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CONTACT ME

Taste Curator

904-290-6924 | mimi@tastecurator.com

PO Box 2922
Ponte Vedra Beach, FL 32204

130 Corridor Rd # 2922
Ponte Vedra Beach, FL 32204

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Only a few tickets left to my next VIGLO (Vietnamese with global influences) popup dinner. I’m grateful for the continued support from friends and Jax foodies, most of whom have been attending every single one of my popup dinner since inception. This will be my best one yet. Not only you’ll get to taste signature dishes from each three of Vietnam regions done with premium ingredients and my VIGLO twists, but there’re will be some fun molecular techniques I picked up from my stages at Gaggan’s. Register at 904tix.com and search “viglo”

San Miguel de Allende is full of charming restaurants like Laposadita, with #rooftopdining and impeccable service. The food was good, but sometimes when the setting is nice, everything tastes better. #authenticmexican #authenticmexicanfood #sanmigueldeallenderetreat #sanmigueldeallendeguanajuato #sanmigueldeallende #nicelunch #mexicanrestaurant #mexicanrestaurants #authenticmexicancuisine

One of the #bestmeals we’ve had in @SanMigueldeAllende was from a street cart: 3 #softtacos with #choppedsteak , #chorizo , and #porkkabab cooked in an open fire #rotatinggrill . All three tacos for $2.50 USD, #delicioso

Had the best meal in Guanajuato, Mexico at @loscamposgto, such a charming restaurant and everything we ordered was delicious 1) sweet corn & jalapeños fritters: 2) Have you ever had “huitlacoche” before? It’s a luxury ingredient in Mexico that’s formed from a fungus that grows in the corn, has a smoky and earthy flavor, and a taste like mushrooms mixed with corn. We had it in this pork tenderloin dish with wild mushroom & huitlacoche powder. So good. 3) Chicken meatballs seasoned with hoja santa, and a very nice black mole sauce. 4) Chili relleno stuffed with pork, ancho chili sauce, barley, the super delicious #huitlacoche and cheese. We enjoyed the meal so much but didn’t know what we were eating until our hotel chef Omar Rodriguez Fonseca at @casarofo explained to us all the best & exotic ingredients in Mexico. Chef Omar was so gracious and knowledgeable, and we ended up talking food & ingredients with each other for long time. He explained to me about huitlacoche, Mexico’s #gourmetingredients , and also #escamoles which are eggs from ants that are supposed to be a delicacy, often regarded as Mexican caviar. They are tiny, light-colored eggs, harvested from #magueyplants , that look like white-corn kernels or pine nuts; even have similar texture as pine nuts but crunchy if fried. Thanks chef Omar for an education in #mexicanfood

I fancied up my simple tofu and ginger syrup dessert: dry fruit crunch, turmeric cracker with red bean sea salt gelee, mango gelee, grape & candied ginger, and matcha KitKat #tofudessert #turmericcrackers #fancydessert #asiandessert #asiandesserts #tasty #eat #foodpic #foodstagram #yum #amazing #foodpics #dessert #desserts #sweets #thetastecurator #asiansweet #asiansweets

My simple #lychee #redradish salad in champagne #meyerlemon yuzu vinaigrette. Guess what is that little green thing on top that looks like a beautiful ribbon? #simplesalad #lycheesalad #healthyaperture #findingvegan #thetastecurator #healthyfood #healthyfoods

Vietnamese caramelized short rib is one of my fave dishes to make, but this time I added garnishes inspired from the meal I ate at @restaurant_gaa in Bangkok whose chef @arorgarima is the first female Indian chef to recently receive a Michelin Star. We ate there BEFORE the restaurant received the star, so it feels great to support a restaurant before its stardom. It was an incredible tasting menu, which I will post pix for the meal later. But I remember admiring how beautiful the the rib looked as soon as it arrived to our table. I’ve never seen ribs plated like that before, with such vibrant color blocks of vegetables & herbs. While her toppings were pomegranate seeds, chimmichuri, and brunoised pink onions, mine are slightly different: persillade, brunoised jicama, and pickled brunoised purple cabbage, over roasted caulilini, beet powder, and a spread of black garlic. But it’s a similar look and it was inspired by this brilliant chef. #chefsgossips #army_of_chefs #professionalchefs #foodartchefs #gastroart #highendchefs #chefsalert #cookniche #theartofplating #thebestchefawards #chefstalk #chefsofinstagram #chefstime #chefselection #thetastecurator

