Blue Bamboo

Dim Sum February 26th 11-2PM

This Sunday,February 26th, we will serve up our next Dim Sum Sunday at Blue Bamboo from 11-2. It’s no secret that we love our dim sum, and after the feedback from our previous Dim Sum Sundays, we just couldn’t wait to do it again.  During Dim Sum Sundays, we offer a la carte service of roast pork buns, turnip cakes, shrimp dumplings, pineapple buns, potstickers, and other dim sum favorites for that day only. This year, we have comitted to offering Dim Sum Sundays once every month.

If you are new to Dim Sum, Dim Sum is the way Cantonese people socialize and conduct business.  In any Chinatown around the World, there are Dim Sum restaurants where all menu items are served in mini steamer baskets, and small plates.  Some people describe Dim Sum as Asian Tapas, where you can order as many items as you’d like, and keep ordering until you are full.

Mark your calendar for our next Dim Sum Sunday if you can make it, and come on by from 11-2 on Sunday, February 26th.  Better yet, call us if you can make it.  We will set a table for you.

Love is in the air. It’s Valentines week.

Love is in the air at Blue Bamboo, so let us make your Valentine’s day romantic and easy this year.

Alongside our regular menu this Friday, Saturday, Monday, and Tuesday, we will also offer a Lover’s pairing menu where we’ll feature 4 romantic-themed courses paired with 4 glasses of wine for $80. Menu specials this weekend will include Whole Snapper Cantonese, Spicy Curry-Rubbed Filet, Vahlrona Chocolate Terrine, and Passionfruit Creme Brulee.

Book your table today at www.bluebamboojacksonville.com, or call us at 904.646.1478.

For something fun this Valentine’s week, join us for our next cooking class, Hot and Spicy in the Kitchenon February 18th. We’ll start class at 10AM, and be done by 12 noon. It’s the perfect way to start your weekend. Tuition is $42, which includes lunch and a handcrafted cocktail. Call to reserve your space today!

Happy February, and thanks to all who selected us as “Most Romantic Restaurant in Jacksonville,” on urbanspoon.com in 2011, and one of the top restaurants in Jacksonville on opentable.com.

We hope to see you soon!

Cooking the recipes of the hottest Asian restaurants in the country.

People often compare us to the hottest Asian restaurnt in their favortie cities.  In those cities, modern Asian takes on a whole new meaning, with tacos added to menu mixes, and pork belly and steamed buns taking over entire bar scenes.

This weekend, some of our Blue Bamboo friends challenged us to cook the recipes from the hottest Asian restaurants in the country who happen to have cookbooks.

Never one to turn down a challenge, especially when food is involved, We did just that.  There was only one condition, though.  My friends had to cook along with me.  I wasn’t about to do all of the work myself. We took four days to source ingredients, prepare recipes, and cook our ultimate Hot Asian spot tasting.

In the end, my friends and I prepared Pork belly tacos, Sous vide glazed chicken wings, Ham hock rillette, Ground chuck-short rib-brisket burgers, and Passionfruit-coffee chocolate chip cake.

Every bit of work that we did to make buns from scratch, roll out taco shells, hand grind beef cuts, and hand-pick ham hocks to puree was worth it.  The meal was delicious, and I even learned some new techniques that will probably make its way on to our menu in the near future.

Recently, I added some fun new equipment to our collection to better the way that we cook at Blue Bamboo.  This equipment is made for laboratories, and since cooking is science, I thought they’d be perfect toys for our kitchen.  These toys really did come in handy for our menu.  We were able to cook our chicken wings to the exact temperature that we wanted them to be.

We hand rolled and then braided buns for our burgers.

In-between the layers of chocolate chip cake, there was passionfruit curd, passionfruit puree, chocolate chips, cocoa crumbles, and coffee frosting.

That made for an intersting pairing of flavors, that really worked.  All in all, the recipes that we made were delicious!  Look for some of these borrowed flavor combinations to appear on our Blue Bamboo menu soon!

A Special Wine Blending Evening at Blue Bamboo

Happy New Year!

To ring in 2012 at Blue Bamboo, we are bringing you more unique events than ever this January! We are going to kick it all off with our regular First Thursdays Wine Tastings from 6-8. We pour at least 4 wines on the first Thursday of each month, and we offer special pricing on everything that we pour.

On January 18th, we will have a very special wine blending event featuring Franciscan Magnificat. This event is very limited, and each guest will blend their own bottle of wine. A representative will be on hand to guide you through, and explain to you why each varietal belongs in the wine. This very limited event is $42 per person, and will include wine tastings and appetizers that will be especially created for the evening.

