Category Archives: Uncategorized

April 14, 2012 · 7:11 AM

The Florida Film Festival = Film, Food and Fun

The 21st Annual Florida Film Festival kicked off with its opening-night movie Renee at the Winter Park Regal Cinema and a culinary celebration followed at the Enzian Theater. It was a foodie’s paradise! I enjoyed sampling delectable dishes by Sushi Pop, White Wolf Cafe, Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress Hotel, K Restaurant Wine Bar, the Black Bean Deli and Whole Foods Market while watching The Mud Flappers jam on stage.

Sushi Pop

Sushi Pop was a hands-down favorite during the food festivities. The restaurant served its White Tiger sushi rolls, Pork Tacos and Bubblegum Sorbet. The yummy sushi featured fresh ingredients, including Kampyo, Escolar, cucumber, sweet chili and topped with salmon, shallot-ginger sauce and Daikon sprouts.

The Oviedo restaurant’s Pork Taco also pleased the palate. The mini taco featured a marvelous mixture of cinnamon and Star Anise braised-pork, avocado puree, greens, cilantro sprouts and Hoisin barbeque sauce.

Image

A Bubblegum Sorbet was a delightful ending to a three-course edible extravaganza. The sorbet was prepared liquid nitrogen-style with Pop Rocks (I haven’t had Pop Rocks since I was a kid!) and whipped cream. The delectable dessert was an amazing combination and the Pop Rocks popping in my mouth were a nice surprise. Peruse Sushi Pop’s menu or better yet, visit their restaurant with chop sticks in hand: http://sushipoprestaurant.com/

Image

White Wolf Cafe

White Wolf Cafe always delivers and they didn’t disappoint during the Florida Film Festival’s opening-night gala. The eatery served a hot dog but it wasn’t your average Oscar Mayer Wiener! This specialty beef dog and short rib combination was cooked the sous-vide way and smothered with shallots and chives and presented on a white bun.

Image

The Cracker Jack cotton candy concoction was a pleasant ending to the White Wolf’s two-course meal. Butter, popcorn and Isomalt were fused together and voila, you have Cracker Jack cotton candy!

White Wolf Cafe: http://www.whitewolfcafe.com/

K Restaurant Wine Bar

K Restaurant Wine Bar was the only restaurant with a salad on their menu and it was very refreshing. The Cape Canaveral Red Shrimp Salad is perfect for a spring or summer day in Florida. The name didn’t hurt either. K Restaurant got it. The green mixture wasn’t spicy and featured chilled Royal Red Shrimp, mango, hearts of palm, Jicama, cilantro, citrus and chili.

The BBQ Pork Belly Slider was also delish and included house-cured Palmetto Creek Farms Pork Belly with savory bacon marmalade and tomato jam.

Image

K Restaurant Wine Bar: http://www.facebook.com/pages/K-Restaurant-Wine-Bar/106618472590

Black Bean Deli

Winter Park’s Black Bean Deli is a family-owned Central Florida institution. The tiny eatery is packed for lunch and it’s worth the wait. The restaurant serves Cuban recipes and bakes homemade bread. The restaurant’s pork sandwich was tasty but mum was the word with the chef. Heck, some things are worth remaining a secret! You will just have to wait and taste it for yourself!

Black Bean Deli: http://blackbeandeli.yolasite.com/

Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress Hotel

The Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress Hotel always entices my sweet tooth during the Florida Film Festival’s opening-night gala and this year was no exception. The hotel provided attendees with six dessert options. I sampled the Mango Cream and Grapefruit Caviar Push-Up, Bouchee of Banana Bread Pudding with Foster’s sauce and the Spicy Pecans with Powdered Chocolate and Peanut Butter.

All three desserts were delicious but I really enjoyed the Mango Cream and Grapefruit Caviar Push-Up or as my husband Dan would say, a dessert shooter. I don’t recall having a dessert or candy push-up as a child, so this interactive experience intrigued me. In fact, I had two just to fulfill my sweet sensation and it was worth it!

