2010 - A Look Back

Another 365 days have gone by. I kept asking myself, “where did the year go?” It is true: time flies when you’re having fun, but time also flies when you don’t want it to. It was the year of both triumph and tragedy. Opportunity and loss. Before I start sounding like the intro to “A Tale of Two Cities,” you can say we did it all in 2010, and per usual, things and people changed. Including this blog. I literally did a rewind of my 2010 archives and I saw some sort of metamorphosis. It started off as a restaurant blog. I ate and I wrote about it. By the second half of the year, it had become something personal. I incorporated more of my life into it; therefore, this year, I will be doing more of a walk down memory lane rather than a “best of” list like I did in 2008. Here we have it, a year of laughter, tears, blood, and sweat…street food trucks, twEAT ups, Dishcrawl dinners, and new friends. Thank you, 2010, you taught me all kinds of lessons. I can’t wait to see what 2011 has in store. I can only hope it is as eventful as you were.

January and February were kind of quiet. I suppose we were still tired from the holidays.

I was making it my mission to eat my way through the 7x7 Magazine Big Eat 100 List and guess who showed up in their February Issue?

I was quite shocked to see that I was the only eater that they had interviewed since I knew tons of people were doing the list too.

But Queen of Eats?

Shoot…

I’ll take it. =)














March Madness
March is my birth-month and I celebrate the whole 31 days!

SF Food Wars
My 1st Cooking Competition - and I lost by a vote! Haha!

Early Birthday Brunch at EPIC Roasthouse
They hooked it up for your girl. Big time.
I’m eternally grateful to them.


Birthday Shindig at MINK - Outside In #3
Longanisa Gumbo, Sisig Taco, Chicken Adobo Burritos, Pinoy Spaghetti ftw!
April

Trip to Arizona and New Mexico
Can You Spot Me?
Arizona is where I learned that nature will happen no matter what and I am not the center of the universe. Darn it. Through sandstorms and car trouble, we made it through our roadtrip! Thank goodness!

New Mexico is where I learned that they don't play when it come to chile.
May

Asian Culinary Forum’s Adobo Throwdown
This event is probably the best one to happen. It is where I met some great friends who were there for me up until the end of 2010 and are sure to be there in 2011 and for years to come: Fred, Albert, and Jenny.

Met This Guy…
Yup...Starstruck...

May 27, 2010 - I got a call on my cell phone at work from my cousin in the Philippines. A little part of me died that day too. The only grandfather I ever knew was gone. Still can’t believe it. I wish you were here, Tatay. I love you.
June

Bachelorette Weekend in Vegas with the Ladies!
Bobby Flay’s MESA Grill, PINK’s Hot Dogs,
Todd English’s Olives, and Thomas Keller’s Bouchon

TwEAT up/#1st Pinoy Dinner at Attic
I had invited a bunch of total strangers (who loved Filipino food) to dinner.
Let’s just say it was the best dinner party I ever organized.


Words alone cannot express how much I miss you, Auntie Lolit. You were strong and never gave up. I know you're watching over us now. I love you!
July

Off the Grid at Fort Mason
This is so good, I have dreams about it.
Crispy tofu with miso greens on baked bun from Chairman Bao
August

And we met this dude…


Benu
Bub took me out for our anniversary.
Speechless after each bite.
Absolutely stellar.


2nd Annual SF Street Food Festival
This is where I completely fell head over heels for 4505 Meats
Baby Jayla loves her pork.

THE perfect burger. I said it. Perfect.
September
I was asked by the CBS editors in NY to compile “Best of” Lists in San Francisco.
My first “major” gig! w00t!


Helping Our Neighbors
The ladies from Boobs4Food and the gentlemen from Papalote, Adobo Hobo, and Lumpia Cart organized an event to help those affected by the explosion in San Bruno.
October

Dishcrawl Matchmaker Photoshoot
What a fine group of foodies!
Watch out for our calender coming out in the new year!

Pizzeria Picco in Larkspur
Bub and I found our new favorite dessert!
Straus Vanilla Soft Serve with Olive Oil and Sea Salt
Heaven.

10/10/10 - Intramuros Street Food Fest
If it is on a stick, we will eat it!

1st Filipino Food Dishcrawl Dinner at Attic Restaurant
We HAD to come back!

