Miami restaurant

Trio On The Bay

April 16, 2011 By Eleanor Hoh 7 Comments

Pan Seared Scallops on a bed of fresh spinach,

grilled red onions, smoked cubed bacon.

Brick courtyard with French Cafe Bistro chairs

are so chic and perfect setting for this

wonderful waterfront setting.

I am so excited to welcome a good waterfront restaurant in Miami, Trio On the Bay! When my husband and I had dinner at Trio On the Bay recently, we were so impressed with the GM, Louie Spetrini. He gave us the inside scoop of how the restaurant started, the time spent training the staff and it shows. For us, eating out is not just about good food but the ambience, the service, the music (not so loud that you have to shout to the person next to you!) They succeeded on all fronts, so that was very thrilling. It was early still, so not too crowded so we could relax and enjoy the beautiful water views. We so appreciated how lucky we were to be able to eat outside while it’s still cold up north!

I was also doubly excited because Gerry Kelly is managing the nightclub side of this vast venue. If anyone knows how to ‘party’ and get some excitement going, Gerry does. Few know he wears another hat! He was also a haute couture designer! On open night, he designed some very unique and eye catching outfits for the models. My husband posed with one that had a huge lampshade looking hat on her head. So nice to see Gerry in his element.

When you go, ask for server, Gianpaolo, he made our evening so memorable and special! Such a lovely personality, we got to know him a little. He had some cooking experience after working at Norman’s in the Gables, so he helped us with our dinner selections.

I have to say that the Appetizers were my favorites especially those perfectly pan seared scallops! They were juicy with a crisp exterior, exactly how I like them. Escargot is another of my favorites (there’s not much I don’t like), the addition of the sundried tomatoes and mushrooms were a nice touch. Well, with the fluffy bread dipped in the special in-house olive oil and olive dip, we were full by the time the main courses came out.

The roast duck I felt had a nice crispy exterior but think the chef was so intent getting it crispy, it made the interior a little dry. However, when we reheated the next day, it was tender again. We both love duck, it’s such a tasty bird without doing anything to it. I’m not a fan of mixing sweet sauces with my savory protein, so I just didn’t dip my duck in the raspberry demi glace. The lamb chops were perfect, seared exterior and tender interior. I shouldn’t have ordered mushroom risotto but felt I just had to give a try in all the departments. It was creamy and very mushroomy, I’d order that again. I really had two bites of the duck and lamb and took the rest home.

You know what they say, a separate stomach for dessert. We ordered apple tartine with vanilla ice cream but when it came, Gianpaola also brought us a very light pana cotta with figs. Both were outrageously decadent and a perfect ending to our wonderful dinner at Trio on the Bay. Such a great place to show off to visitors!

Bumped into Executive Klime Kovaceski on our way out and got our photos taken with Gerry Kelly, sorry Louie, didn’t get you in this shot! That was so nice of the chef to say goodbye.

Trio of Appetizers: The bread was light & fluffy,

the olive oil with olive dip was divine.

The pan seared scallops.

Baked Escargot, mushrooms, sundried

tomatoes, garlic & herb butter.

Escargot is one of my favorite appetizers, delighted they were so delicious!

Lamb Chops with Apricot Chutney

and

Roasted Maple Leaf Duck

raspberry demi glace, grilled asparagus.

They split our 2 dishes. We took most of

this home. We were so full.

Trio On The Bay

April 16, 2011 By Eleanor Hoh 7 Comments

Pan Seared Scallops on a bed of fresh spinach,

grilled red onions, smoked cubed bacon.

Brick courtyard with French Cafe Bistro chairs

are so chic and perfect setting for this

wonderful waterfront setting.

Bumped into Executive Klime Kovaceski on our way out and got our photos taken with Gerry Kelly, sorry Louie, didn’t get you in this shot! That was so nice of the chef to say goodbye.

Trio of Appetizers: The bread was light & fluffy,

the olive oil with olive dip was divine.

The pan seared scallops.

Baked Escargot, mushrooms, sundried

tomatoes, garlic & herb butter.

Escargot is one of my favorite appetizers, delighted they were so delicious!

Lamb Chops with Apricot Chutney

and

Roasted Maple Leaf Duck

raspberry demi glace, grilled asparagus.

They split our 2 dishes. We took most of

this home. We were so full.

Foodies in South Florida

March 17, 2011 By Eleanor Hoh 3 Comments

If you know of any foodie groups, underground supper clubs, food happenings,

please share with us: wokstar at eleanorhoh dot com

HOH WOK CLUB: I put this sorta Asian supper club together to celebrate and explore new foods, friends and exchange ideas. When I find a good Asian influenced restaurant, I organize a special tasting menu with the chef so we can get a flavor of what they offer. Subscribe to my newsletter in right side bar for updates of these gatherings and all things Asian and beyond.

Shelley-Belly’s Underground Supper Club is an amazing way to experience intimate dining in a beautiful environment, get pampered, meet interesting folks from all walks of life and just enjoy. All shrouded in secrecy with passwords and you don’t know the menu till you arrive! I love all that and if you like the sound of this, get on Shelley’s email list or follow her on twitter to find the next Underground supper

ChatChow TV, a mouth-watering video podcast where we go behind the scenes with the chefs, owners and mixologists of Florida’s celebrated food industry. Hosted by Lauren Bernat, the viral Wii Fit Girl sensation, the show consists of 6-10 minute episodes each individually highlighting some of our favorite food personalities.