Our cooking class, Asian Street Eats, will be on January 21st. Imagine traveling to any Asian country and experiencing a street market. The smells, the fresh produce, and the best part of it all, we will get to taste the food! Without having to leave the city!

The very next day, we will have our now monthly Dim Sum Sunday. Dim Sum is the way that Cantonese people conduct business over brunch. Baskets of dumplings and pastas are created to order until you are full.

Join us for all or any of these events.

Welcome 2012! New Year’s Eve Celebration

This year, we served up New Year’s specials, our regular menu, and for those who wanted something a little extra-special, an exquisite 4-course tasting menu.

On our a la carte menu, we offered Lobster Cantonese and Whole Snapper with Black Bean Sauce in limited quantities alongside Blue Bamboo menu favorites.

We also shared our new molecular gastronomy skills this weekend! Our tasting menu featured a “Good Luck Hoppin’ John Cake,” Crispy Oysters, Sous Vide Chimmichurri Ribeye, and Pistachio Air Cake. Each course was paired with a wine selection from our extensive cellar.

Look for more exciting specials every time you visit Blue Bamboo for Hip Asian Comfort Food in 2012!

Blue Bamboo gift cards are here!

My father, who many of you know from dining here at blue bamboo, told me we needed an update to our gift certificate presentation. He said, “No-one uses certificates anymore!” It took very little convincing on my part, and now our gift card system is up and running!

We’ll even wrap them and make them gift-giving ready for you.

Gift cards are available in any denomination for $5 to $500.

Gift certificates are valid for cooking classes, merchandise, and of course, food and beverages.  Come on by and pick up some today!

Happy Thanksgiving! Dim sum Sunday this week!

Happy Thanksgiving to all of our guests!

This Sunday, November 27th, we served up our third Dim Sum Sunday at Blue Bamboo from 11-2. It’s no secret that we love our dim sum, and after the feedback from our previous Dim Sum Sundays, we just couldn’t wait to do it again. We offered a la carte service of roast pork buns, turnip cakes, shrimp dumplings, pineapple buns, potstickers, and other dim sum favorites for that day only. Previously, we had done Dim Sum Sunday only once every quarter. Going forward, in 2012, we hope to offer it monthly.

If you have never heard of it, Dim Sum is the way Cantonese people socialize and conduct business. In any Chinatown around the World, there are Dim Sum restaurants where all menu items are served in mini steamer baskets, and small plates. Some people describe Dim Sum as Asian Tapas, where you can order as many items as you’d like, and keep ordering until you are full.

Mark your calendar for our next Dim Sum Sunday if you can make it, and come on by from 11-2 on Sunday,January 22, 2012. Better yet, call us if you can make it.

Authentic Asian Wedding Banquets. In Jacksonville!

Often, we are asked to cater weddings here in Jacksonville.  Since we have both expertise in European cooking and Asian cooking, our clients often ask to cater both modern American weddings and traditional Asian banquets.  Each wedding that we have catered has been unique, and we have grown very fond of the wedding business. 

While I was growing up here in Jacksonville, the Asian community would throw events to celebrate a baby’s birth, a wedding, a graduation, or an elder’s birthday.  The events weren’t always fancy, but the food style was always “from the old country,” and that’s where we connected with generations of people who were either family, neighbors, or close family friends.  When you connect with these people at events over a lifetime, you really get a good sense of what a true community is.

At these events, the hosts would hire caterers with a mobile kitchen tent from the “big cities,” and they would travel to one of our local halls, set up shop in the parking lot, and then cook for hundreds of guests at a time.  In those banquets, courses just arrived one after another, NON-STOP!  That’s partying ASIAN style… having food in excess!

This weekend, we were asked to prepare a traditional Asian wedding banquet for 100 guests.  The couple did not want to hire those caterers from far-away, and wanted to support someone local.  Although the courses that we sent out were not our usual offerings, we were able to push our culinary envelope, and create Ginger-Garlic Lobster, Peking Duck, Quail, Steamed Whole Fish, and a traditional Cold Plate Appetizer, containing Jellyfish, Beef tongue, Roast pork, and Squid… just the kind of food that we would have had back in the day at one of our community celebrations.

These courses are the kind that are reserved for special occasions, and we were happy that we could make a bride’s and groom’s food wishes come true.

I had hoped that when we opened Blue Bamboo in 2005, we’d be able to provide a service here to our Jacksonville community.  Back then, I just thought that the food we prepared would be that service.  Little did I know that our food would lead to facilitating special catered events that allow a whole new generation to feel what a true community really is.

Blue Bamboo Catering on the River!

