A New Beginning...

Dear Friends and Followers ---

I write today to invite you over to my NEW Blog:  Savoring South Beach.  It was a bit silly to keep a URL called Twin Cities Eats when I am all about South Beach in Miami Beach nowadays.  And let me tell you, it is a heck of a lot different than living in Minnesota.  Follow me while I discover the Latin vibe, learn how to avoid sunburn, date more crazy men than ever and travel all over Latin America for my new job...

More good food, more good reads, more good times and, coming soon, the South Beach Food & Wine Festival. 

I hope to see you over at Savoring South Beach (http://www.savoringsouthbeach.blogspot.com/).  This blog will be deleted on December 1.

Ciao til you link over....
Red Pepper

The Setai

I miss Bali on a daily basis. It was a heavenly place that smelled like flowers, tasted like fruit and was full of calm. I only wish I was able to return as often as I might like but realistically it may never happen again. So what a treat to discover a little bit of Bali in South Beach.

My brother and his family are a dream come true. They give me a beautiful niece to play with, a crashpad in NYC and wonderful over-the-top gifts, like a spa gift certificate to the Setai.

I ventured through the cool silent lobby and out back to the freestanding spa. Greeted on the first floor by a gorgeous fresh scent and I was then led to the women's locker room. I immediately knew I was in for a spa-ing treat when I saw how clean and perfect everything looked. I quickly pulled my robe around me and headed upstairs to my treatment room. I had a little moment of annoyance that my treatment room was obviously made for a couples treatment, with two beds and a huge soaking tub overlooking the pools. Way to make a girl feel as single as ever. But, then again, this was the case in all the treatment rooms in Bali too so I guess they were just doing an even better job returning me to my place of heaven.

My treatment was a massage followed by a scrub then bath. Every product they rubbed onto my body smelled heavenly. The massage unfortunately didn't live up to the best massage I had in Bali but let's just say that I am grateful for any massage I can get. After the massage, I was scoured with a sand scrub which took away a good bit of my new Florida tan but with the promise of more even tanning post-treatment. Beaten silly, I then showered off and tumbled over to the huge soaking tub filled with salts, oils and gorgeous flowers. I was then left on my own to lounge, soak, stare at the candles, eat my fruit plate and drink my cool spa drink and bottle of Evian. I basically felt like a million dollars. I was trying to push all the "what couples must do in this tub" thoughts to the back of my mind and instead focus on relaxing. Sadly, my brain never stops spinning but at least I think the wheels slowed down a bit.

Rubbed, scrubbed and soaked, I left my treatment and went out to the pools (three different temperatures in each of the three pools). My pool chair was approximately the size of a twin bed and outfitted with the best pool chair cushion I have felt to date. Once I was seated I was given a glass of citrus-ed water (constantly refilled) and a bottle of Evian mister to spray when I felt too warm. It is amazing what $500+ a night can get you (along with the annoying New York girls cattily chatting next to me and ruining my spa zen.)

I eagerly asked for the lunch menu hoping for some Asian and Indian deliciousness but basically finding a pretty typical pool-side menu. My caprese wrap filled with avocados, tomatoes and mozzarella was quite good but not living up to the expectations that had been set given the high class atmosphere. It just didn't scream to me to come back and try the Setai's full blown restaurant.

All in all, let's talk about a perfect South Beach day and this day I spent at the Setai might just be how I would ideally spend them all if I could (no work, no stress, lots of attention). It's really too bad that I can't afford to live at the Setai and pretend I am in Bali all the time. I would if I could...

ST: Chicago, IL

It was time to marry VG off and make her into a VK. Their whirlwind 6 month engagement came to a conclusion with a four day party in the Windy City. I can't believe all that they pulled together so quickly!

Wedding activities were overflowing starting with a rehearsal dinner of Italian comfort food at Vinci's quickly followed by karaoke in Lincoln Park at the Four Farthings. It was a flashback to years gone by when the pitchers came out for a bit of flipcup action. Tipping over the 30-year-old mark, this seems to be happening a lot less often but it never becomes less fun. Let's just say there are a lot more babies being born in my circle nowadays than flip cup tournaments initiated.

Friday morning, a little worse for wear thanks to that darn flip cup, I started out with breakfast at the restaurant at the Hotel Palomar where we were all staying. For such a well-regardd new hotel (with a highly appreciated free wine happy hour), the breakfast was sadly mediocre with possibly the worst bagel I have had in years. At the very least, it was something to fill my stomach with before heading to the bridesmaid luncheon where we drank again (some champagne), made our nails shine so pretty and ate some needed sushi rolls. We tasted Sprinkles cupcakes and champane truffles for dessert, once again me disagreeing with everyone - why am I the only person in the world that likes the cake better than the frosting?

Friday night it was a huge Greek dinner at Parthenon, a huge banquet hall straight out of My Big Fat Greek Wedding. I didn't even know that Chicago had a Greektown! Opa!!! Lots of saganaki, which of course can't be denied a place in my heart. It is cheese, on fire, with alcohol. Does it get any better than that? Their vegetarian moussaka was also sinfully good. I gave my speech... then drank plenty of wine to recover. Back out to another bar followed by ending the night with amazing cocktails at the bar at the Palomar, where facial-haired mixologists made gin taste like heavenly flowers. (On a side note, why do fancy bartenders have the tendency to have crazy facial hair? Why this odd corrolation that seems to put women at the disadvantage behind the bar?).

