Hawaiian Paradise! Beautiful Maui, Hawaii hotel: Fairmont Kea Lani in Wailea. Chef Pang of Ko restaurant, plantation cuisine.
La Carmina in Hula-Land! I love how my Nanette Lepore dress flows; she’s an incredible designer.
Red Malibu silk dress: gifted by Nanette Lepore. Get the same one here, or try the strapless version.
Wedge sandals: Kenneth Cole (available here.)
Black cat on my purse: by BlaBlaHospital, stolen from Seby
For the last two days of the Maui press trip, I stayed at the Fairmont Kea Lani in Wailea. I had a large one-bedroom suite to myself, with a balcony overlooking the pools and gardens.
My filmmaker Melissa and I felt like we’d tripped into Kubla Khan’s Xanadu.
The Fairmont Kea Lani has several swimming pools (including adult-only), private beach access, and a koi fish pond that my cat would love.
I turned the flowers around me into a hair fascinator. My skull-tastic bracelet, gifted by Good Art, matches my nail art.
We filmed at the new open-air restaurant Ko.
I adored Chef Tylun Pang. His menu is lovingly inspired by plantation cuisine (a harmony of influences from the workers’ home countries of Japan, China, Philippines and Korea). As he put it, “The folks in my kitchen are cooking their grandparents’ recipes.”
Ingredients are sourced locally, from relationships of trust. We said “cheers” on camera and tried his ahi tuna on a stick, grilled on hot stone. Phenomenal.
Everything we tried was clean, simple, fresh. I ended up drinking three pomegranate cucumber mojitos (right).
Examples of his Asia-Hawaii dishes: shrimp and soba, poke (raw fish salad), calamari.
The macrobiotic bento box was perfectly balanced. Ko’s menu has entire categories for raw, vegan, gluten-free, and heart-healthy.
Eating sushi with Chef Pang, overlooking the pool… one of the most heartfelt dining experiences in my life. I interviewed him for my travel video, so you’ll see more of our interactions soon.
What’s the most memorable meal you’ve had recently, and why? What would you most like to eat from Ko’s menu?
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LA CARMINA
26 Comments
Beauty all around!
The tuna on stick and the soba with shrimps sound tempting. My last memorable meal might have been our spontaneous bbq in my flat after swimming in a lake with great friends. Memorable it was, ’cause it was with dear friends! ^__^ a bit like our German dinner…Meals with friends are ALWAYS the best! even when the dish itself might not have been the best
Our dinner was awesome! Photos to come – still got lots of Berlin coverage coming up, and VIDEO.
♥ it!
Absolutely ! this place is so fresh & cozy :) loved the decoration, colors..well everything ! the best destination for a vacation
That food looks super delicious! I would definitely try the bento box.
Everything was so good, I ate sooo much ahha
great dress. The food looks phenomenal. And the hotel…..beautiful! ! ! ! !
xoxoxoxox I had so much fun.
OOOH! Spectacular! The pomegranate-cucumber mojito looks like it was amazing, too!
Happy birthday!
Loved your dress..Amazing photos of the hotel and yummy food too..
http://www.hotel99.com/index.aspx
Thanks!
YAY!!! A place that does raw food at last!! Thanks, Carmina!! xx
Yes and they did it SO well. I’ve been to a lot of disappointing raw places, but KO knows how to do it.
The food looks really delicious..and beautiful views of the hotel too..
It was a wonderful experience all around, from the chef to the atmosphere… ahh wanna go back.
Tonkatsu in Harajuku. Perfectly tender, full of flavors. So simple but yet so delicious.
I’d love that!
I’d go for the Bento. Fresh quality ingredients, aesthatically appealing as well as it’s sure very tasty. Speaks for itself.
A big Mahalo to Miss La Carmina (one of the coolest ladies I have had the pleasure of hosting at the hotel) for the awesome review!
wow that looks delicious..
My most memorable meal was at my favorite Asian Buffet with my college Diana Wan. I rarely get to see her because she lives out of state. Taking friends to my favorite places makes those places more special for me. Those places become a treasure box of good memories.
Looks so delicious!
Oh my, that looks awesome. I went, just this Thursday, to the Dolly Parton Pirate Voyage dinner show. It was absolutely amazing, there where mermaids doing aerial dance on giant anchors hanging from the ceiling, the pirates where wonderful acrobats (and not bad singers either), they had parrots flying around, and sea lions performing amazing tricks, curses, Davy Jones, and the food was actually pretty good. I even bought an adorable pirate hat (that I am still trying to find a good outfit to wear with). If you are ever in myrtle beach, then it’s definately a show to see.
Oh wonderful!! Pirates!!