Memoirs  had a busy December through Christmas and multiple parties on New Years Eve.  Before Christmas, we visited our clients and partners around town with our very own Reindeer.

The New Year got off to a quick start thanks to State changes in recognition of civil unions, leading a to a noticeable increase in those celebration bookings for 2012.  We are happy to be part of any celebration and welcome these changes here for both ideological and common sense reasons.

The Bridal Expo kicks off the weekend of the 21st at Blaisdell and you can see us in action handing out some of our favorites like:

Hamakua red & yellow tomato gazpacho shot

In-house pickled vegetables w goat cheese puff pastry

Wailua chocolate crunch bar w Maui rum caramel

But today – we have been requested to join our friends at Hawaii Yachts for a day on-board offering local delights for a segment on the Travel Channel.  We will highlight local fish in our signature fish tacos along with some of Memoirs other favorites.

Dinner at the Foster house has and will always be a simple, no frills affair. With country linen and a roaring fire to counter the freezing mountain air.

Stews like this Texas beef loaded with spices always come wiht fresh bread from the oven or in this case, cornbread.

I was surprised the wine glasses came out and not everyday Duralex water glasses I love to drink wine from. I guess the old man’s birthday was reason enough.

After APEC events, billing and inventories were complete , I took my cooks up to the North Shore beach house to surf some pretty good swell and threw a mildly extravagant dinner party for ourselves, family style.

I particularly enjoyed taking the dogs to the beach with Olga in the morning and coming back to make banana pancakes on a Tuesday.

All vegetarian and vegan. I learned honey is regurgitated from bees and that vegans and vegetarians are pretty laid back when it comes to most things. The family and guests were all there to enjoy the couple and we really felt the love come through. At some point or another we really smelled the good vibes as well… coming from the grill and the seared garlic zucchinis.

GEH also did a hell of a job.

Sunset Ranch is BEAUTIFUL and worth checking out if anyone is looking for a venue on that side of the island. Their guy on the ground was very cool and kept our electric going and was a problem solver for the venue, Sunset Ranch. All the staff from SR were good country people, the couple were there to party and celebrate life, the guests were loving every minute and the barn could not have looked better.

]]> http://memoirshawaii.com/blog/?feed=rss2&p=682 0 http://memoirshawaii.com/blog/?p=679 http://memoirshawaii.com/blog/?p=679#comments Tue, 15 Nov 2011 04:51:55 +0000 admin http://memoirshawaii.com/blog/?p=679 APEC: Dispatch Vietnam

The President of Vietnam came here hours later. No further pictures were taken and the scenery didn’t get any better than this.

We were just the culinary support with 2 of our servers laced in (thank goodness). The guests enjoyed themselves throughly standing outside in pitch blackness for the first house, the President nearly stumbling once over benches by the pool. Eventually they recovered from the ‘dark hour’ and sat to enjoy some of Hawaii’s  pristine food products and spectacular conversation (along with some wine compliments of Sam’s Club.)

The next night it was the Prime Minister of Russia and they came directly to Memoirs. That night will be marked as one of the greatest parties I have ever been involved with. I cannot  post the reasons why on the web, but get at me if you want to know. All and all, it was a great week for everyone on the ball.

I’m going to go surf country for two days.

]]> http://memoirshawaii.com/blog/?feed=rss2&p=679 0 http://memoirshawaii.com/blog/?p=677 http://memoirshawaii.com/blog/?p=677#comments Tue, 15 Nov 2011 04:42:14 +0000 admin http://memoirshawaii.com/blog/?p=677

We dry the Tako skin before charring it what a blow torch. Then we marinate it and broil it. Lastly the tender smokey and herbaceous octopus meat is served over cream polenta.

]]> http://memoirshawaii.com/blog/?feed=rss2&p=677 0 http://memoirshawaii.com/blog/?p=673 http://memoirshawaii.com/blog/?p=673#comments Mon, 14 Nov 2011 20:33:07 +0000 admin http://memoirshawaii.com/blog/?p=673 Two notable bottles from recent a Napa visit prove it wasn’t all bad.  The Philanthropist & The Prisoner are somewhat nouevou riche-cliche names but the underlying reds leave no question to their stature.

Markham Vineyards 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon, The Philanthropist, hails from Markham’s Yountville Estate Vineyard – one of the oldest dedicated vineyards in California and known for excellent, deep, reds.  After tasting we knew we needed at least a case for future grilled filet & lamb.

The Prisoner is another excellent bourdeax varietal blend and the 2010 (while needing a few years to mature) showed signs of a brilliant zinfandel.  The Orin Swift Cellar has a slickly designed tasting room in St. Helena though we had to escape out the back before the next bus of drunken touristas arrived.

Sonoma still has some catching up to do in producing powerhouse reds…

Chef Foster and Dr. Tran made it up to Dry Creek, Sonoma this weekend and unanimously decided to expand the horizon of places to visit other than Napa.

The culture and absence of weekend warriors seeking to get drunk murky wine knowledge stood out next to the quiet tranquility of walking into a private tasting room and simply enjoying excellent wine.

Memoirs was featured for a spot about APEC’s impact on local businesses.  The kitchen was active and the spot featured quotes from Chef Foster and other Memoirs staff.

Tonight is a big dinner for us serving the Head of State of a major Asian country, along with a group of CEO’s from leading US industry.

Check back soon for updates on how it went and the menu!