Amy T. Shuster
2435 Ka’anapali Pkwy · Lahaina, Maui, HI · 96761 Neighborhood: Maui, Hawaii
You may have noticed, if you follow Backyard Bite’s facebook or twitter feed, that I have recently been posting a lot of pictures from Maui the past few weeks. Maybe you even asked yourself while scrolling through instagram, why the heck is this LA food blogger, tweeting about Hawaii!? How did she get there!? And why is she so damn lucky!? Well, I am still asking myself the very same questions. I’m still reeling over the experience, the amazing people I met, and delicious food that I couldn’t get enough of over my 6 day foodie excursion.
Allow me to explain how this…
and this…
actually happened.
A few weeks ago, I was contacted by the Maui Visitor’s Bureau to see if I was interested in learning about Maui’s agriculture, farm-to-table and sustainability practices. Being that Backyard Bite is a champion of all things local and supporting the businesses in ones’ own “backyard” and community, I jumped at the chance to learn more!
Little did I know, Maui is a great place for food! In addition to meeting various chefs, visiting farms and investigating the island (through my belly), one of my duties while on Maui was to be a judge at the Maui Onion Festival, a tradition in Maui for the past 25 years.
The festival is kind of a big deal on the “Magic Isle” (or “Valley Isle” depending on which island nickname you subscribe to). It is an opportunity for locals and visitors to celebrate Maui’s local agriculture – namely the cherished Maui onion, grown exclusively on farmlands in the Kula district and has certain unique characteristics. They are mild and slightly sweeter than the onions you’d get at your local supermarket (that is if you live in any of the other 49 states). These onions are delicious. No tears necessary.
Because they are sweeter they are super versatile when cooking, and on a scale from 1-10, the halitosis factor is around a 3. This was good news for me, as my main task on the day of the festival was to eat various dishes from local chefs which utilized the trademarked kula-onion in multiple ways. Although I brought along a hoarder’s supply of Listerine, Altoids, gum and toothpaste, I actually didn’t need any of it. At least, I don’t think I did…
The build up to the main event involved local chefs competing with recipes utilizing the tasty veg. It all culminated on May 4th when the chef finalists from all around Ka’anapali went head-to-head with their recipes and the judges (that’s me!), got to decide the winner.
After the morning 10:30 Ka’anapali chef competition (more on this in another post), there was also a cocktails contest featuring local mixologists. Yeah! Now, we’re talkin!
My fellow judges and I went from super excitement over the idea of getting wasted at 2:00 in the afternoon, to sudden worry — we realized that we were going to be drinking cocktails made with, you guessed it, Maui onions. Gulp!
Not only were were in charge of drinking these pungent concoctions, but we had to sit on the main stage in plain view of the eager crowd of onlookers. Oh, boy, we were ON THE STAGE!
Every grimace, gulp, twitch and curious thought that appeared on our faces… they all saw it. I hope I didn’t have onion in my teeth…
While we watched the mixologists at work, we judges, in turn, were being watched too! I didn’t mind though, it kinda made it all the more exciting.
Ok, so the first cocktail was the mildest and thus the most palatable. I told my neighboring judge that I would actually order it in a bar. It was pretty tasty! A refreshing, lightly onion infused margarita with a slightly spicy kick, thanks to the jalepeños.
#1 The Rufus – a mango margarita, jalapenos, orange bitters, lilikoi, and Maui onions (below)
#2 “The Ecuadorian Bus Ride” – pickled onions, mangos, cilantro, and lime (below L)
& #3 “Smokin’ Maui Onion” – a traditional margarita, a pureed sautéed onion ice cube, thyme, rosemary, and lemongrass (below R)
The second drink made by Ross Steidel from Whaler’s Village popular Hula Grill, was a bit wilder. Named, “The Ecuadorian Bus Ride”, which you could imagine just from the name of it how it might taste, it had pickled onions, mango, cilantro and a dash of lime. My internal monologue with this drink went something like, “Mmm, tasty… Hmm there’s like an odd aftertaste that I just can’t put my finger on… what is that?… hmm, it’s kinda like an onio—- It’s ONION! Duh!” Welcome to the Onion Festival, Amy.