Cobaya Miami is an “underground supper club” started by 3 foodies so South Florida chefs can experiment on human guinea pigs! I’ve been to one, it was so much fun to scuttle between food stations and meet new folks but way too much food in one session for me personally, here’s my post. You have to be a member to participate, sign up on their site. Featured here is Gastropod, Chef Jeremiah Bullfrog’s shiny, airstream and now there’s two of them!

Digest Miami : Our mission is to go beyond cooking and explore the many stories behind the food we eat and the people that make up our culinary world. From the concepts that inspire great restaurants to the vision behind each Chef’s signature dish, we are committed to the exploration of food as a lifestyle and not just a commodity. We hope to share our passionate adventures with you.

Miami Culinary Institute is a fantastic, brand new, state of the art facility in downtown Miami. They not only have a cooking school for those who want to be professional chefs but also have classes for ‘food enthusiasts’ which include wine appreciation and many innovative topics. I got the grand tour at their opening and they’ve done a beautiful job. They also have their own food truck, Alphabite! I give them a mention here. They recently added an organic edible garden.

Miami Food Tours started by architect Kelly Woodward is a fabulous way to discover different areas and get a tasting along the way. One new tour that I participated in is Swooped with Forks! Instead of walking, we took a fun ride in an electric open little car from South Beach to Design District and Buena Vista. It was such a treat. Even as a local, I was fascinated with the history and cultural stories and it helps when it’s a journalist/underground chef Shelley that was giving us the tour!

Miami Culinary Tours What a great way to experience local culture, cuisine and people all in one go! I got a chance to do the SOBE FOOD TOUR and it was a blast! Of all things, I ended up in a group of nearly all Asian gals in a hen party, post coming. I can’t wait to do the Little Havana Tour for a hispanic version!

South Florida Foodies: This is a closed group, you have to request to join but what a fun group of foodies! They organize gatherings at the latest, trendiest, yummiest restaurants. A recent gathering I participated in was an ‘Avant Garde Pot Luck’ in a private penthouse apartment for just 30 and I got in! I’ll be posting about this event soon.

South Florida Food Swap: I made kimchi to swap with Marie’s (founder) aji (Colombian chili sauce) but didn’t quite make it to the swap cause I was on my way to Hong Kong. You can find out how it all works as well as upcoming swaps in your area!

South Florida Food and Wine Blog

The go-to resource for all things food, wine and events from Palm Beach to South Beach. We write about and share what is hot, hip and happening! Christine is a hospitality marketing specialist, freelance writer, certified sommelier and the owner of a gourmet food company. Christine and the team at South Florida Food and Wine bring you fabulous food and wine experiences and information from Palm Beach to Key West, only writing about places they are “enthusiastic” about; “we’re enthusiasts not critics”. I first met Christine at a foodie gathering at Hakkasan where she ‘won’ my cooking class certificate.
Latest update, Christine just came out with her new book, Food Lover’s Guide to Miami & Fort Lauderdale: The Best Restaurants Markets & Local Culinary Offerings (Food Lovers’ Series), you can order it here.

South Florida Gourmet is a Miami-based company dedicated to local and world wide distribution of information on food and wine.
Simone Diament, editor and publisher has graciously included my cooking classes on her site for many years.
Together with Carole Kotkin, Simone also host a radio show, FOOD & WINE TALK WSFG

Twitter Live Chats

1. FoodieChats is a twitter live chat and also has an interview series on Facebook. I was honored to be chosen as their first guest! I love this idea, you’re able to view the complete interview here.

Use #FoodieChats with @stevegogreen on twitter every Monday at 8pm ET for themed foodie chats.

2. The Hungry Goddess, A Food Blog to satisfy the Ravenous Soul by Kimberly Moore in conjunction with FoodiesUnite, Beverly Pipes who also produce a few other food blogs as well as a food chat.

Join #HGEats on twitter for foodie topics and entertaining tweeps every Wednesday, 12 – 1pm ET with @HGEATS @HungryGoddess @Healthy_Goddess @DrunkenGoddess

3. Please join @TableFare and @MySpiceSage for #SpiceChat, first Wednesday of each month from 4:00 to 5:00pm EST.
Myspicesage is one of my partners that sponsors my Wok Star Kit with their curry powder and 5 spice powder. You can find out more about them here.

Katy Lynch has evolved from publishing Dine magazine to creating events for food and wine enthusiasts, visiting the latest South Florida restaurants with Savor Tonight. It’s a perfect way to get a taste before you go full throttle at a restaurant and a fun way to meet people. I’ve been to one at Lucky Strike and got a game of bowling in and another at Haven South Beach where the lychee cocktails were addictive!

Sample great food. Meet great people is Dishcrawl’s slogan. I’ve not attended so can’t give any personal recommendation but sounds interesting. When the time is right, I’ll go. They have these in other states too.

Miami restaurant

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