Finals Week: A Celebratory Lunch at Mariposa

Alyssa and I headed to Neiman Marcus' restaurant Mariposa for a celebratory lunch on our last day of finals for the Fall 2012 semester.  It was a tough semester of classes, especially our Latin class.  What better way to celebrate the end with amazing food and company?

Illy Cappuccino

The Mariposa Burger

All natural beef, melted cheddar, basil-tarragon aioli, grilled onions, lettuce, tomato, on a potato roll  

Ribeye Roast Beef Sandwich

Sliced thin, wild arugula, kamuela tomatoes, melted brie, maui onion au jus, french bread, sweet potato fries   

Mariposa

Photos taken with Canon PowerShot G11 by Alyssa.

Product Preview: Saeco Via Venezia

I work at a specialty cookware store here on Oahu, and so when I've the money to spare (or, in cases like this, when I've saved up enough to blow my money on something shiny), I love to pick up new products. In this case, the Saeco Via Venezia, a semi-automatic espresso machine that I have been eyeing out online for a while. Bemoaning my misfortune that our sole semi-auto sold by the company was sold only online, when I saw the shiny new boxes stacked up by the snowcone machine the other day I couldn't resist, and I promptly made my first big purchase as an early Christmas present to myself.

An eggnog caffe macchiato I made with my new toy.

The Via Venezia is a semi-automatic, which means the hard stuff with steam and pressure is all done automatically by the machine. It's a single boiler type espresso machine and a fifteen bar pump, and it comes with a pressurized portafilter which will dole out espresso into one or two cups, depending on how many shots you're looking to pull. Since the portafilter is pressurized and comes with an adapter for pods (which I'm sure the mother will use), it's great for a beginner, and from the get-go I've been pulling some pretty decent shots. A few internet videos in and I'm already sipping an eggnogg late in bed while typing this out, so I'm pretty happy with my purchase--but plan to hear more from me in a month or so once I've really got this down!

xAlyssa

Coffee Talk

Having just bought my first espresso machine from work (the semi-automatic Saeco Via Venezia, which will have a little more said about after I've grown more comfortable with it), I've been perusing Youtube's coffee tutorials, and I've been loving the short and sweet videos done by New York barista Mike Jones for Howcast in a segment called Coffee Talk. Each video is short and sweet, meaning my over-caffeinated mind (I cannot express how many shots I've downed in my experimentation) can follow it without getting bored and fast-forwarding through to the more interesting bits. Each video is carefully framed, filmed, and edited, and Jones' carefully picked notes on expert coffee brewing are delivered in a confident, encouraging manner to aspiring caffeine addicts like myself. To anyone who's in a position like mine with their first espresso machine, or to someone considering one (or trying to chose between an auto, semi-auto, or manual type machine), or even to a person who just likes knowing where their coffee comes from, these videos come highly recommended.

Wish me luck with my new toy!

xAlyssa