Tonight we catered a birthday party at one of the best places in our city to have a party… on the Southbank of the Riverwalk in downtown Jacksonville. Â I’m sure that this place sees many parties, but tonight, wishing our special guest a happy birthday in such a perfect setting made our food seem that much more amazing. Â This private residential building has views of Jacksonville from 38 stories up. Â You could probably even see Blue Bamboo from that location, but I was busy looking at all of the other scenes around the city.

The space is caterer’s dream, with a modern working kitchen.  With such a wonderful kitchen, we were happy to prepare our Chile Noodle Salad, Veggie Fried Rice, Ginger-Garlic Marinated Chicken Wings, Spring Rolls, Lump Crab Rangoons, Sweet Chile Meatballs, Hoisin Lettuce Wraps, and Fresh-Steamed Shrimp Dumplings.

The evening was everything that I envision to be a perfect party. Â DJ, Bar, and lots of tasty food.

Our good friend Doon took some pictures for us, and I am happy to share… Â

Blue Bamboo’s Homecoming to the Epcot Food and Wine Festival

Some of you already know that my former career was a VIP tour guide for the Walt Disney World Resort. Along with that title came the responsibility of making sure that VIP guests had everything that they needed to enjoy their Walt Disney World experience. I met a lot of neat people through working the many special events that happen year-round for the Disney Company. Back in 1996 and 1997, I was one of the few lucky tour guides chosen to exclusively work the first few annual Epcot International Food and Wine Festivals.

Fast forward 15 years, and today, I took a day trip to this year’s International Food and Wine Festival. I had the pleasure of attending a forum with Huma Siddiqui, a self-taught cooking instructor who was born in Pakistan, moved to London for a few years, and now lives in Madison, Wisconsin. The one thing that resonates in my mind from her discussion was her explanation of why she cooks. It’s not a chore, or something she dreads. She simply does so to remind her family of her home, their family traditions, and her travels. I imagine that if she had her own restaurant, it would be just like Blue Bamboo. We call the kind of food that we make, “Hip Asian Comfort Food,” because through our food, we share our traditions and flavors so that our guests may experience our restaurant’s roots, great local fare, and inspirations from our travels.

After Huma’s session, IÂ attended a Champagne seminar given by an exclusive Champagne house, and a demonstration by a pastry chef from Barbados named Noah French. In the latter, the chef shared his technique for a Caribbean Shortcake with a Coconut Haupia and a Passion fruit curd that was intriguing.

This “homecoming” was a fun day, and it was refreshing to see the festival’s evolution after all of these years. Look for some of the things I learned today to show up at Blue Bamboo soon.

Korean Cooking Class

My only experience with travel to Korea has been nothing more than a layover in Seoul on my way to Hong Kong. Although I could never call myself an expert on Korean cooking, I have had some incredible dining experiences that allow me confidently talk about this country’s wonderful food. In preparation for today’s cooking class, the Blue Bamboo staff and I went to several Korean restaurants in our area, just to make sure we had our authentic flavors down pat. Over a lifetime of visiting Korean restaurants and tasting Korean foods, I never felt a connection as strongly as I did when I was cooking the food that we made today.

In today’s class, we made a sweet-potato noodle stir-fry called Jap Chae,

sweet and savory marinated and grilled Shortribs called Kalbi

sesame-seaweed sushi called Kim Bap

pork and beef pan-fried dumplings called Mandu

A cocktail made with Soju and Seju, Korea’s answer to vodka

and we completed the morning with red bean pancakes called Pulbbang.

These foods are addictive, and we will be weaving some of them onto our menu in coming months. I’m sure that Korean flavors will be next big culinary thing! Well, at least for Blue Bamboo it will be.

Caring Chefs, our 7th year of participation!

Every year, we look forward to Caring Chefs, benefiting the local division of Children’s Home Society. It is our favorite food event, and we believe in the good that the organization does wholeheartedly. This year’s event was held on October 23rd, and we offered samplings of our Blue Bamboo Peanut-Lime Slaw, Veggie Spring Rolls, and Chile Noodle Salad, which is a recipe straight out of our cookbook- Hip Asian Comfort Food . It is our chance every year to re-connect with guests that we have not seen in a while, and to meet new guests. It also gives us the opportunity to connect with other restaurateurs in the community. The festive evening is the Children’s Home Society’s main fundraiser every year, and just as we expected, the attendance was amazing this year. Thanks to all who stopped by our booth to say hello!

New York Inspiration

This week, I was asked to give a cooking demonstration at my alma mater, The Culinary Institute of America, in Hyde Park, New York. While up there, I worked in a couple of days of eating in New York City before and after my demonstration. I thought I would just share with you some of my food inspiration while up in New York.

