Queen Daenerys Stormborn of the House Targaryen, the First of Her Name, Queen of the Andals, the Rhoynar and the First Men, Lady of the Seven Kingdoms and Protector of the Realm, Lady of Dragonstone, Queen of Meereen, Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea, the Unburnt, Breaker of Chains and Mother of Dragons.
And now add, after Sunday night's episode in which a Starbucks Coffee cup is visible....
Queen Daenerys Stormborn...Breaker of Chains and Mother of Dragons. ....drinker of Pumpkin Spice Lattes...
As you read this, there are countless millennial prosecutors and PDS, and some GenX Judges wondering about the fuss: "Wasn't Starbucks always available?"
Nope. Not in Winterfell or the Iron Islands. (Duh).
FACDL BANQUET
As we quietly sipped a nightcap in NYC after the opera, the FACDL Banquet wound down and by all accounts it was a great success. Drinks were drank...food was eaten...awards were presented...backs were slapped...courage was renewed...vows were made to fight the powers that be... and "winter is coming" was heard early and often...it was Rumpolian in all aspects but for the absence of your favourite, award-winning blogger.
Hi RUMPOLE. Best Charter Fishing boat name and Captain?
ReplyDeleteRumpole. ignore the dopy fishing comment and focus on something important- the MENU at Sunday's fabulous Cinco-de-Shumie pop up The REN a Venue, in Wynwood, and the unexpected, mind blowing introduction and unveiling of two foodie items guaranteed to go viral and cripple snapchart- 1) the Shumie-slice; and 2) the REN-RAMEN bowl.
ReplyDeleteFirst the Shumie-slice. Have you ever seen a slice of pizza that is translucent? Neither had I before Sunday night. Take a cauliflower crust made from cauliflower flour, and top it with a propriety layer of a mixture made of Asian glass noddles that have been turned into a shimmering translucent paste that almost hypnotizes. It looked like a see-through slice of pizza. With the base set, the chefs went to town topping it with all sorts of Ren favorites like Piedmont white truffle oil and microscopic slices of the rare truffle, home cured pepperoni, locally sourced organic beefsteak tomatoes with small batch Wisconsin mozzarella cheese. I could go on and on. Glimmering pink shrimp from Key West, sliced sashimi style into see through pieces, fried grouper cheeks from Australian line caught grouper flown in within 20 hours of catch. Just amazing. 12 dollars a slice! 79.79 for a pie and worth every wonderful dream-like bite.
2) Ren-Ramen was more traditional, but the bowls with Tonkotsu broth made from organic hogs from Iowa fed -unbelievably- kobe-beef feed. Your protein choices were the pork, Ayam Cemani Black Chicken from Indonesia, seafood with shrimp and scallops and king crab, all wild harvested, or veggie with varieties of organic mushrooms including the very rare Matsutake Mushrooms that sell for $350/pound, bursting with flavor. The best part was the beautifully prepared egg, boiled exactly 6 min and 35 seconds, making the yolk lucent, but not runny, just ready to explode upon the bowl with flavor.
The Ramen was the best I've ever had, but the pizza, if you can call it that, was game changing. I would bet #shumieslice will be lighting up twitter shortly and if they open "slicerrias" as the chatter was saying that night, it will be a financial windfall.
Desert was as always, creative and crazy. Not only did they serve French press Kopi Luwak coffee (the most expensive in the world) but Kopi Luwak ice cream balls, Kopi Luwak flavored cream pies- half hot/half frozen, and the shaved ices from Matsumoto, the iconic Shop on the small historic town of Haleʻiwa on Oahu's North Shore, Hawaii that are Obama's favorite. Hundreds of tubs of the frozen delicacy flown in the night before.
This was the gastro-foodie event of the year.
The Viking fishing fleet, Montauk, NY. Best run charter fleet in the US. Blues, strippers, fall cod and tuna, spring flounder, summer door-mat flukes. The best.