Whole roasted #sucklingpig has been done for hundreds of years in many countries. In China it’s served at traditional weddings to signify double happiness. The Vietnamese too, both in Vietnam and in the States, still consider whole roasted pig a must at any engagement party or wedding. In the Philippine, Puerto Rico, and Cuba, they call it #lechón. In Serbia and Montenegro, a roasted pig called #kafana, is a traditional meal for special occasions. In the Deep South they call it #pigpickin and whole roasted pig can also be found in Hawaii. But the BEST I have ever had was in Segovia, Spain, a place that’s world famous for suckling pig, where they use milk-fed baby pigs called #cochinillo. I know it sounds terrible and my daughter at first refused to eat it when she saw the whole cochinillo on our table. But after one bite (something she was taught as a kid to taste everything once before deciding if she doesn’t like it), she couldn’t stop eating it. That meal has ingrained in my mind as the best meal I’ve ever had in my life, and I’ve decided that cochinillo will be my last meal on earth. Yes it was that good; its skin was paper thin and evenly crispy, and its meat was so moist, flavorful and so clean tasting. You just knew the meat was high quality, unlike any suckling pig I’ve ever had. Since this lunar new year is the year of the pig, we decided to have a whole roasted pig at our house party to raise money for our non profit foundation, and hired this man who marinated it for 5 days before roasting it in his brick oven. We served it in banh mi sandwiches with condiments that guests could self serve. It was an amazing experience and our guests loved it.

This was how we celebrated Lunar new year, with dinner at the hot new restaurant, Nightshade in LA with #topchef winner Chef @meilin21 and chef de cuisine @maxouboon. Both Chefs were so gracious to say hi, and chef Max and I had fun reminiscing the time we staged at #gagganbangkok (But at different times). Their food was so delicious and inventive. Nothing too fancy but every dish was creative, taking comfort, craveable dishes to the next level. We started out with blooming onion; the twist is in their tom yum dipping sauce. Lasagna with Sichuan peppercorns, with pork-like tofu instead of a traditional ragu, and multi layers in each slice was beautifully cut. The fried chicken was yummy and the Zchechuan pepper flavor was so intense that it still tingled my mouth for hours afterwards. The Nori Spatelli with uni was so uniquely delicious (but I heard it’s no longer offered). Their congi was one of my faves with onsen egg, XO sauce, pork sung, crispy shallots, garlic & scallions. The shrimp toast was tasty and surprisingly not greasy. And the chia seeds dessert looked too beautiful to eat. Their food has a lot of Asian influences but chef Mei Lin doesn’t want to label her food as such, but calls it simply modern LA. Bravo Nightshade and its chefs and I wish them continued success.

This was how we celebrated #lunarnewyear starting with #trufflexiaolongbao at @dintaifungusa. We’ve been to DTF in Hong Kong, NYC, Singapore, Bangkok, and now in Costa Mesa, SoCal. Interestingly enough though, truffle XLB is not available at the location in Bangkok, wonder why... But nevertheless, the chain has the juiciest, flavorful XLB and decent wonton in chili oil. Then came dinner at our friends’ house for some succulent seafood that included crab & noodle with #uni. Noodles symbolize longevity and dumplings represent wealth, so Asians like to eat them during lunar new year. We’re not superstitious but any excuse to eat more noodles & dumplings is fine by us.

Every dish was a well orchestrated symphony that hit all the right notes and invigorated our five senses. We were mesmerized and intoxicated by the whole experience: the food, wines, plating, presentation, and service. The 1st dish was seared scallop in yuja vinaigrette & ssukgat purée, follows by the creamiest sea urchin over seaweed rice & crispy quinoa, so delicious. Next came bimbimbap but made of white barley risotto with lots of shaved white truffle on top. We enjoyed inhaling the fragrance of the truffle as much as eating it.The next dish was the most unusual as breathtaking, like a work of art: black cod covered by a thin layer of fermented silky seaweed, with a songee mushroom broth poured on at the table. Last came the duck with shishito Jjangaji and grilled heirloom sunchoke. @chefjungsik was gracious enough to give me a personal tour of the kitchen, where we got to see him in action, as well as his beautiful, young Executive Pastry Chef Eunji Lee, who just won Star Chef’s Rising Star of the Year, with her exquisite desserts made with unusual flavor combinations what are in tune with the seasons of the year and Korean heritage. They gave us so many extra desserts because of my bday that I can’t remember them all, but our fave was the NY-Seoul #truffle cone apple tatin. Thank you Jungsik for a #memorablemeal and dining experience.

My friends have been raving about two @michelin stars Jungsik for a long time now, so I was delighted when my fam took me there to celebrate my bday last month in NYC. @chefjungsik ’s culinary philosophy is similar to mine, with his inventive #tastingmenu using classic Korean culinary techniques combined with those from all over the world, adding in local, seasonal ingredients and flavors. (My food is #VIGLO, Vietnamese with global influences). Its #sommelier Minseok Kyung won last year’s Korea Sommelier of the Year Award hosted by @winevision
The #amusebouche, usually a little bonus bite that’s not meant to be the star of the meal, but really was the best we’ve ever had, with the most beautifully presented #banchan (traditional Korean side dishes served with rice).