Blue Bamboo is headed to New York!

My alma mater, The Culinary Institute of America has asked that I return to do a cooking demonstration on campus. It is a big honor, and I am excited to be up in the Hudson Valley again, even if it is for just a short time. I thought the best dish to demonstrate and represent our part of the country will be Blue Bamboo’s definitive signature dish, Red Curry Shrimp and Grits.

Since it is going to be such a faraway trip, I thought I would try to squeeze in some serious eating while up there. For the next few days, I will be in New York city trying new places and getting new ideas. My last trip up to New York a few years ago involved two days of eating in at least 15 places per day. Let’s see if I can match that this time. I will report back with some of the best things I see and eat as soon as I get back to Blue Bamboo.

October 15th, 2011-

About 80 people came for my presentation of Red Curry Shrimp and Grits at the CIA:

Here are a couple of pictures from the event:

Impromptu dinner with French wines

This past week, one of our wine distributors put us to a big test. He said, “How about we put together a wine dinner for next Monday?”  Being one not to turn down a challenge, I jumped at the chance.  He invited both the French representative of the wineries and the US representative of those same wineries to be present at our festivities, and they accepted!

That day, we had the chance to entertain 18 new guests who had never been to Blue Bamboo. Many of them had heard of us, and never made it in to check us out before. It was a perfect opportunity for us to show off a little, and create some food that we normally don’t get to do.

We started the evening with an artichoke salad topped with some pink sea salt, served with a French muscadet.

Then we moved on to a tempura mushroom and chicken dish with a mango and papaya salad, washed down with a vouvray.

The third course was a lean veal loin chop with shanghai choy and cucumber salad on a piece of chicken “toast” all paired with a glass of cabernet franc rose.

To complete the evening, we served a tropical fruit and berry soup with a quenelle of coconut custard and a classic Chinese almond cookie.  A grand cru Champagne seemed to be the right pairing for this course.

All in all, it was a fun evening for us and our guests. We had the pleasure of meeting some new guests, and because they were such a fun group, we can’t wait to see them again. We also had the pleasure of sampling some incredible French wines and making some food that we simply forgot we had the skills to make.

We do these special dinners every so often. Â If you’d like to hear about them in advance, please sign up for our mailing list.

Dinner with Rudi Schultz, South African Winemaker

Recently, we had the honor of hosting thirty-eight guests in house to share an evening with Rudy Shultz, winemaker for Thelema, Sutherland, and his own label, Rudi Shultz. His wines are great examples of South African winemaking, and we set out to pair them perfectly with some pre-selected dishes.

We first experimented with katsu shrimp and baby greens salad with a South African sauvignon blanc.

Next, we tried Peking roast duck, chile noodle salad fork, almond cous cous with a South African merlot.

Then we put together a cherry and coffee glazed pork shank with baby bok choy and lentil cake with a South African syrah

As our finale, we made Parmesan gougeres with poached “Englewood” Asian pears and peppered orange jus with a South African riesling.

Whenever we are given the task of pairing wines, we first look at the body of the wines that we are given. Once we acomplish a proper food mate for  that, we look for characteristics in the wine itself to pull out of in the dish. We then place those elements in a sauce, or somehow weave it onto the plate.  What we then end up with is a dish in which the elements of 1 + 1 no longer equals 2, but 3, because of the heightened flavors and textures in the dish.

The feedback on our pairings was positive, which made for a fun evening for the guests and our kitchen staff’s egoes.

The coolest part of the evening  is that Rudi got to meet everyone personally, and talk about all kinds of stuff, not just wine. Afterall, it’s not every day that we get to ‘hang with a winemaker from the other side of the globe.

To stay informed of upcoming special events such as this one, please join our mailing list. Â We’ll let you know when something else cool like this in on the radar.

Dim Sum Sunday, September 18th at Blue Bamboo in Jacksonville!

This Sunday, September 18th, we served up our second quarterly Dim Sum Sunday at Blue Bamboo from 11-2.  It’s no secret that we love our dim sum, and after the feedback from our last Dim Sum Sunday, we just couldn’t wait to do it again. We’ve had multiple dim sum cooking classes at Blue Bamboo, but we only serve it to our guests once a quarter.  We offered a la carte service of roast pork buns, turnip cakes, shrimp dumplings, pineapple buns, potstickers, and other dim sum favorites for that day only.Â

As I have mentioned before, Dim Sum is the way Cantonese people socialize and conduct business. In any Chinatown around the World, there are Dim Sum restaurants where all menu items are served in mini steamer baskets, and small plates.  Some people describe Dim Sum as Asian Tapas, where you can order as many items as you’d like, and keep ordering until you are full. Customarily, the table will order a stir fry plate of noodles to finish off their brunch experience.

