Fiesta Asia Was A Blast!

Our crew had a great time organizing the Seven Seas food booth for this event. The planning stages, menu creation, booth design and day-of operations were a great experience for everyone involved.

As expected, the day turned out to be mucho busy. There wasn't much time for pictures except during the initial setup. But when the Chinese god came to dance in front of our booth, everyone couldn't resist dropping what they were doing to watch!

NYC Restaurants Paving the Way for Time-Limit Rules on Diners?

On the MSN online column Bites Today, the columnist posed this question:  

"What's more annoying at a restaurant, waiting desperately for a table as diners take their sweet time finishing up, or missing out on your last bite as hurried waiters yank away your plate?"

Apparently NYC diners prefer the latter. Time limits on dining is making headway in NYC restaurants, even in the most upscale ones. The New York Post reports:

"Table time limits — whether openly acknowledged or gingerly hinted at — are becoming de rigueur for popular eateries packed with voracious eaters vying for seats. But what’s shocking foodies all over town is that 60 percent of diners now support such time limits during peak hours, according to a nationwide poll by Zagat."

What do you think of time limits on dining? Will this trend be likely to take hold in D.C.?

A Dessert with Many Names

In this sweltering heat, what can you do with a large block of ice?

Make snow cones of course!

At Seven Seas, we prefer shaved ice dessert. While snow cones consist of crushed ice, a shaved ice dessert has a finer, snow-like texture. This helps to absorb the sweet flavorings like brown sugar syrup and condensed milk. A well-made shaved ice dessert should melt upon contact with the tongue almost instantly.

Toppings like grass jelly, sweetened red beans, mung beans or fruit are added to give some variety to the texture of the dessert. In Taiwan, some vendors add ingredients like green tea, chocolate, strawberry or milk before freezing the ice.

This dessert is highly popular all over the world. Many countries have their own version of a shaved ice dessert. In Mandarin, it's known as Bao Bing (Pronounced bow-bing.) Locals in the Philippines call it halo-halo, whilst in Mexico, it's called raspado. For a list of shaved ice names in other languages, see the end of this post.

In the pictures below, Seven Seas' server Vicki shows us how she prepares Fruit Bao Bing, an item from our brand new shaved ice dessert menu.

What is Underground Dining?

Designer cupcake boutiques. Food trucks. Korean tacos. Pop-up restaurants. These are some of the food trends that have swept the D.C. Metro area in recent years.

But here's one trend you probably don't hear of very often - underground dining.

These underground restaurants, or supper clubs operate in the home of the chef’s kitchen, or even in offbeat spaces like museums, parking lots or alleyways for larger groups. For discerning diners who are constantly in search of something new, this type of dining could be exciting and rewarding. Chefs are often inspired to host these underground dining events to introduce guests to experimental dishes that use exotic ingredients, or perhaps present an age-old family recipe in a more private setting. While you still pay for your meal (like contributing to your share of the cost at a potluck), you get the bonus of a dinner party setting with like-minded foodies.