Finally, and the most exotic of the trio of cocktails was concocted by a local mad scientist mixologist named Skye Dante from Maui Fish and Pasta. This dude went ALL out – thyme, rosemary, lemongrass, and of course a sautéed Maui Onions chilled and emulsified – all combined into a gelatinous ice cube that, enhanced the onion flavor. He carved up Kiawe wood chunks, set stuff on fire, smoked the salt and then presented this crazy margarita for our consumption right there on the festival stage. Let’s just say, if you like onion flavor, you would marry this drink. It was by far the most creative (and pungent) cocktail.
In the end, we named local bartender, Dennis Day (pictured below) from Leilani’s as winner with his relatively safe but super tasty, mango-onion margarita, “The Rufus”.
There were tons of other activities held throughout the day including an onion eating competition, demos from celebrity chefs, food samplings from neighborhood restaurants and lots of great music and entertainment. If you are ever on Maui during this festival, I recommend checking it out for sure!
This was just one of many of my fun adventures during my stay on Maui… more posts on the great Maui chefs and local entrepreneurs to come…
and thank them for their Hawaiian hospitality.
All comments and opinions expressed are strictly my own.
I’ve been attending a lot of food themed events and food festivals as of late, but tonight, for this foodie, Bite Nite at LA Times building was quite possibly the coolest by far. The “Belly of L.A.” Mr. J Gold threw a special gathering of 20 or so of the best L.A. eateries, which not-so coincidentally happen to be featured in LA Time’s first annual Best Of dining guide, (to be released Thursday, May 23rd) and will feature these specially selected restaurants among others. So, what will this ultimate L.A. food guide be called you ask? “Jonathan Gold’s 101 Best Restaurants,” of course.
These chefs all brought their A-Game, bringing out fantastic dishes to encapsulate the flavors and styles that they do best. And it’s a good thing too, the $101 ticket price for Times members was the entrance fee for sampling and sipping during the 2-3 hour long tasting… I’d say it was well worth it.
So what made this evening so cool? Besides getting to sample goodies from familiar favorites like Guisados, Guelaguetza, Salt’s Cure, Sqirl and Chichen Itza, I was introduced to dishes from other great local restaurants like the Ethiopian, Meals by Genet and Mayura Indian cuisine.
Also, a few on my To-Dine list of Must-Visit restaurants were here as well. They included Tar and Roses, Ink, Hart and the Hunter, Corazon y Miel, Cacao Mexicatessen and Bestia to name just a few. My suspicions of deliciousness were confirmed by every amazing bite. Each plate was tastier than the next, and although I came hungry, I left very, very full.
Best of all, I got to meet many of my food/chef/writer heroes, (Evan Kleiman, Russ Parsons, Michael Voltaggio, Wolfgang Puck and of course Jonathan Gold) all of whom were super cool, approachable, friendly and willing to oblige this starstruck food fan with a picture. These are the people who inspire me and motivate me to learn about how food moves us, feeds us and shapes our lives. It was thrilling to meet them in person and be able to say, Thank You.
Here are some photos to recap the great evening!
5757 Lankershim Blvd · North Hollywood, CA 91601 · Neighborhood: North Hollywood
One of the best kept secrets in LA, one that really shouldn’t be a secret at all, is Mofongos in North Hollywood. Serving up traditional Puerto Rican food, a cuisine that is already super hard to find in Los Angeles, they are located deep in North Hollywood on a semi-shady street just a bit away from the main downtown theater district.
I particularly like going there, when I’m missing my grandma or my mom’s home cooking. This place does a good job of representing the flavors of the island, staples like arroz con gandules, yucca frita, pollo guisado and of course a sizable variety of mofongo, the plantain based signature dish of Puerto Rico — imagine a mound of mashed plantains served up with a hearty portion of stewed seafood, pork, chicken or vegetables on top and sweet plantains (maduro) on the side. Sí, por favor!
I also especially love that you can get pasteles here (pictured above). These savory meat-filled “pies” are encased in a masa of platano and then wrapped in a banana leaf. Think of them as the Puerto Rican version of a tamale, only actually they are nothing like a tamale expect for the way they are prepared which is somewhat similar. Visually it doesn’t look like much, but if you want a true taste of a common Puerto Rican dish, especially around the holidays, then you must try it. Instead of corn as the masa, we use plantains, and instead of it being sweet, it’s savory and has a glossy sheen to it since the last step when cooking is to boil them.