Mark your calendar for our next Dim Sum Sunday if you can make it, and come on by from 11-2 on Sunday, November 27th. Better yet, call us if you can make it.

Just received our Sichuan buttons

A few weeks ago, a chef friend told me about these little exclusive buds called Sichuan buttons. He said that they “electrify” your mouth.

After looking up the item, I found a ton of videos online that show people experiencing one of these things. The best way to describe the effect of eating one of these Sichuan buttons is to say that you have put a 9-volt battery to your tongue.

So I ordered some.

I shared the expereience of eating then with a few industry professionals, some of our public cooking class students, some culinary students, and luckily, I got a chance to share these things with some of our guests. The reception has ranged from excited to frightened.

Who knew that a little plant-based item would bring such conversation to the table. Literally.  Going forward, we will continue to seek out these fun experiences to broaden our own culinary knowledge. Who knows, maybe the next time we experiment, we may just ask you to join in.

New lunch item… L.A. Shortrib Tacos!

A few months back, I went to Los Angeles on an 18-hour eating trip. One of the experiences that was on the top of my list was checking out the original Korean-Mexican taco truck that has changed the face of food finds all over the country.

The mastermind behind the Kogi Taco Truck is Roy Choi, a fellow Culinary Institute of America graduate and twitter idol. His 5 food trucks roam LA, find places to set up shop, and then they tweet about where they will be, and for how long. Their food is so good that the lines of people who wait for these Korean-Mexican goodies just goes on and on, no matter where in town they happen to be.

On a recent visit to a friend’s house for dinner, my friend and culinary school classmate made shortrib tacos… just like the ones that Mr. Choi started the great American food truck phenomenon with. Â This friend worked with Mr. Choi at an event where he shared his recipe for his famous shortrib tacos. Â Lucky guy.

I couldn’t believe what I was eating!!! These tacos were so good, and I couldn’t wait to do a version for our menu at Blue Bamboo. Â We’re calling them our LA Shortrib Tacos.

Here’s how we put them together… Â We start with a little slaw made with some napa cabbage (the stuff they make Korean kimchi out of), add some marinated and grilled shortribs, a little spicy aoli, place it all on our grilled corn tortillas, and serve them with some dressed greens or fries.

Although we’d love to have you follow us on twitter or facebook also, you won’t have to do so just to try our tacos. Just come on in for lunch! Â We’re open from 11AM-2PM Monday-Friday.

This little piggy went to BLUE BAMBOO!

In many kitchens, you’ll often hear the phrase, “save for stock,” when someone just doesn’t know what to do with extra scraps of still good trimmings. Â That simply means they are going to place the scraps into the kitchen’s stock pot to enhance their base stock’s flavor.

A few weeks ago, I got an email from R. Davis, asking us if we’d be willing to save scraps for some pigs that he is raising.

He currently has 4 Piney Wood and Pot-Bellied hogs, and he said he was hoping to grow his small hog farm.

Personally, I couldn’t ask for a better partnership than one like this, and I love the fact that we are helping a farmer out.

Over a series of emails, I found out what kind of diet he wanted for his hogs, and before we knew it, we were saving our vegetable and meat scraps for this local farmer. Â

Here’s what Mr. and Mrs. Davis have to say about our new partnership:

It takes a lot to be Blue Bamboo, but you’re worth it!

Every few months, the Blue Bamboo Crew chooses a deep cleaning day when we are not open to the public to detail and renew our facilities.

This weekend, we deep cleaned our bar, painted our dining room, scrubbed our kitchen floors, high-dusted our vents, and painted our patio accents.

We cleaned windows, ceiling tiles, scrubbed under machines, shampooed carpets and chair cushions, and steam cleaned candle holders.

We always want an atmosphere that is clean, and inviting. Â The staff worked extra hard this weekend, and just gave Blue Bamboo some extra lovin’.

We just do these little “extras” Â so that we can always feel good about welcoming our guests into Blue Bamboo.

The Blue Bamboo crew feels a renewed sense of camaraderie after each of our  cleaning sessions.

Although it takes a lot of hard work to maintain an atmosphere like ours at Blue Bamboo, we’re excited to be able to present a clean restaurant when our guests visit.

All shelves, inside and outside of cabinets, coolers, and freezers were fair game.

And all of that hard work is why I say, it takes A LOT to be Blue Bamboo, but we wouldn’t have it any other way! Â We can’t wait to have our guests return and check us out!

Blue Bamboo turns 6 years young!

