Party in the city....

..... where the eat is on.....  HAHAHA - I couldn't resist this (highly nerderrific) tribute to Will Smith while I post on the food fest that was our spring sister vacay in South Beach.

[I'll insert a quick note to clarify that semi-monthly vacations are not the norm of my existence.  If only!!  Several factors attributed to the back-to-back timing of these trips.  Standard menu planning is back in action in my house, and postings of such will resume after this last hoorah entry.]

Back to the fun.  Hanging with my besties, who I happen to think are the two coolest big sisters ever, is a blast even in the most unexciting of locations.  Drop us off in a destination like Miami, however, and the fun factor goes over the top.  Our almost eerily similar interests allow refreshingly effortless planning/meandering on trips together.  One event which receives considerable forethought and care is - of course, due to content nature of blog - mealtime! 

We actually ended up finding ourselves at the unexpectedly posh Fontainebleau Hotel next door more than once.  This place was home to some great dining establishments, not to mention a whole lotta Gucci-clad, size-0, 20-somethings, a sprinkling of professional athletes...and apparently a certain one's mother.



The food summary:

Nobu - I sadly missed this event due to my canceled flight. Though I got the play-by-play from the girls and it sounded incredible, I'm not going to discuss it because I'm still pouting.

La Cote - We pretty much always take a three-way sharing approach to taste as many dishes as possible!  1) tuna nicoise salad with purple potatoes, shaved fennel, kalamata olives, tomatoes, hericot verts and hard boiled egg.  2)  grilled flat bread with caramelized onions, arugula, prosciutto, and olives.  3) juicy, loaded sirloin burger with crispy onion rings.   In a word, yum.  Yeah, kind of heavy for a pool side lunch, but this was the first chance of the trip to play the "how often do we get to do this" card.  I'll save a wee bit of dignity and spare the detail of our gelato "snack" just two hours later.



Quinn's - Bam Bam shrimp starter.  1) lobster and king crab ravioli with shaved fennel and lobster thermidor brandy (heavenly...could drink it with a straw) sauce. 2) spicy blackened grouper with lobster mashed potatoes, baby veggies and mango-papaya-lime relish. 3) char-grilled filet Oscar with a crab cake, asparagus and Bearnaise.  With shame I am admitting that we ordered three (yikes) desserts.  I will not provide descriptions, as just recounting the other courses brings on physical overeating discomfort.  The food was as fun as the atmosphere - which, btw, included a Dave Chappelle citing! 



Cabana Beach Club - I saw a "Floribbean" description for this place, and it's very appropriate.  1) Ahi tuna sandwich with wasabi aioli, the light and freshness of which was offsest by naughtily amazing fried green beans.  2) classic fish tacos.  3) portobella mushroom panini.  Yay for us to decline dessert.

 

Hakkasan - How could we have conjured a thought about food after these consecutive eating performances?  I personally choose to believe the illusion that Asian food is somehow light and good for me.  Supposedly ranked as one of the 50 best restaurants in the world (what?!), Hakkasan is described as "a seductive enclave of rich textures and hues".  I would just say the ambiance was super cool and warranted a better outfit (or higher heels?) than any I had packed own.  After our requisite girly martinis, we ordered these plates, the descriptions of which I pasted directly from the website since the literal translations give me the giggles:

• Stir-fry shredded beef with tangerine peel and onion served with pancake
• Spicy Assam prawn in baby coconut. Jasmine rice
• Wild mushroom hand pulled noodle

We washed down an amazing, molten chocolate gooey something with mint tea to call it a night. 

As always, I was completely bummed to leave my sisters and the leisure. But I'd trade that any day for the sweet image of my kids running toward me and my new 2ish "souvenir" lbs to give welcome home kisses. I'll sign off with a BIG FAT shout out to the daddies of the year for making this trip possible!