Fun in the Sun

One is never enough--especially when it comes to whale watches.  Ever since my pre-dawn whale watch on the Pacific Whale Foundation, I've been itching to get back on the water.

I finally bit the bullet and bought a whale watch on my favorite boating company on Maui: Trilogy Excursions.  They have a huge fleet of catamarans and have been doing sailing charters for over thirty years.  I've had the opportunity to sail with Trilogy several times, and I've always been happy with the trips, the staff and the boats.  Trilogy consistently offers some of the best customer service on Maui.

{crew member Amy telling us about Humpback Whales}

{Trilogy flags}

{partner in crime: Liz!}

{gorgeous Maui!}

{aboard the Trilogy Elua--the first catamaran in the Trilogy fleet}

{all eyes on the ocean, looking for whales}

{first sighting: Bottlenose Dolphins!}

{this dolphin swam up alongside the boat with her baby}

{whale tail}

{the signature hump of the Humpback Whale}

After seeing several whales at a distance, we finally came across a competition pod.  A competition pod is a group of male whales competing for the attention of a female.

This pod that we saw seemed to be a group of three (there could have been more whales fighting under the surface). The whales swam in a close-knit knot on the surface of the ocean where they trumpeted, slapped the water with their huge pectoral fins and slammed their tails down.

{pectoral fin slapping}

{a little friendly competition}

{whale tail}

{caught in the act: this whale kept slamming his tail down onto the water, over and over again}

{a Teralani catamaran heading home}

{one last whale tail before heading back into harbor}

It was a great afternoon on the water, but I was surprised to find that I got royally sunburned on my whale watch.  I had borrowed some sunscreen from a tourist immediately after I boarded, but it wasn't enough to deflect the crazy sun overload I got from the sunshine reflecting off the water and all the super-white surfaces of the boat.

I am tomato red with ridiculous tank top tan lines and raccoon eyes (thanks to my sunglasses).  The most sunburned part of my body are my lips.  It looks like I got lip injections.  I've got Angelina lips!  Unfortunately, it's not attractive.  And now, a few days after my sun-extravaganza, I'm starting to peel.  Ick.

Anyways...after my day in the sun, I spent the evening off dining at Kimo's with Bryan and my friend Kimo to celebrate Kimo's Employee of the Year win!

We went big.  We got a bottle of Domaine Serene--easily one of the best bottles of Pinot Noir I've ever had, a few appetizers (the smoked marlin and an artichoke), and then, of course, some monster entrees.

{Kimo posing with his prime rib}

{32 ounce prime rib cooked rare, Texas Style, with a 6 ounce Tristan lobster tail}

{I got parmesan crusted Lehi (short-tailed Red Snapper) with coconut crusted shrimp}

Bryan also got the Lehi but done baked Kimo's Style with a lobster tail.  

We went all out.  Obviously.

It was a great way to end the weekend.

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100 Wines

My girlfriend and I took advantage of our joint night out, and we went out to dinner to one of our favorite haunts: 100 Wines.

The restaurant is over at Lahaina Gateway, attached to the fondue chain Melting Pot.  

The interior evokes an Old World European bistro or tavern.  There is a glass walled wine room directly behind the host stand as you first enter the restaurant, and then as you are led into 100 Wines, you walk past two huge wood tables stacked with wine bottles.

The restaurant wants to encourage guests to choose their wine not just by perusing the wine list, but by going over and examining the bottles themselves.  They want you to pick a bottle up, look over the label and see what calls out to you.

We chose the Palmina, a Dolcetto from Santa Barbara, California.

It was delicious, and I look forward to ordering it again.

100 Wines specializes not only in their wide selection of wines from all over the world, but also their array of tapas.  

One of the more popular items to order (and one of my favorites as well) is the Brussels Sprouts served with prosciutto and a balsamic glaze.