Six years ago, Blue Bamboo opened its doors for business right here on Southside Boulevard. Â In those short six years that we have been open, we’ve developed some really great relationships in this community that we love.

Although the food that we prepare at Blue Bamboo is very casual, we stepped it up a bit to celebrate and to give thanks to our community. Â Here’s the play by play for our 6 course dinner paired with exquisite sakes from our collection:

Tuna Ceviche with Wakame Sushi, Ginger-Soy Foam, Pickled Ginger, and Wasabi Aoli.

Two Tacos and a Bun- Â Two Short Rib Tacos with Kimchi Slaw, and a Pork Belly Bun with Hoisin.

Sake Miso Risotto, Fried Leeks and Leek Green Emulsion with Cornflake Katsu Chicken.

Shitake Potato Hash with Chile-Rubbed Ribeye, Roasted Red Pepper Puree and Foie Gras Jus.

Duo of Osso Buco Spring Roll and Duck Spring Roll, Mustard Vinaigrette, and Canton Red Pepper Duck Sauce.

And to finish, we made a Filipino Banana-Peanut Cake with Caramelized Bananas, Rum Whipped Cream, and Nut Tuile.

Independence day… one week until we turn 6!

It’s Independence day, and every year, we look forward to this day because it means the one-week countdown until our next anniversary begins. Â Let’s just say that the fireworks on July 4th get us excited about our upcoming anniversary on July 11th every year!

This year, to celebrate being open 6 years, we are serving up a 6 course tasting menu for a very special price on Monday, July 11th.  (That’s our actual anniversary date.)  As an additional benefit for celebrating with us, we are pouring our guests 6 tastes of exquisite sakes to pair with each course, on us!  Call it an American Omakase if you like, but this event is going to be pretty neat.  We’ll take reservations for the time of your choice anytime between 5 and 9PM.

Our anniversary tasting is our one-time chance every year to “show off,” and create courses that we simply cannot do during regular business hours. Â We push our own boundaries every tasting to create flavorful dishes that delight and renew our guests’ faith in our ability to WOW them.

Space is limited for this event, and we are taking phone reservations only, so call us soon at 904.646.1478 if we can save your seat! Â You won’t want to miss us on the evening of July 11th.

If you are visiting Jacksonville, you must eat here.

Every city has at least one place you have to go eat at when visiting. Â Jacksonville has a few places that are unique to our city, including Beach Road Chicken Dinners, Blue Boy Sandwich Shop, and Cap’s. Â We are honored that travelers from all over the world consider Blue Bamboo one of those places too.

During our first 6 years in business, we’ve built some pretty great relationships with our local guests. When their families or friends come into town, often we’ll be chosen to help impress their visitors. Upon return visits to our city, we get to see these new “friends” again.

What makes Blue Bamboo a destination restaurant? Unique recipes and experiences make people tell others about us and want to return. Â We do things a little differently, and because of that, travelers to Jacksonville often send their friends back to check us out.

On a recent trip to San Juan, multiple people told me I had to experience a restaurant called Kasalta. Â I hopped in the cab, and told the senor that I wanted to go to Kasalta. Â He smirked a little, and started driving. Â He knew immediately where I wanted to go.

While I was enjoying my sandwich called Pan Con Bistec, I saw multiple taxis stop and drop off passengers, then wait for them to return with big boxes of food, obviously going to the airport to begin their journeys back homes all over the world.

Knowing that I had to experience more of the great food mecca that I was in, I also pigged out on some Flan, Guava Pastry, and Cafe con Leche. Â I justified my intake by vowing to do a lot of walking that day.

I left Kasalta feeling just how I want people to feel after they’ve dined at Blue Bamboo. Â I want them to think, “I can’t wait to come back to this place.”

Earlier this week, a dear friend emailed me pictures of someone else who had lunch at Kasalta on Monday… El Presidente of the United States of America. Â I am sure that his staffers and the local patrons chose Kasalta as the place that he had to visit when he was in Puerto Rico because of their unique recipes and unforgettable experiences.

This is just the kind of place that I love being. Â My family has worked decades to offer the recipes and experiences that we offer. Â We have built a good loyal local following, and we’ll do our part to keep being that place that people bring their out of town friends to show them just how good we have it here in Jacksonville.

You’ll hear The Shanghai Restoration Project exclusively at Blue Bamboo

For a few years now, I’ve loved listening to the music of The Shanghai Restoration Project in my car, at home, and on my personal headphones. Â The music is best described as retro-jazzy but contemporary, and super chill with a touch of Chinese tradition. Â What you hear in these tracks is classic Chinese instruments with modern hip-hop and electronic beats.