Image

Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress Hotel: http://grandcypress.hyatt.com/hyatt/hotels/index.jsp?null

Whole Foods Market

Whole Foods Market is renowned for their natural and organic groceries but I never sampled any of their food offerings until now. The grocer served Tomato Gazpacho Shooters, which included a blend of farm-fresh veggies in a shooter cup. I sampled their yummy pork slider with Thompson Farms’ New 5 Plus Step rated pork and topped with a blue cheese slaw.

Image

Whole Foods Market: http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/

Top Chef Marcel Vigneron

Top Chef Season Two runner-up and star of the Syfy cable network’s Marcel’s Quantum Kitchen Marcel Vigneron attended the Florida Film Festival’s opening night gala and raved about Sushi Pop’s Bubblegum Sorbet and White Wolf Cafe’s Cracker Jack cotton candy and was impressed with the Black Bean Deli’s specialties and homemade bread. Me and a Top Chef think alike and have great taste! I guess it’s the foodie in me!

Image

See Marcel Vigneron, two-time cookbook author and award-winning Southern maven of deliciousness Martha Foose and blogger/author and culinary artisan Gui Alinat during the Digital Dish on Saturday, April 14 from 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. at the Enzian Theater. A special complimentary taste will be prepared by Marcel Vigneron and served during the panel discussion. Tickets are $10. View the entire Florida Film Festival schedule and purchase tickets at http://www.floridafilmfestival.com.

Leave a comment

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , ,

April 12, 2011 · 2:14 PM

Splash Back in Time with Aquarama and Mermaids of Yesteryear at The Hukilau By Sandra Carr

Magnificent mermaids tempted sailors with their beauty long ago and continue their sea seduction today. Roadside attractions paid tribute to these oceanic goddesses throughout the 1960s, including Aquarama, the “World-Famous Mermaid Attraction.”

Inspired by Florida’s Weeki Wachee, the Aquarama’s owners Wally and Nola Johl began their mermaid adventure in Osage Beach, Mo. in 1964. The show featured Aquamaids and Aqualads performing choreographed and costumed underwater acts, including monster fights, gypsy dances and a beautiful curvaceous bull sparring with a Spanish matador—an irresistible attraction for Lake of the Ozarks vacationers.

Vintage Roadside, a company dedicated to preserving the history of mom and pop roadside businesses of the 1930s-1960s, has unearthed a time capsule of Aquarama and 1960s mermaid attraction memories through vintage photos, original 1964 home movies and other material, most of which has not been seen in more than 40 years, gathered from interviews with numerous Aquamaids and Aqualads and the son of Aquarama’s founders Marc Johl and will be revealed during their “Beautiful Girls that Live like Fish!: The Story of Aquarama, the World-Famous Mermaid Attraction” symposium at The Hukilau Tiki festival in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Aquarama was a testament of a vision that became a reality.

“Mermaids in Missouri were an unexpected combination and it’s the reason we find Aquarama fascinating,” say Vintage Roadside owners Jeff Kunkle and Kelly Burg. “To us, these roadside attractions represent the dreams of someone who took a chance. It takes a special person to say that they’re going to quit their job and spend their life savings to open a mermaid attraction!”

Aquatic performer Marina the Fire Eating Mermaid will be participating in a Q & A and a mermaid show-and-tell during the symposium. She has been a retro-aquatic performer and stunt dancer for more than 20 years and keeps the mermaid spirit alive during her mermaid and pearl diver performances at the Sheraton Fort Lauderdale Beach Hotel’s Wreck Bar.

“It isn’t just about the mermaid culture—it’s about the aquatic dance and that’s what must be preserved,” explains Marina. “The golden age of tourism brought aquatic dance to the forefront with dive shows and spectacles just about everywhere. It’s heartbreaking to see this art form disappearing. If I can restore a bit of the art form and start a new generation of performers with an interest in the physical discipline, then I’ll be a very happy Aquaticat.”

 Tikiphiles and mermaid and roadside aficionados will unite and find a common bond during Vintage Roadside’s Aquarama symposium.

