. ;p ..

Not forgetting, I met Heather @ Heather in SF  who introduced me to my very first Manhattan. I must say, I am not crazy over the drink and Heather know about it..LOL. Then again being a foodie, we must step out of our comfort zone and give everything a try.

Overall I think I did pretty good for my first day in San Francisco.. Stay tune peeps, more coverage of SF for you in the upcoming posts..

xx

Food Buzz Top 9: Sneaky Vanilla Vanilla Cupcake is #1

THANKS to Visda for breaking the good news to me. Visda, whom I met at the Foodbuzz Festival, Day 1 on 4th Nov, 2011 over the cocktail session, is such a nice lady and it sure feels good to be recognised by someone. What a double joy I tell you.

First, I have arrived San Francisco safely on 4th Nov, 2011, meeting Elisabeth from Food and Thrift Finds at the airport, then heading to the Grand Hyatt to register. What a day.. I will not forget this event. That's for sure.

Also, THANKS to all of you who constantly buzz my goodies and it's been really great that I could still make it to Top 9 in Foodbuzz. Lets keep them coming.. LOL.. I'm greedy..[kidding ;p]

Okay now, I shall leave you and got to head to bed and wake up to another day in San Francisco. See you soon!!

xx

Baking Recipe: Sneaky Vanilla Vanilla Cupcakes and Frisco Here I come

As you all may already know, Foodbuzz Festival is happening this Friday November 4th, 2011 in San Francisco. I'm just getting more and more excited as I count down the hours.

Amidst from my busy schedule to clear my work, I can't bear to leave you with nothing. I have been contemplating whether to post this, since after all the recipe isn't mind. Perhaps you can treat it as a recipe review instead? I figured I better not post it up here as I might get into legal or copyright trouble and the whole lot; if  you get what I mean. However, if you like The Hummingbird Bakery, then maybe you might have their baking recipe book. The vanilla cake and vanilla butter cream is adapted from their lovely book titled "Cake Days".

Disclaimer: Photo displayed is taken from The Humming Bird website. I do not own this photo nor it's for promotional purposes.

I have to say, I might have just found myself a new vanilla cake recipe that I like. It's moist and really aromatic. The whole house smells like vanilla when it's freshly baked out of the oven. Thinking of it now is making me drool.

Sneaky Vanilla Vanilla Cupcakes came upon when I received an order recently whereby my customer's kids adores any cake flavour except for chocolate cakes. To top that, they love heaps of frosting.

So I thought why not I bake them a real vanilla vanilla cupcake. Vanilla in the cake and vanilla in the butter cream. Who don't like vanilla? After all it's an epitome of a classic flavour. Simple, rich and aromatic. I could really just lick vanilla butter cream off my fingers if I had the opportunity.

Also it's my first time having to bake for boys. A thrilled indeed cause then I got to stay away from the colour pink. Plus to make it slightly extra special, I've decided to try my hands on using ready rolled fondant. To my surprise I am loving the fondant I bought from the bakery. It's not overly sweet. Which means I get to either make my frosting with regular sweetness or tone it down depending on my customer's preference. I don't have the skill to mold any figurines yet. For that I thought lets make them some sneaky smiley faces.

What do you think? Does this put a smile of your face? Keep this smile on okay? Cause I can't wait to show you San Francisco through my eyes.

Till then everyone, I will be back so don't stop buzzing me over here at my blog. Give me a holler!!

xx