Foodbuzz and Visa group at Springhill

Being a Foodbuzz Featured Publisher definitely has its perks.  We get free food in the mail to try, we get to participate in 24, 24, 24 events, and we get the occasional free dinner with other food bloggers.  One of my favorite things about Foodbuzz is it’s not just an advertising company, it’s truly a community.  E-mailing back and forth with the Foodbuzz employees is a lot like emailing back and forth with friends.  So it was really exciting to get picked to attend the Foodbuzz and Visa Signature dinner at Springhill in Seattle, knowing that Alexa and Ryan (the girl) from Foodbuzz would be there.  Read more

Mashiko store front in West Seattle.

It’s another exciting month of events at Dianasaur Dishes.  I’m still putting together video from our Artisan Steak Tasting, Tuesday I get to dine at Springhill in Seattle at a special Foodbuzz table, and I almost have all the photos edited of our fun filled farm tour with our friends’ toddlers.  But today, I get to share with you the latest event sponsored by Foodbuzz (and brought us by VISA Signature).  That’s right, I got another 24, 24, 24 proposal accepted, and so Eric and I got to experience omakase at Mashiko, the very first sustainable seafood sushi restaurant in Seattle.  I spent 9 whole hours editing the video below, last night was a late night!  It’s an overview of omakase, Mashiko, and sustainable sushi.  Then you can read on for more information and drool over the photos of the best meal I’ve ever had!

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Alright, editing the pai’na video went way faster than I expected.  The hardest part was finding creative commons Hawaiian music.  I had no idea it’d be so tough!  Thanks to slackandsteel for your song “Hula Blues” and licensing it under creative commons.  Thanks to my dad who videotaped any of the kitchen shots while I was delegating!  My only leftovers left are haupia pie and kalua pork (which I think is going into summer rolls for dinner tonight!).

Every month Foodbuzz asks its featured publishers to submit proposals for an event for 24, 24, 24.  I have been wanting to throw an authentic luau or pa’ina since moving from Hawaii to Washington, so a little over 3 years now.  But it’s expensive to do!  So this month, I decided to submit it as a proposal and was absolutely thrilled when they chose me.  Then I realized that we would be getting back from vacation three days before the required party date, which left me only two days to get everything ready.  I began making tons of lists of recipes, ingredients, stores, music and more to prepare.  Thankfully, the party was a huge success, with a great mix of family and friends, some of whom are also from Hawaii and were excited to get some ono grindz (good food!).  We even got to wear our super cute matching touristy outfits that people on the mainland don’t know are touristy!  Here’s my original proposal to Foodbuzz.

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Thank you Foodbuzz for a night of great food and great company! Eleven of us food bloggers in the Western Washington area went to dinner at Brasa Restaurant in Seattle. Because we’re all Foodbuzz Featured Publishers, they picked up the tab! I admit I was a little nervous about going to dinner with a bunch of people I didn’t know, but I figured everyone else was too so that helped me be more outgoing. It was a great time and I really hope to stay connected with the ladies I met. I’ll only be showing pictures or naming names if their name/picture is already available online. Some people love the anonymity of blogging and I want to respect that.

I didn’t get to talk to Naomi or Traca much, but they were both such sweet ladies. Naomi was fortunate enough to get to enjoy the fresh snow in the mountains that day (it was snowing at home too but not sticking much). She has a really fun, creative blog and I love reading about her food adventures in Asia. Traca seemed like the foodie queen. I think she must know every chef in Seattle! It was really fun hearing tidbits of her stories and experiences, and her blog is filled with great interviews. Julie actually has cooking classes in her home which I think is so cool. She has one on salads this week. I hope she’ll have more in the future, even though it’d be a long drive I think it would be really fun to cook with her. She was actually on the end of the table so I didn’t really get to talk to her until the end, but she was really nice, you have to check out the video of her making pasta with her kids, so cute! Nurit was our wonderful hostess who put the whole event together. She did all the work and we just got to show up. She’s originally from Israel and I think she’s so beautiful (I may be biased since I’ve had several wonderful friends from Israel). She loves food and life and has a ton of cooking knowledge, I’m already gathering her tips on baby food for the future.