I recently made contact with Dave Liang, the incredibly creative producer and founder of The Shanghai Restoration Project, and I asked him if he’d be OK with us playing his music at Blue Bamboo.  He replied positively, and so we began playing his music exclusively in our dining room.  Personally, I can’t wait.  If you listen carefully, you’ll notice a great comparison between the music and the food that we serve at Blue Bamboo.  Both are contemporary interpretations with elements of comfort classics.

If you want a preview, check out  the offical website at www.shanghairestorationproject.com.  Or better yet, come on in to Blue Bamboo, and take a listen!

To add the music to your personal playlist, look up The Shanghai Restoration Project on Itunes, and Amazon.com, where the works are available for downloading.

Cooking from Hip Asian Comfort Food

Pulled Duck and Shimeji Mushroom Risotto,

and Red Tres Litchis Cake.

Dim Sum Sundays. Now a quarterly event.

This past weekend, we had our first Dim Sum Sunday. Â Until that event, I thought I might be the only person who had been starving for dim sum here in Jacksonville. Â Many of Jacksonville’s well traveled and dumpling-starved came in to feast on our “Asian Tapas” selections.

Some of our offerings for the day included curry pastries, roast pork buns, egg custard tarts, pineapple buns, and shrimp dumplings.

Thanks to our regular guests, a few head swelling compliments, and a landlord who wants us to do this more often, we’ve decided to make Dim Sum Sundays a quarterly event. Â Look for the next Dim Sum Sunday to be on September 18th, 2011.

72 hours of Chino-Latino Bliss

I love Latin food. Â The flavors and ingredients are similar to the Asian food that I grew up on, but with different preparation methods. Â Naturally, the two pair well because of those similarities. Â Over the years, we’ve dabbled with Chino-Latino flavors. Â Both on our menu and in our cooking classes.

During the last three days, I took a quick trip to San Juan, Puerto Rico. Â While there, I experienced Chino-Latino cooking at its finest. Â My grandfather was the master of Chinese proverbs, and he once shared this one with me: reading about something for 20 years could never measure up to experiencing a culture for one day. Â This trip proved his proverb to be true.

Here’s what I learned, from masters of Chino-Latin cooking… Â Soft plantains, or amarillos, make a perfect slightly sweet stuffing for dumplings when paired with pork. Â A short-cut way of making Mofongo, or mashed root veggies, can be had by using a food processor. Â Mojitos, can be enhanced with Asian or tropical fruits, such as pineapples, guavas, and lychees. Â Tembleque, a coconut pudding, is made just like a Chinese mango pudding, but topped with cinnamon. Â Pegaito is a Puerto Rican dish made the same way that my grandmother used to make a crispy rice snack.

Look for this new knowledge to work its way into our offerings at Blue Bamboo soon!

The first ever Dim Sum Sunday at Blue Bamboo on June 5th.

On Sunday, June 5th, we are going to serve our first Dim Sum Sunday ever from 11-2. Â It’s no secret that we love our dim sum. Â We’ve had multiple dim sum cooking classes at Blue Bamboo, but we’ve never served it to our guests. Â So here it is. Â We’ll offer a la carte service of roast pork buns, turnip cakes, shrimp dumplings, pineapple buns, potstickers, and other dim sum favorites for one day only. Â We’ve had many guests ask us where they can go to enjoy Dim Sum, and for a one-time special event, that place will be Blue Bamboo.

Dim Sum is the way Cantonese people socialize and conduct business over brunch. Â In any Chinatown around the World, there are Dim Sum restaurants where all menu items are served in mini steamer baskets. Â It’s traditional to consume your dim sum dumplings with a good pot of tea. Â Some people describe Dim Sum as Asian Tapas, where you can order as many items as you’d like, and keep ordering until you are full. Â Customarily, the table will order noodles to finish off their brunch experience.

So mark your calendar, or stop by from 11-2 on Sunday, June 5th. Â Better yet, call us if you can make it.

It feels like Summer outside. Time for popsicles!

Those who are close to me know that I like things that are well made. That applies to living goods, clothing, kitchenware, and of course, FOOD! I recently made one of the better discoveries that I have made in a very long time. Walking along the brick-paved streets of St. Augustine, I came across a sign that said, “Fresh, Local, and Natural.” I was so intrigued that I just had to stop in to this little shop that specialized in popsicles. Yes, popsicles. I walked in, and I saw tempting flavor combinations such as Datil Strawberry, Key Lime, Riesling Pear, and Champagne Mango. I asked the attendant what his favorite was, and without hesitation, he said “Strawberry-Basil.” So that’s what I tried. What I experienced was the most delicious flavor I have ever tasted in a popsicle, and by far, the absolute best texture too. As I got ready to pay, I looked down and saw that the shop takes payment with square. Way cool. This place won mega kudos for not only being cool, but also delivering a quality product. Check them out if you are in St. Augustine. Here’s their website: www.thehyppo.com.