Despite a solid week of gorgeous weather prior, the wedding day dawned cold and windy. All I could think about before heading out to get my hair done was hot chocolate. Huh, you ask? Weird. Yes, except that you would be too if you were staying at our hotel. Every time you walk out the door, you were hit in the face with the smell of warm melting chocolate. Why? Because Rick Bayless's xoco was just two blocks away, grounding its own cacao beans and pretty much making chocolate in the front window. I HAD to have some. So here I was braving the rain, running to catch a little Rick Bayless. Just my luck! Because I was alone, the host basically cut me to the front of the line, where I ordered an open-faced breakdast torta and a cherry scone... and a hot chocolate with almond milk. My gin soaked mind turned instead to happy thoughts of chocolate goodness. My energy lquickly evels returning, I burst the soft cooked egg and crunched through crisped torta bread. Now. Now, it was time to marry off my friend.

And with that, it became a whirlwind - hair, makeup, dresses, shoes, smile, smile again, hold the flowers, dance, dance, dance. Mmmmm.... lovely mushroom crepe and awesome brownies rather than cake. Wow. Then the after party. THEN the Weiner Circle. Best cheese fries of my life. Hands down. Best tasting? Maybe, maybe not. They win because I have never seen anything like the Weiner Circle in my life - dirty, filled with drunk people, yelling workers, yelling drunk people, and everyone having the time of their lives. You don't just come for the food, you come to end your night in a way you will never foget. Crazy, crazy, crazy. Mmmm.... cheese fries.

Congrats to V & A. Your wedding and the Weiner Circle, unforgetable.

ST: Buenos Aires, Argentina

Buenos Aires is quickly becoming one of my favorite cities in the world. And there was no denying that the four days I spent there at the end of September charmed me yet again. After attempting to adjust to the sultry days of summer in Miami, it was immense relief to instead be amidst the first days of Spring in Argentina. Like the first days of Spring in any country, the Portenos were grabbing at every second of it: the parks were full, patio tables crowded and the ice cream shop lines ten deep. It was a perfect season for a visit to Buenos Aires.

I arrived late on Friday night off the plane from Brazil, startled because I landed at a different airport than I had imagined. But what a nice surprise to have been dropped at a city airport only ten minutes from the Ultra Hotel in Polanco Soho. Exhausted, I simply dropped off to sleep, letting the night air and the pulsating music lull me to sleep in my garden (ie smoking terrace)-view room.

Saturday awakened gorgeous and I revived with coffee and medialunas at the hotel. I headed out to the MALBA - The Latin America art museum of Buenos Aires. It was a gorgeous long walk from my hotel but, like several other Americans, I arrived at the museum prior to its opening at Noon, my guidebook clearly stating the wrong hours. After a brief "sunning" on the steps for 15 minutes, I ventured inside to enjoy the beautiful space and varied collection. Best museum in the world? No. But the permanent collection was excellent and worth seeing.

My next goal was ice cream, however I decided that the only way I would allow myself the glory of some Argentinian gelato was if I actually ate some real food too. Under the assumption that if Argentinians do such a fine job with Italian gelato, then they MUST do the same with pizza, I ducked into an Almacen de Pizzas. It is a pizza chain but the pizzas I saw through the window looked quite delicious and the Naples style I prefer. It really was delicious, that pizzeta of mine, covered with real cheese, fresh basil and cherry tomatoes. Much better than anything I have had in Miami thus far!

A bit full from pizza, which is all the better for ice cream as I didn't need the temptation to try MORE than two flavors, I marched on to Persicco. Persicco is perhaps the most famous of the gelato shops in Buenos Aires, and for good reason. This stuff is swoon-worthy. On Saturday I ate a cone with two scoops: one of Dulce de Leche con Brownies and the other of Sabayon. And then, yes, I went back on Sunday for more - simple Dulce de Leche and Bacciola (chocolate hazlenut). It was just that good. And if you live in Buenos Aires, one of their dozens of scooters is ready to deliver it to your home until the wee hours of the night. From 5,000 miles away, I sit here craving this gelato, with its creamy texture and super high quality ingredients. Thank goodness it is 5,000 miles away.

Saturday night, I headed over to a wine-tasting with Anuva Wines, where I tasted my way through a half dozen Argentinian wines paired with food in the lobby of another fancy Palermo hotel. It was great fun and I learned quite a bit about the wines of Argentina, like for example, they make more than just Malbec and Torrentes. In addition, the pairings included more gelato from Persicco (complaining? not me) and some excellent Argentinian cheeses. One doesn't automatically think cheese from Argentina but I tried around four varieties and they were each unique and high quality. With fast turnaround, the case of wines I ordered has already arrived in Miami!

Sunday was supposed to be a work day, holed up in my hotel room writing presentations but around 2pm my stomach was screaming so I wandered a few blocks away to Quimbombo, a natural foods restaurant I read about on Happy Cow and recommended by the hotel. I am so glad I went because it was simply an excellent meal in a beautiful space, thankfully a modern oasis and not a hippy den. I started with an excellent corn soup, which came with even more delicious Argentinian cheese to sprinkle on top. It was a gorgeous presentation. I followed with one of their signature salads. I was being soooo healthy.... and then I went to Persicco for dessert.... oops.

With Sunday fading away, the week really did turn to work. One pleasant surprise with work was a lunch at a restaurant along the El Tigre river north of the city. The wide walks, rowing clubs and suburban atmosphere filled my head with memories of England. I only wish I had had my camera!! I also had a lovely outdoor meal outside at a restaurant in Martinez. Try as I might, I couldn't find the name of the restaurant anywhere on it... hmmmm....