“Mermaids give us a chance to escape to another world of frivolity and allow our imaginations to run wild,” explains The Hukilau Founder and Producer Christie J. White. “Tiki culture allows us to escape into a world where the Rum flows like lava and we’re all filled with the Aloha Spirit and transported into another time and place, even beyond Hawaii—they both relate simply because we all like to make believe.”

Vintage Roadside sells vintage T-shirts featuring original advertising graphics of long- gone roadside attractions and their fine art photography showcases neon, painted signs, vintage architecture and fiberglass giants captured on their extensive road trips across the country. Vintage Roadside’s “Beautiful Girls that Live like Fish!: The Story of Aquarama, the World-Famous Mermaid Attraction” symposium is Saturday, June 11 at 12:30 p.m. at the Bahia Mar. Admission is $20. Learn more about Vintage Roadside at http://vintageroadside.com/.

Experience an exotic escape during The Hukilau, June 9-12, 2011 at the Bahia Cabana, Bahia Mar and the Mai-Kai Restaurantin Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Festival admission prices are $25-$135. For more information, visit www.thehukilau.com.

Find out more about Vintage Roadside’s symposium at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Vintage-Roadside/74721179288.

2 Comments

Filed under Uncategorized

April 5, 2011 · 5:55 AM

Embark on an Old-School Tattoo Hawaiian Voyage at The Hukilau By Sandra Carr

Playful tattoos of hula girls and pinups were the rage for servicemen stationed in Hawaii during World War II—and the passion and appreciation for South Seas ink continues today.

From the first voyage of Captain James Cook in 1769 to the brothels and bars of Hotel Street, the Hawaiian Islands have been synonymous with the art of tattooing. This ancient practice of tribal tradition and family heritage became the indelible mark of shore leave for thousands of servicemen in the hands of dozens of tattoo artists working during the 1920s to present day in the Hawaiian Islands.

 The historic journey of tattoos will be explored during tattoo artist Paul Roe’s “Hawaii – Sailors, Sex and the Birth of Old School Tattoos” symposium at The Hukilau Tiki festival in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

“When I was approached about this symposium, I knew it would be of interest to my attendees as this is a side of Hawaii that we rarely think or know about,” says The Hukilau Founder and Producer Christie J. White. “Tattoos are still considered taboo yet is such a part of everyday culture now—it’s a benefit to know more about their origin and influence on the world.”

Paul Roe is the owner and head artist of Britishink Tattoos in Washington, D.C. He has researched the vast field of tattooing for the past decade and written articles for the tattoo industry. Roe has been featured in the Washington Post, The Japan Times, Chicago Tribune, The Wall Street Journal and various tattoo-related publications. He has also appeared on National Public Radio and WIYY Radio Baltimore. Roe is the tattoo consultant of the District of Columbia of Cosmetology and an expert witness of the District of Columbia Public Defender’s Office. His work can be viewed at http://www.britishinkdc.com/.

Roe will be joined by Britishink Tattoos’ artist Cynthia Rudzis during his lighthearted but informative symposium, which covers the development of the “old-school” tattoo style through the words, photos and tattoo designs of some of the legendary names of tattooing, including Hawaii tattoo artist Norman Collins (aka Sailor Jerry), Thomas Riley, Sutherland MacDonald, George Burchett, Armund Dietzel and August “Cap” Coleman.

Tikiphiles and tattoo artists are invited to set sail during Roe’s urban archaeological adventure as he pays homage to the art of tattooing.

“Tattooing in the Hawaiian Islands has a deep history,” explains Roe. “I’ll be discussing traditional, pre-western influence tattooing and its various styles and symbols and the ritual of tattoos and its similarity to tattooing today.”

Experience an exotic escape during The Hukilau, June 9-12, 2011 at the Bahia Cabana, Bahia Mar and the Mai-Kai Restaurant in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Paul Roe’s “Hawaii – Sailors, Sex and the Birth of Old School Tattoos” symposium is Saturday, June 11 at 11 a.m. at the Bahia Mar. Admission is $12. For more information, visit www.thehukilau.com.