Anybody from Puerto Rico knows what I’m talking about! It’s not for everyone, but it’s the sort of thing you you grew up eating on the island, or the Bronx, or in my case in my mom’s kitchen in Chicago! Since it’s a time consuming specialty dish, one doesn’t often make it for themselves. Done right, it’s the best!
When my blogger friend, Shauna, aka The Minty mentioned that she wanted to check Mofongos out, I offered to introduce her to some the classic Puerto Rican dishes that I love. So, off we went to Mofongos.
We ordered: Pollo guisado (stewed chicken), papa relleno (lightly fried potatoes stuffed with meat), bacalaitos (fried salted cod fritters), platano maduro (fried yellow plantain), tostones (twice fried green plantain), and mofongo de lechón (mashed plantain with pork belly and shredded pork shoulder). Everything was spot on, especially, the mofongos.
I would have liked to try their flán but we simply ran out of room in our bellies. It’s easy to get carried away with the menu here. The waiter was kind enough to tell me when to stop ordering. I would have kept going and gotten everything off the menu!
I took a pastele de pollo home and a doggie bag of leftovers in hand. There is always leftovers from this place. Mmmm.
I like the cozy, comfortable atmosphere in here. Sure, its a tad divey, but it’s clean, spacious and they play salsa music over the speakers at a comfortable level. You can’t help but wiggle a little in your seat while you’re eating.
I always tend to chat it up with the servers here – it’s the Puerto Rican way after all. Shout out to Jasmine and Barnaby (a Puerto Rican and Dominican, respectively… that’s a good sign!). They tell me people drive up as far as San Diego to eat here. I guess I can’t complain about my 15 minute drive from WeHo.
A sampling of beverages (pictured below) which I asked for because I couldn’t remember which one I liked best. The server kindly obliged me. (below L to R) Horchata made of sesame seeds, Parcha (passion fruit) and Tamarindo, a Tamarind drink.
This place is authentic. It’s indeed legit. And as one of the very few restaurants repping Puerto Rican food in LA – and doing it right. We need to give them some love and support this local joint!
Never had it before? Think of Puerto Rican food as being like Cuban food – but a bit naughtier. Nice, but sexy. Not spicy, just down right, good home cooking from the islands.
A lot of my friends tell me, “Oh, yeah, I’ve been meaning to try that place but I didn’t know if it was good or not!” Well, I’m telling you now. It’s good. Go. And don’t forget to say “Gracias.”
De nada.
In yesterday’s recap of the Taste of Eastside Festival at Barnsdall Park, I mentioned that I took part in a cooking demonstration with my friend, Yoko Isassi. We spoke to a group of 30 eager “students” who watched and listened as we taught facts about sushi and offered informative cooking tips in the form of a quiz. Oh, yes! School was in session. Don’t worry, it was fun!
Here are five fun facts I bet you didn’t know about sushi, but should:
FACT #1. Contrary to a popular misconception, sushi does not mean “raw fish.” It actually refers to the flavoring of the rice with vinegar. You can make vegetarian sushi without adding any fish or meat whatsoever. Yes, Mom, those cucumber avocado rolls we ate were actually sushi! You did it!
FACT #2. Sushi doesn’t only have to be seasoned with rice vinegar. You can also use citrus like lemon juice or orange juice to flavor the rice. Some Japanese mountainous regions use the Yuzu fruit to season sushi. Yum!
FACT #3. It is not considered rude to eat with your hands. In fact, if you are sitting at the sushi bar and are being served directly from the sushi chef, it is actually encouraged. The sushi chef will watch how you eat the sushi (using your hands or chopsticks) and customize your experience preparing for you more delicate pieces of nigiri.
FACT #4. Don’t linger with your fish. I know it looks pretty but you’re not supposed to leave the sushi sitting too long on your plate. In a good restaurant, a lot of care goes into making each piece and making sure the rice is at the right temperature (body temperature is best). You’ll have better manners if you eat the food right away instead of letting your dish get cold. (Here’s looking at you Instagrammers! — I know, I’m equally guilty!)