I’m always trying to VIGLO every dish (see my bio if you dk what VIGLO means). So how did I manage to VIGLO an Italian pasta dish? By using homemade pho broth (instead of water or chicken stock) to simmer in my ground bison bolognese sauce. I’ve been infusing star anise into my bolognese sauce for a while now, because it gives a complex aroma and unexpected flavor to the sauce. And pho broth is made with star anise (among many other seasonings) so I thought, why not use #phobroth as flavor enhancement to my pasta sauce? And you know what, it worked. Talk about an explosive #umami of flavors that compliment each other deliciously. Here I’m serving with roasted heirloom tomatoes, roasted cauliflower, carrot, sage, basil, truffle mushroom. #tastecurator #thetastecurator

Guess what does the fact that I’m a Vietnamese from Texas that has anything to do with my making corn bread madeleines? Here I’m serving them with crispy #porkbelly , red pepper & eggplant spread, and the greens are #caulilini. Didn’t know the name caulilini existed until I found it on an American restaurant’s menu. So that’s what they’re called in the west, when we Vietnamese have been calling them #chinesecauliflower . If you like cauliflower, you’ll ❤️ caulilini. They taste even more delicious than cauliflower, and they look so pretty. If cauliflower and broccoli had a baby, it would look like these baby breath caulilini. But they’re only available less than 2 months a year, from late Dec to end of Jan, so hurry to your Asian grocery store (call to find out which one carries them; I found them at La Salsa in Jax). Rub them in olive oil and salt and roast them in 400F for about 15 min. The stems turn into a beautiful bright green color, just like in this pic, and the tips are white like cauliflower head. But if you mix a dash of turmeric powder in olive oil and brush on the tips, the bright yellow tips against the bright green stems look even more beautiful like mine here (not to mention the health benefits from eating more turmeric) #truecooks #instachefs #chefsofinstagram #homechef #homechefs #popupchef #asianchef #asianchefs #vietnamesechef #jaxchef #jaxchefs #jacksonvillechefs #jacksonvillechef #gourmetchef #gourmetchefs #asianchef #chefsgossips #army_of_chefs #professionalchefs #foodartchefs #gastroart #highendchefs #chefsalert #cookniche #food52 #chefstalk #chefsofinstagram #chefstime

I’m feeling purple veg right now: roasted purple cauliflower, purple Brussels sprout petals, ube aioli. Yummy #truecooks #instachefs #chefsofinstagram #homechef #homechefs #jaxchef #jaxchefs #gourmetchef #gourmetchef #chefsgossips #army_of_chefs #professionalchefs #foodartchefs #gastroart #highendchefs #chefsalert #cookniche #theartofplating #food52 #chefstalk #chefsofinstagram #chefstime #chefselection #simplesalad #lycheesalad #healthyaperture #findingvegan #thetastecurator #healthyfood #healthyfoods

Okra rules, especially when stuffed with shrimp. So easy, quick to make, and so delicious! See comments below for recipe #roastedokra #okra

Nothing better than grits for breakfast! I used white corn stone ground grits with truffle pecorino, shallot confit, and fried egg sprinkled with “o mai” salt (made from Vietnamese “o mai”, a salted dry apricot that’s been my childhood snack, now available in a finishing salt packed with umami flavors, which my cousin from Vietnam recently gifted me when she came to visit) #bestbreakfast #grits #gourmetgrits #trufflepecorino #omai #chefsbreakfast #comfortfood #comfortfoods #comfortbreakfast #tastecurator #thetastecurator

And the celebration continues tonight when I made mushroom & roasted bone marrow dumplings, with black truffle, black garlic, red pepper & eggplant spread, savory, and zhong yuzu sauce. Did you know that black garlic has twice the amount of antioxidant and taste sweet raw by itself unlike the bitter taste of regular raw garlic? And #roastedbonemarrow is another #umami ingredient full of health benefits #chefsgossips #army_of_chefs #professionalchefs #foodartchefs #gastroart #highendchefs #chefsalert #foodstarz_official #asianfoodmedia #cookniche #theartofplating #food52 #thebestchefawards #culinarychefs #chefstalk #chefsofinstagram #chefstime #chefselection #dumplings #truffledumpling #bestdumplings #bestdumplingsever

NYE dinner made even more special when our best friends decided to surprise us by driving 12 hours to count down with us at Santa Fe’s #1 restaurant. Too much food, too many calories, but who’s counting? Risotto with chanterelle and wild mushrooms, seared fois gras with sweet bread, duck confit pasta, prawn & grits, osso bucco, salmon & white asparagus, bucatini & lobster #nyedinner #santafeeats #newyearseve #santafefood #santafefoodies #santafe #santafenewmexico #nyecelebration #foodie #foodies

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