Leave a comment

Filed under Uncategorized

February 16, 2011 · 6:03 AM

Celebrate with The Hukilau during its 10-Year Anniversary By Sandra Carr

Entice your senses with the alluring vibe of the Polynesian islands and the world of tikiphiles while sipping potent potions this summer during the 10-year anniversary of The Hukilau! The East coast’s largest tiki and Polynesian pop gathering will also be honoring the 55-year anniversary of the historic Mai-Kai restaurant, one the remaining Polynesian and tiki treasures in North America.
The Hukilau, which is a traditional Hawaiian festival held in fishing villages, features a large net cast into the sea where villagers herd the fish and slowly pull the net to the shore. The feast that follows emphasizes the spirit of family and community or ohana.
Hukilau founder and producer and avid tiki enthusiast Christie White’s (aka Tiki Kiliki) Polynesian passion began after seeing a tiki mug in a shop as a child and has continued to embrace the Hawaiian heritage with her tiki gala in Fort Lauderdale.
Past highlights have included exotica musician Robert Drasnin and his 16-piece orchestra, exotica artist Yma Sumac, photographer and model Bunny Yeager, artist SHAG, author Sven Kirsten, Charles Phoenix and his slide show of timeless kitsch and models sashaying down the runway during the Sarong-O-Rama fashion show.
This year’s hula hoopla will include emcees King Kukulele and “Crazy” Al Evans pumping up and entertaining audiences, sampling tiki cocktails during The Hukilau room crawl, the Harold Golen Gallery’s “Fine Art Tiki Show” and shopping galore!
Encounter a time capsule of memories and strong libations during symposiums by mixologist and author Jeff “Beachbum” Berry and The Rum Pack, Disney artists Kevin Kidney and Jody Daily, Phillip Roberts’ “A Celebration of the Tiki Age in Hawaii” and Vintage Roadside’s “Beautiful Girls that Live like Fish!: The Story of Aquarama, the World-Famous Mermaid Attraction.”
Be amazed and tantalized by Marina the Fire Eating Mermaid, shimmy and shake to the sounds of The Tikiyaki Orchestra, The Intoxicators, Grinder Nova, The Exotics, The Fisherman and DJs spinning the tropical beats!
The Hukilau 2011 is one exotic extravaganza the kanes and wahines don’t want to miss! Experience an exotic escape during The Hukilau, June 9-12, 2011 at the Bahia Cabana, Bahia Mar and the Mai-Kai restaurant in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Festival admission prices are $25-$135. For more information, visit www.thehukilau.com.

Leave a comment

Filed under Uncategorized

August 22, 2010 · 2:35 AM

Revelling in Mardi Gras by Sandra Carr

Movie fans got their Mardi Gras on during the 19th Annual Florida Film Festival’s Revel party at Full Sail University’s back lot in Winter Park on April 17. The event featured delectable dishes, live music and attendees dressed in costumes that would bejewel any Mardi Gras float on Bourbon Street in New Orleans.

The competition was fierce during the annual hat contest where anything goes. The fete featured cowboy and character hats to DIY creations. The winners were a strobe light cup hat ($100 bar tab to Eden Bar and dinner for four at the Enzian Theater), a bird cage hat ($75 bar tab to Eden Bar and dinner for two at the Enzian Theater) and a turkey hat ($50 bar tab to the Eden Bar and dinner for two at the Enzian Theater).

The scrumptious fare catered by Arthur’s in Altamonte Springs enticed attendee’s palates including moi.  The first course was martini glasses filled with savory salads and tequila-marinated chicken with names like the Southern Lady Cosmo and the Margarita. Appetizers included Jambalaya and pita chips with Cajun and Creole red pepper dip. The main dish was spicy chicken and dessert included homemade Beignet and bread pudding with whiskey.

This blogger hadn’t experienced Mardi Gras except at the Universal Orlando Resort but came close to the real New Orleans deal during Revel and can’t wait until next year. For more information, visit http://www.floridafilmfestival.com/.

Leave a comment

Filed under Uncategorized