Fact #5. Never leave your chopsticks sticking up in your bowl. This actually is a symbol for offering food for the dead. Yeah. That, AND it’s tacky, so there. Don’t do it. Proper placement is across the lowest place setting below your plate.
These (above) are called “Sushi Cupcakes”. They are in fact sushi made in little cups instead of in a roll. It is a popular snack or dish made in Japanese homes perhaps as a party favor or quick appetizer. You can get creative with the molding and flip them over into a unique shape. Yoko tells me she has seen large cake-sized sushi made from a cake mold. Woah!
In this demonstration, Yoko used lemon juice and orange juice to flavor the rice instead of vinegar. She added easy to find ingredients like ham, cheese and smoked salmon as well. Sounds weird, I know, but it was very tasty!
Here’s the recipe for “Sushi Cupcakes” courtesy of Foodstory. Thank you Yoko for the recipe and inviting me to be a part of your cooking class!
Want more recipes? Check out ifoodstory.com for Yoko’s list of classes. There’s even one on sushi etiquette, so you have no excuse! Manner up!
Still hungry?
Watch Yoko in action and learn more about her story in a recent BackyardBite video, here.
Another beautiful sunny day, another Los Angeles food festival. This time I got to check out a very pleasant, very well organized, Taste of the Eastside fest, featuring popular eateries from Silver Lake, Glendale, Los Feliz, Echo Park, Eagle Rock and Highland Park.
Often events like this are massive and confusing to navigate, but the smallish size of of the park lent the perfect backdrop for this delicious and lazy Sunday. I loved that unlike other big festivals, I didn’t have to wait in a super long line for meager offerings. The bites here were generous and filling. Although it was packed, it never felt too crowed. It was easy to sip and sample, chill on the grass and hear some great music. And that’s just what we did.
My favorites of the day included freshly grilled oysters from Little Dom’s, sea salted caramel, white chocolate gelato with lavender from Pazzo Gelato, a fresh arugula salad from Mohawk Bend and a Vietnamese chicken curry tostada from Xoia.
The slightly spicy sausage from Maestro’s definately piqued my interest as well, along with a shrimp taco with jalepeño from Diablo Taco.
To refresh, the always tasty Intelligentsia offered a Columbian iced coffee blend, Silver Lake Juice Bar gave away aromatic juice samples, while blueberry iced tea from one of my newest favorites, the Salvadorian Bakery, Cuscatleca made me swoon.
Throughout the day, the VIP tents offered various cooking demos from local chefs. I had the pleasure of assisting my friend, Yoko Isassi of Foodstory in making sushi cupcakes! Check back tomorrow for the recap on our cooking demonstration and for the recipe!
It was a family and dog friendly event and I couldn’t help but make some new friends while I was there.
Whippet. Whippet, good.
After the booths ran out of food, we meandered back over to the beer and wine tent and sipped some rosé from Silver Lake Wine and listened to the danceable beats of KCRW DJ Holly Adams. We thought about grabbing some more ice cream, but the line at Pazzo Gelato however was still ridiculously long. Considering the warm temps, it was the only booth people didn’t mind waiting for.
Special props to Sustain LA for doing a great job with providing and promoting responsible recycling!
From Sqirl to Heriloom LA to Cliff’s Edge, there were truly too many delicious vendors to include in this post. Just do yourself a favor and make sure to check them out at some point. Plus, there’s always next year!
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The last time I went to Coachella was eight years ago. Back then, it was a fairly large festival, but nowhere near the size it has ballooned to in recent years (100k+). Still located on an open stretch of land in Palm Dessert near Palm Springs, the yearly music and arts fest is a loud, romping party that lasts over two weekends and features six stages, dance tents, two VIP lounges, various larger than life art works and a giant ferris wheel.
I was blown away by the food — so many different types of cuisine (not just the hotdogs and pizza that I remembered from years before). They arranged the food booths in an open market, carnival-style theme and featured recognizable Los Angeles hallmarks like Pinks Hot Dogs, Coolhaus, Kogi and Border Grill. It was a little slice of home away from home.