We went off-book this visit, and instead of ordering our old favorites (buh-bye Brussels Sprouts!), we ordered a whole bunch of new things.  We started off with the Creamy Polenta (which is different day to day based on the chef's whim) done with Chicken and Pumpkin.  We also ordered two tartines (open-faced sandwiches): the Croque Madame (topped with a fried egg) and the Provencale (prosciutto, goat cheese with honey).

And of course, we got dessert: the Menage a Trois--ice cream served on a peanut dust (crushed peanuts rolled with sugar), caramelized bananas, and a pot of S'mores (Nutella layered with graham crackers and toasted marshmallows).

I know that you are disappointed there are no photos of the food, but everything came out looking too good that I had absolutely zero will power to pause before eating to take pictures.  I hope you all forgive me.

Let me offer a photo of a forlorn T-Bone as an apology: 

Adorable.

It's been a fun weekend, and I'm loathe to go back to work tonight.  Thankfully, I've got a few hours before I have to go in, and Bryan and I are heading out for Mexican food.  Maybe I'll take a few photos there...

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Feast of Epic Proportions

Even from across the ocean, my dad has the ability to completely spoil me rotten.  He sent me some spending money and told me to buy a nice dress then take Bryan and myself out to a restaurant we would not normally go to and buy a bottle of wine we would typically not order.

When my parents and sister were here on vacation, their favorite restaurant on island was I'o.  Bryan had never been there, so I decided it was the perfect place to take him.

I wore a dress that I bought from Mahina:

and we shared a bottle of Cabernet:

I love the cork!

We enjoyed the Ahi Poke appetizer served with fried wontons, brown butter sauce, radish sprouts and greens:

We split the Waipoli Saald (not pictured) and each got our own I'o Trio dish:

Left to right: Grilled Petit Filet Mignon, Seared Nairagi (Hawaiian Striped Marlin) topped with a lobster coconut curry sauce over a mushroom asparagus risotto and then a grilled Madras curry and porcini mushroom dusted lamb chop.

The lamb chop was our favorite part of the trio, but the Filet Mignon photographed the best.

We pretty much licked our plates clean, leaving just the bone off the lamb chop:

Our servers treated us to a dessert: a dark chocolate "pate" garnished with fresh strawberries.

We managed to show our appreciation by devouring every single bite.

Bryan and I had a fantastic night out.  It is always a treat to have the night off together, but it was especially nice being able to enjoy such a fantastic dinner out!

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Dinner at I'o

My friend invited me to dinner at I'o last week.  She works at I'o's sister restaurant, Pacific'o, which is right next door.  I've dined at both restaurants in the past and have loved the food served in each establishment.

I hadn't been to I'o since dining there with Paul last summer.  He had been working at Pacific'o as an intern from the Culinary Institute, and he was the best person to eat out with because he would order multiple appetizers and multiple entrees and multiple desserts so he could best sample a menu.

On this most recent visit to I'o we ordered conservatively.

We started off with the Refresh, a vodka cocktail with muddle mint and strawberries.

My dining companion is a vegetarian, so I got these Crab Cakes all to myself.  This appetizer featured goat cheese with roasted bell peppers on top of a miso aioli with a green papaya slaw.  

We also ordered the Waipoli Road salad.  The salad featured amazing, crisp greens and vegetables from the restaurant's own farm in upcountry Maui.

I'o's speciality is serving small plates tapas style, so you can try several of their specialties.  We got the O'o Farm Beets, Green Bean Gremolata and the Heirloom Carrot risotto.

The risotto is carrot juice infused with baby heirloom carrots and mint oil.

The Green Bean Gremolata was an amazing savory dish with sauteed Kula beans tossed with Italian parsley, garlic, bread crumbs and lemon zest.

The O'o Farm Beets that we ordered featured roasted heirloom beets in a farm pesto with feta cheese, macadamia nuts and raisins.  I loved the puff pastry "bowl" the beets were served in.

For dessert we shared the chocolate macadamia torte.  It was served with a dollop of lilokoi whipped cream, fresh strawberries and a strawberry sauce.

As you can see, it didn't take us long to finish it.

We ate our dinner outdoors, but the interior of I'o is lovely.

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