Election Day…Blue Bamboo is a Mayoral Candidate’s Favorite Restaurant!

It’s election day 2011! When researching the favorite restaurants of our two mayoral candidates here in Jacksonville, the Florida Times Union reported that one candidate’s favorite restaurant is Jenkins Quality Barbecue and the other candidate’s is Blue Bamboo. Hmmm. We at Blue Bamboo do love us some Jenkins Barbecue, and we are honored to be in their company. They are a successful local business, and their family, like mine, has fed Jacksonville for decades. If you’ve been around Jacksonville for any length of time, you have come in contact with the Jenkins’ family in one way or another, at one of their three restaurant locations in town, or out in the community. Just like you probably have come in contact with my family too. Like us, the family who runs Jenkins has built strong ties with those who have been dining with them weekly, daily, or even multiple times daily for many years. Guests become extended family. It’s a good feeling to have these connections with the community. What’s really cool is that these legacies that the founder of Jenkins Quality Barbecue, Melton Jenkins, and my grandfather, Bill Eng started generations ago still live on today. I am proud to be a part of that legacy. Better yet, I am honored that Blue Bamboo is one of the two Jacksonville mayoral candidates’ favorite restaurants. So politics aside, we’re excited to be in good company with Jenkins Quality Barbecue, one of Jacksonville’s other multi-generational local establishments. Check them out if you are craving ‘Q at JenkinsQualityBarbecue.com.

All about Asia weekend at A Chefs Cooking Studio

Yesterday, Â I was the guest chef at one of this area’s coolest venues…A Chefs cooking studio in Ponte Vedra. Â A Chefs is a hands-on cooking studio which holds regular classes on some really creative subjects. Â A group of 9 students, who were mostly new to Asian flavors, did an incredible job making Spring rolls, Summer rolls, Chile noodle salad, Â Pad Thai, Panko-crusted tomatoes, Dragon whiskers, and Cucumber-lime refreshers, which are all recipes from Hip Asian Comfort Food, the Blue Bamboo Cookbook. Â The real test was when we all sat down to eat all of the class’ hard work. Â Let me tell you, their flavors could not have been more spot-on. Â A Chefs is owned by Andrea (pronounced AnDREa), who is a big food resource here in North Florida. Â During the “social time” of our class, the topics of discussion ranged from our favorite sources for Asian groceries to brands of vodka, and favorite wine stores, to fresh mint varieties.

Top Chef Just Desserts’ Erika Davis’s Cookies

One year ago, I met Erika Davis from Season 1 of Top Chef, “Just Desserts”. We were co-judges at a recipe contest at the San Marco Theater in Jacksonville, Florida. She is one of the most talented and nicest people that I know in the culinary industry. We chatted about the whole Top Chef experience. Since then, we’ve become great friends. A couple of months ago, Erika started a company called The Ultimate Cookie Dough Company. All of her proceeds benefit Culinary Wonders, which provides scholarships and cultural experiences for culinary school students. The cookie dough company consists of three people: Erika, her sister Cydney, and her Mother.

Her cookies won major praise on the show. So much that they called them the “Ultimate Cookie.” I wanted to help, so we brainstormed about how Blue Bamboo could partner up with The Ultimate Cookie Dough Company. During the month of May, Blue Bamboo will buy cookie dough from the Ultimate Cookie Dough Company, and offer each one of our guests an “Ultimate Cookie” at the end of their meal. Hopefully, people will love the cookies enough to buy some dough from Erika, and help out some deserving culinary students.

Blue Bamboo Goings on…

Often people ask how long we’ve been in business. Our menu is delightfully delicious as we serve Hip Asian Comfort food where we married bold Asian flavors with traditional Southern dishes. Well, we’re coming up on our 6th anniversary in 2 months, and there have been many memories and we are very grateful for all our wonderful customers. During this time, we’ve written a cookbook, held countless cooking classes, hosted business dinners, celebrated bar/bat mitzvahs, christenings, births, weddings, and even deaths. We have established some really close relationships, and we have gained fabulous loyal supporters.

My own boredom keeps us changing things here at the restaurant. We keep our guests favorites on the menu such as Red Curry Shrimp and Grits, and add some new menu items every month such as Joe’s Filet with Shitake Bacon in a Burbon Cream Sauce.

We constantly refresh the dining room so that our restaurant always looks warm and inviting. As I start this blog adventure, My hope is that our guests will get to know us as well as our best friends do.