I was bummed I didn’t get to talk to KookyCulinary more, we chatted at the very end I learned she’s originally from Malaysia. I’ve been there on 24 hour layovers a couple of times doing disaster relief and it’s such a beautiful country with quite a diverse culture. After checking out her blog I declare her the bento queen! Really, you have to see the bentos she makes her kids, they’re amazing. Meg sat to my left and was a fun gal. She said her blog sometimes gets her in trouble as friends see recipes on it and keep asking “When are you going to make that for us?!” She has a great mix of sweet and savory recipes on her blog, and makes her beef stew with Guiness so you know she’s awesome

Jessie and Lesa were both a lot of fun. They are very outgoing and I couldn’t ever ask them to pose for a photo without interrupting their conversations! Jessie is quite well known for her adorable cupcake artwork, as well as her plaster cupcakes with cheery messages left around Seattle. You can’t visit her blog without getting a happy feeling. Lesa is a personal chef/caterer/instructor and seems to absolutely love it. I actually love this picture of her because she’s so fun and quirky and the look she’s giving Jessie totally captures that. The funniest part of the night was that she and Gayle aparently grew up down the street from each other and didn’t even realize it until they were telling stories of where they lived that night. Now onto the food…

If I went back I would definitely order this dessert. It’s a Spanish Donut with Spiced Chocolate Sauce. I didn’t get to try it but everyone said it’s amazing.

I did get to try Nurit’s dessert which I can’t tell you the exact details of because it was on their 30 for 30 menu so I don’t see it on the website. It was a chocolate truffle cheesecake and so rich and decadent. I’d only be able to eat a few bites but they’d be worth it.

Our server was a total rock star. My water glass was never empty. Everyone else enjoyed some wine but I stuck with the San Pelligrino Limonata which is basically lemon flavored sparkling mineral water. It was really, really, really good! It didn’t just taste like sparkling lemonade, it was really fresh and not too sweet. It was fun because our server would pour it for me and as my glass would empty come back and pour the rest.

For an appetizer I had Wood Fired Mussels in a curry sauce with Pita. This was my favorite part of the meal. I loved the sweetness of the mussels and the curry was mild enough that the flavor of the mussels could really shine. I did have one mushy mussel, but that happens. I’m glad it came with pita to soak up the sauce, in fact when I ran out of pitas I started using the complimentary bread. This was from the bar menu so I’d guess that the dinner menu would be a larger portion.

My main course was the one you guys voted on! Muscovy Duck Breast with truffled porridge, moroccan chutney, and a cider reduction. It was my first experience with duck so I’m not really qualified to speak on the quality of the dish, but here’s my impression. I had a little trouble with the texture of the porridge, I’ve mentioned before that I have trouble eating smooth consistancies like mashed potatoes without lumps, it makes me gag for some reason. So I didn’t eat much of the porridge but it tasted good. I like the chutney a lot, I’m pretty sure there were grapes in it. The duck had a wonderful crust on it that was really well seasoned. I was surprised by the taste of it, I guess I was expecting it to taste more like chicken. It was quite chewy and Nurit was wondering if it was undercooked. Some pieces were a little tougher. I don’t know since I’d never had it before, but I thought it tasted great and ate it all.

Finally for dessert I had the creme brulee, I thought it would come with citrus shortbread but I may have ordered the wrong item. It was also my first experience with creme brulee so I was excited to try it. I was expecting it to be more of a custard type dish. The crust was sweet and hard and the cream underneath was delicious though very runny. Again, I’ve never had it so I’m not critiquing. It’s very rich so if I ever tried making it myself I’d want a very small portion, but it was quite yummy.

One of the coolest parts of the night was getting to meet the owner Tamara Murphy, an incredibly talented chef. She’d spent the day participating in Cochon 555 and told us a little about it. It was an honor to meet her and have her come to our table and greet us. I have to wonder how the economy is affecting these classy restaurants, I noticed that probably only 15 other people came to dine while we were there. It’s a night to remember, I have never been able to afford my own appetizer, entree and dessert at a nice restaurant. It was a special treat and I so appreciate Foodbuzz for footing the bill, and Nurit for doing the legwork.