Welcome to Miami (Bienvenido a Miami)

It all started a few weeks back when Katharine of NYC Recession Diary instant messaged me asking what I had planned for the first weekend of June.  “Umm..don’t we have some kind of food festival” was my response, to which she said, “I have something better.”  Next thing I know, a save the date from Thrillist, a newsletter I’ve read religiously since I first moved to the city three years ago (as of next Wednesday) popped into my inbox.  I was invited to Hotel Thrillist, an event in Miami on June 4 – 6.  The guest list for Hotel Thrillist consisted of more than 150 social influencers, media, VIPs and sweepstakes winners.

Katharine and I flew down to Miami first thing Friday morning on just a few hours of sleep and were greeted at the Miami airport by Thrillist employee Brian.  We headed over to our homebase for the weekend, the Fontainebleau, a gorgeous hotel in Miami.  What was great about this hotel was that there were plenty of restaurants and nightlife inside, so we never needed a reason to leave.  Plus, our rooms were pretty cool with a sweet shower, a tv in the bathroom, flatscreen tvs and an iMac (that always had my name written on screen).

The first thing I did when I got to the room was empty out the swag bag.  My favorite items in it were:

• Stunner of the Month – If you are the type to break your sunglasses regularly or lose them, or justlike to try new styles, you have to join this service. For only $9 a month, this company sends you a new pair of sunglasses. I got the sunglasses called “the Cheshires,” which was fitting considering that’s my hometown. Everyone loved my glasses and they were a favorite among the group. While some of the styles were a little different than what you’d wear in New York (i.e. not black), people really grew into their glasses and it was the talk of the first day, with people comparing what sunglasses they got. It’s definitely a cool service to try.  Note that you cannot pick your glasses out ahead of time, so be prepared to be adventurous.
• boom.boom – Ever go out to a bar and get incredibly tired? Well boom.boom was invented to help re-energize you. Basically, you stick boom.boom up your nose, inhale, and you get a whif of energy (I know, it sounds like cocaine, but looks like you are sticking chapstick up your nose). I’m not 100% sure if this works, but it was definitely a fun product to play around with and funny to hear everyone say “I’m gonna go do some boom.boom.” Give it a try, and at the very least, bring it out to your next bachelorette party – it’ll make for good photos.

Also in the gift bags was a bacon hot sauce.  I really was looking forward to trying it when I got home, but sadly, TSA found it in my suitcase and now some employee from the Miami airport is enjoying eggs and bacon..hot sauce.

View from the cabana

After tearing through my stuff, we headed down to the pool.  Thrillist had rented a cabana for us, and it was complete with sandwiches and drinks.  I was too busy relaxing, so unfortunately there is no review on what those sandwiches were like – other than delicious.  What I do remember from the afternoon, were the drinks.  Bacardi Torched Cherry was the sponsor for the weekend, and going into it, I was a little concerned since I haven’t consumed a rum and coke since I was 18.  I felt like it was going to be a beer all the way type weekend, but I figured hey, why not try a drink.  Um, yea, these rums and cokes were like nothing I’ve ever tried before.  In fact, they were down right delicious, so delicious I chugged three of them in about 15 minutes (sorry, mom – I know I promised I’d keep it classy).  Honestly, picture your favorite cherry coke or cherry Pepsi – that’s what I was chugging.  You didn’t taste any alcohol whatsoever, which was great for me.  Definitely order this at your next open bar (Note: I made my girlfriends drink these during an Internet Week party, and they were a huge hit!).

As we laid out in the cabana, thunder and lightening rolled in – go figure right after we had jumped in the pool, so many of us made the executive decision to go nap.  And then it was time for a cocktail party and dinner.

We sipped on more Bacardi cocktails and ate appetizers from La Cote (I sadly didn’t take notes because my hands were full of drinks), and then it was on to dinner.  We all filed into the ball room since the weather didn’t permit us to eat under the stars as planned.  Different corners of the ballroom were stations, representing different restaurants.  And so began the sampling (these are the things I ate, but more items were served):

At Gotham Steak, which is owned by Alfred Portale, chef and owner of New York’s Gotham Bar and Grill, I tried:

-Fresh Horseradish and Garlic Marinated Whole Tenderloin of Beef, served with a Espelette Chimmichuri Sauce: Surprisingly, I thought this dish had more of a bacon flavor to it than a horseradish flavor (did someone pour my bacon hot sauce on it?).  You know beef is cooked perfectly when it doesn’t need anything on it, and this definitely didn’t need the chimmichuri sauce.  Still, I did appreciate that the sauce was very light.

-Creamed Corn, Manchego Cheese and Jalapeño:  I’m making the decision that all creamed corn served in my home must have pieces of jalapeño in it.  It added a great kick to this traditionally sweet dish.

-Mini Crab Cake: Great lemon zest in the crab cake.

-Heirloom Tomato Salad, Watermelon, Feta, Minus and Vinegar: Wasn’t a fan of this mini salad served on skewers.  Felt like the huge chunk of Feta on this skewer overpowered the taste of the entire salad and could have been a much smaller bite.

From Scarpetta, which also has a restaurant in NYC on 14th St and 9th Avenue, in addition to the FontaineBleau, I sampled:

-Creamy Polenta, Fricasse of Truffle Mushrooms: Hands down, one of the top three dishes of the night.  You could really taste the truffle in this dish, as well as a cheesy undertone.  I would die for this dish again and felt like it alone could have been my dinner.  It also would be the perfect dish on a cold winter night.

-Braised Short Ribs of Beef, Vegetable & Farro Risotto:  I wasn’t a fan of the risotto alone, as it tasted to me like fried rice in a cream sauce.  However, mixed with the short ribs, it was very enjoyable, as the short rib flavor overpowered the entire dish.

I tried the following from Hakkasan, which is located in the FontaineBleau as well as in Soho, London:

-Chicken with Chive Shu Mai:  You know those pork skewers from Trader Joe’s that you hit up in themicrowave?  Well the Shu Mai tasted like an inside of the dumpling.  I didn’t think it was anything special, and the heavy chive flavor made me want to reach for the Listerine strips that were provided in our goodie bags.

-Steamed Sea Bass & Soya Bean:  One of the top three favorite dishes of the night.  The sea bass melted in your mouth and loved the soy sauce flavor.

-Tea Smoked Pork Ribs:  Another favorite dish of the night.  Ribs were falling off the bone and had a great smokey flavor.

Photo courtesy of Nick McGlynn, randomnightout.com

After dinner (and some inhaling of the boom.boom) we went to LIV night club, which is in the FontaineBleau.  I’m not familiar with enough nightclubs to tell you if it was cool or not, but I had a good time.  However, a funny story happened at the nightclub that I figured I’d share.

I was sitting at a table with this guy, and everyone kept coming up and high fiving him and thanking him for coming.

So with some liquid courage, I decided to ask, “Are you a big deal?”

His response: “Kinda. I’m a producer and a rapper.”

Me: “Are you big in New York?”

Him: “I’m starting to. I just cut my first single.”

Me: (praying that he won’t mention the title of the song I won’t be forced to admit that I don’t know it) “Congratulations!”

And then he performed at the nightclub.  I found out he is J. Cole.  He has more than 50,000 Twitter followers.  And somewhere floating around the internet, there is photo of me with the rapper that will hopefully be worth something someday.

Wondering what happened on day two at #hotelthrillist?  Check back Monday!