More October Madness:
Scharffen Berger Chocolate Adventure Party, BlogHer Food 2010, and …

Halloween 2010!!!
Gotta represent the Filipinos!
I was Sunshine Corazon from GLEE, who was originally portrayed by Charice Pempengco and my partner Jennileezy portrayed Rachel from GLEE

Filipeanut as GMA-Aswang? Haha Bub as Gumby and I as Sunshine
November

The Giants Won the World Series!!!
This should be self-explanatory.
2nd Annual Foodbuzz Festival
I [heart] free stuff.
I was a bad foodie this year and skipped on most of it;
however, it was great to see some good friends…

December

I was published!
A piece I wrote was included in Kulinarya Magazine, an insert in December 2nd’s San Francisco Examiner. I also attended the Kulinarya Cooking Contest at the Metreon on the 4th - just a few of homies below =)


2nd Filipino Dishcrawl at Bistro Luneta
We had wine and pork.
Nuff’ sed.

@Joanneisafoodie’s Wedding to @Phatpanda650
What a whirlwind!
Planned this event for months and it ended within a few hours.
Truly a day to remember!

Today, New Year’s Eve, is my husband’s birthday.
Met him when he was 21. Now he’s 29.
Old fart.
Looking back, I feel blessed. 2010 was a fantastic year and I only pray that this is only the beginning to many more happy years to come. I wish I could include ALL the great events I attended, but that would take forever, plus it’s almost midnight. Haha! Happy new year everyone and be safe. I can’t wait to see your faces in 2011!!

Love,
Jo

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Filipino Dishcrawls! Mangan Tayon! Kain Na!

Hi everyone!

How is everyone doing today? I was so tickled when I saw an article that John Birdsall published today about Filipino food "finding its voice" in 2010. Like my friend and mentor Jun Belen tweeted: it's about time!

While I have a few minutes here, I want to recap a couple of the fabulous Filipino dishcrawls that my foodie friends and I have had recently.

What IS a dishcrawl?

Well, why don't you find out at dishcrawl.com

Essentially, a dishcrawl is a "progression of 3 dishes." They can be from different restaurants or all in the same one. It's a good excuse to get a bunch of food-lovers together to try some really fantastic food.

I met Tracy, the founder of Dishcrawl, this year and her enthusiasm to gather people and enjoy awesome food is intoxicating. It really made me want to get involved with dishcrawls as well.

If you know me well enough, you should know that I LIVE for Filipino food. It's the food of my people, yo! So far, we have held two Filipino-centric dinners and both were successes.

Pictured: heirloom tomato salad with salted duck egg and pork belly
The first one was at Attic Restaurant in San Mateo in October. Chef Tim and LeRoid were outstanding! 14 (yes, 14!) courses wow'ed the crowd. I was so full, I almost stopped eating after the 10th course! Almost. Check out the FULL recap HERE.


Pictured: lechon kawali
The second, in December, was also at a restaurant in San Mateo called Bistro Luneta. Again, a spectacular spread was presented to us complete with wine pairings chosen by Master Sommelier Reggie Narito. Pork and wine. How can you go wrong? Recap, yes? Right THIS WAY.

Tracy is so great and such a hard worker - so hard of a worker that we already have plans for another Filipino food dishcrawl in January. Since the deets are not finalized yet, I'll wait to fill you in, but best believe it's going to be fun!

If you would like to know more about future dishcrawls, please visit their website and follow them on twitter: @dishcrawl

In other realms of the Filipino food universe, a piece that I wrote on the emergence of Pinoy cuisine in the Bay Area was published in "Kulinarya" magazine. You might have seen the blue-colored insert in December 2nd's San Francisco Examiner. The magazine was released to the public to coincide with the "Kulinarya, A Filipino Culinary Showdown" held at the Metreon in San Francisco on December 4. I haven't found a web-version of the magazine, so when I have some time (somewhere in this wedding planning chaos), I'll publish my [un-edited] article here.

Well, I hope that everyone is having a great holiday season so far. I seemed to have forgotten that Christmas is just a week away since my focus is on #jk1218, but I know it's going to be a great one. =) Maligayang pasko, everyone!

xoxo,
Jo

PS: please someone check on me on December 19 to make sure I'm still breathing! =)
PPS: I do hope that I see new (and of course OG) faces at upcoming dinners!
PPPS: At the latest dishcrawl at Bistro Luneta, some of us came up with a crazy idea to travel down to Southern California and bum-rush the Filipino food trucks there. If you're down, let me know! ETD: March 2011

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