And speaking of slices, at the food booths you’ll find everything from meatball subs to vegan options, steak salads, sushi, burgers, fresh organic fruit, hot dogs (which proved to be a great meeting point ‘meet me by Pinks!’), Philly cheese steaks and yes even New York(ish) style pizza.
Then, there was the food fashion. I loved watching all the cool foodie Tee’s and prints I saw on people walking around – I got some good ideas for next year!
On Sunday, we ventured over to the 21 and over section near the beer tents to see what else we would find. There we found The Lime Truck, Kogi, The Churchill and Clover Juice for some healthy options.
Other than dancing and listening to my favorite bands, I found the food to be my favorite part of Coachella. You really have no reason not to eat well here. Sure, I can can visit all of these vendors anytime in my LA neighborhood (and I do!), but there’s something about being out in the middle of the hot desert, knowing you can get a healthy quinoa and arugula salad with roasted beets and goat cheese while sipping a cold beer listening to the Chili Peppers jam out on a nearby stage.
Who says you have to eat crappy food at a concert? I mean, you can if you want to, but why would you want to!? You gotta conserve your energy for the night’s festivities after all…
I actually found myself eager to eat, all the time, even though I wasn’t hungry, just so I could try more things. I ate the chicken tenders and garlic fries (twice!), a toasty meatball sub sandwich, a giant watermelon slice, a slice of pizza, tacos from Border Grill, a warm salty pretzel and my favorite hit of the weekend, coffee ice cream from Black Bean Ice Cream which made their debut at Coachella this year.
Unless you have a severe aversion to good music, good food and fun times, I recommend that you go – at least once in your lifetime.
Oh, and don’t forget the sunscreen.
Need more Coachella info? Check out my guide to what you must bring to the festival and more tips for what you can expect and how to prepare!
Yesterday was the start of Passover, so over the weekend, to get down with my Jewish roots, and in anticipation of the huge holiday (which you’re actually not supposed to eat bread!), I ordered some Challah Bread French Toast from the neighborhood gem, Food on Pico. Wow. It was mind-blowingly good. Sweet, but not too sweet, fluffy and dense all at once…
And sampling some of my friends…
Then later for dinner, a healthy raw-kale, portobello, beet and goat cheese salad. So healthy! So delicious! But then because it was all veg and no protein, about five minutes later… My beau and I were starved!
So, we made a late-night run to the Salvadoreña-Mex Cuscatleca Bakery (thanks to Dina and Jorge for the heads up on this place!) Just open at this location for about a year – they are killing it on on the Salvadorean pastries! Strip-mall gem!
We sampled some Quesadilla Salvadoreña, a traditional breakfast cake…
And lemon muffins and a few other sweet bread and pastries from the case…
Including a Semita, the popular jam-filled pastry, also a good breakfast treat…
And a strawberry cake, just because…
Yeah, I know we got a little carried away.
And when we got home (around 10 pm) we were STILL hungry. So, luckily we also bought some chicken tamales…
They were surprisingly… Awesome! Fluffy light, silky texture and buttery taste…
Good thing we got more for tomorrow!
So, in retrospect, this was probably the most anti-Passover meal ever.
It’s a good thing, I’m only half Jewish!
Happy Half-sover!
KNACKIG at Mignon Wine Bar · 128 E. 6th St. · Los Angeles, CA 90014
On March 10th, Knackig, the sausage pop-up helmed by Santos Uy and Kevin Stuart teamed up with Eagle Rock Brewery and this blog, Backyard Bite to present a little beer and sausage pairing.
Currently set up at Mignon Wine Bar in Downtown LA and Vendome in Toluca Lake, an intimate group of sausage aficionados came by for a little sampling of beer and brats, some good conversation and little beer education courtesy of Ting Su and Jeremy Raub, owners of the popular brewery.
In case you missed it, here are some pictures to recap the event and make you wish you were there:
Santos Uy of Mignon Wine Bar tears it up on the grill!
Ting Su and Jeremy Raub of Eagle Rock Brewery provided a solid pairing of their most popular craft beers; Solidarity, Manifesto, Revolution and Populist.
Check out Knackig every Sunday at Mignon from 1-5. Details, here.
To learn more about Ting Su of Eagle Rock Brewery, check out a recent Q & A, here.
Thanks for a delicious afternoon guys!
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