ReplyDelete8:19am “strippers”?
ReplyDeleteDo you have their website? Would they laugh at an old fisherman if his young beautiful wife packed up a Ren Translucent slice of pizza? I’m wondering if the Ren has a decent Chicken Parm that travels well to Sea?
I heard the award recipients even managed to get through their speeches without collectively insulting the judges.
ReplyDeleteI seriously doubt one of your blog reading jabrones got access to the pop-up. Tix were a grand a piece on line, admit three, and all that did was get you into the ticket holders line. Ricky "Night-train" Layne, the doorman to the stars controlled access. When some jabrone flashed him a hundred to get in and said "what does this get me?" Night-train responded with his famous line "2 fifties at a bank pal " and then tossed him out of the line.
ReplyDeleteBabes in micro-minis were swarming like Brad Pitt and George Clooney were out for a night on the town with Leo D, and basically you needed juice with a capital J to get inside.
My guess is your blog looser was one of the skells tossed out of line and wrote the comment from one of the menus that were floating around like confetti at the Super Bowl winners party.
Plus the Pizza was a one time thing. No talk about slice-arias. It won't sell. Too expensive and just a novelty.
Wow. Miami has come a long way in a very short time.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a young gunslinger at the Justice Building - happiness was defined as a ride to lunch on South Beach at the Sport Cafe - and then a drive down Ocean Dr. to look at the ladies!
Maybe - on a birthday - a special dinner at Mezzanote or Thai Toni. Nothing like this James Beard winning futuristic Ren that they speak of.
A prominent intellectual Judge probably can’t even afford a dinner there! Certainly not the valet price. Are there spaces to park yourself with your “handicap” placard?
Can someone please explain this "Ren A Venue" inside joke?
ReplyDeleteSure. The REN (a venue) was the mega-successful eating, drinking and all-around hanging out establishment opened and operated by Miami mega-lawyer, Cigar impresario, and all around good guy Alan Shuminer, a/k/a Shumie.
ReplyDeleteThe Ren quickly made top foodie lists for its innovative use of locally harvested foods and exotic dishes, sparing no expense to locate and obtain rare ingredients like White Truffles from one mountain in Italy, Black Chicken found only in Indonesia, and varieties of Japanese Kobe beef. The Chef- Juan Carlos-quickly rocketed to fame and was hired away by a burgeoning food conglomerate out of Austin, Texas.
At any given day, you could wander into the REN (A venue) and find homemade Vodka with frozen grapefruit ice cubes, rare Belgium bitter chocolate as a base for home churned ice cream. Kobe beef slides sold out within hours of being added to any daily menu. Buttermilk soaked wild squab was southern fried and dreamy. Juan Carlos could do things with pork belly that others could only imagine.
The partnership broke up with the loss of the uber-chef and the Ren slipped into Miami legend status. However fans have kept the memory alive, and on special occasions, like Cinco- de-Mayo (called Cinco-de -shumie for REN fans) a pop-up restaurant opens for a night- usually in closed clubs or shuttered restaurants. There is no promotion other than word of mouth, and yet each pop-up becomes a sold out event in and of itself. Miami giltteratti try and crash, but the REN, true to its Shumie-Bohemian values, doesn't let the rich and spoiled buy their way in as if the REN was some elite College.
Upon closure of the REN, rumors flew about REN GEN II- a new restaurant, but to date, nothing has panned out. By all accounts Shumie remains a high-powered litigator and simple purveyor of Cigars in his humble yet successful establishment in the west part of western Kendall. Rumors abound about a secret stash of Cuban cigars, but you apparently need to know someone who knows someone, and even then...
Gen X did not have Starbucks growing up
ReplyDeleteWHY ARE THE AWARDS GIVEN AT THE FACDL SUCH A SECRET? WHY CAN'T I LOOK UP WHO WON WHAT IN WHAT YEAR LIKE SPORTS?
ReplyDelete