Happy fall! I hope this year has been treating you well, and I hope you look back to a year ago and see how far you’ve come and how much you have grown. I am here to tell you to keep it up! Also, happy 5 years to Nomsandbeyond and this website!
1) Cha Cha’s Latin Kitchen (Brea, CA) - @ajenda_pr
Cha Cha’s Latin Kitchen was celebrating National Tequila Day and invited us to dine in and check out their margaritas. I have been a long time fan of their food, and I recall I loved their enchiladas when I last visited. During this trip we got the Mango-Habanero Margarita, Watermelon Margarita, Crisp Calamari + Shrimp, Fresh Grilled Salmon, Guajillo Braised Short Rib Enchiladas, and Tres Leches Cake. Everything was amazing!
2) Xing Fu Tang (Hacienda Heights, CA)
Xing Fu Tang hosted an exclusive boba making event prior to opening time, which was exciting since the last time I visited as a customer, the line was out the door since it is so popular. It was such a special experience to come learn from the staff about their process and to try making boba ourselves. I think my version of the Brown Sugar Boba Milk turned out great! We even got to try a drink flavor they were testing out: a strawberry tea with mint!
3) Matte Black Coffee (Los Angeles, CA) - @andythenguyen
We got invited to check out Matte Black during their soft opening. This was such a fun place since the ambiance made you feel you were in a comic strip or part of an art installation! Plus, matte black is a VERY popular color in Los Angeles! We got the Caramel Cold Brew, French Toast Cold Brew, and Macarons to try. Their coffees were great, and I am so happy I got to check it out!
4) JJ Bakery (Temple City, CA) - @monsterlovetoeat
JJ Bakery was promoting their Lava Custard Mooncakes in honor of Mid-Autumn festival. The mooncakes came in beautiful packaging and when I cut into the mooncakes, the filling oozed out like lava! I loved its delicious salted egg yolk center and it was the perfect size!
5) Tastea (Alhambra, CA)
Since pumpkin season is here, Tastea was promoting their new item, Pumpkin Pie Milk Tea. It was very yummy and light, and I enjoyed trying it out! I also made sure to get Karate Chicken and Shrimp On It! during my visit; online ordering is always so easy using their app.
Other Collaborations:
Swimmy Inc. wanted to share with me some Shinsengumi Packaged Hakata Ramen. I remember trying out the ramen at the restaurant before and remembering how good it was, so I was excited to photograph and film it! It turned out very delicious and I had a lot of fun making it. The video is up on their Youtube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vG3Ekh_lu1I
Spindrift Spiked and Feedfeed wanted me to create a recipe with Spindrift Spiked. I am already such a big fan of the Spindrift sparkling water, so I was excited to work on this campaign. I made a Watermelon Lime Cooler made with watermelon, lime juice, and mint. The recipe is here: https://thefeedfeed.com/nomsandbeyond/watermelon-lime-cooler
Vevan Foods reached out to me to share with me their Marinated Mozza Bites to try. Vevan is known for plant-based vegan cheese, and it’s dairy free, which is perfect for me! The Mozza Bites also came in a ready-to-serve antipasti, which I added to my Greek Salad pictured here.
Keyks wanted to share with me their newest Kuki Collection, which was such a great idea! I love trying varieties of cookies and this box they shared was so yummy. I loved that it had a little bit of everything. Pictured are the Ube Kuki with Walnuts, Piña Colada Macadamia Shortbread Kuki, Mini Pandan Kuki, Maja Blanca Crisps, Luca's Monster Mash, Oatmeal Chocolate Chip, and Ube Kuki.
Foodieland Night Market was in Southern California for the first time (it’s usually hosted in the bay area) and it was at the Rose Bowl. I got to attend with a media pass, and while I didn’t eat much while I was there, I got a lot of awesome behind the scenes content and met a lot of the vendors. It was a great turnout!
Eggland's Best and Mavrck wanted me to come up with a Back To School recipe for this collaboration. I was so excited to be part of this collaboration as I’ve always wanted to check out Eggland’s Best Eggs, and I just so happened to be practicing making Strawberry Shortcakes lately. For this collaboration, I decided to use the eggs to make Strawberry Shortcake Trifles, and the recipe is here: https://www.egglandsbest.com/recipe/strawberry-shortcake-trifles
JPP Inc. wanted to help advertise Suntory Premium Malt. I knew they made whiskey but I had no idea they served beer. Suntory Premium Malt is currently served on tap, so they sent me to a local restaurant that served it to help promote it. I went to visit Izakaya Gazen to try some yummy eats and the refreshing Suntory Premium Malt.
Simply Organics and Feedfeed wanted me to go to Whole Foods to get Simply Organic Ground Cinnamon and Simply Organic Vanilla Extract, along with other ingredients to remake Chai Spiced Banana Breakfast Muffins (Recipe here: https://thefeedfeed.com/thefeedfeed/chai-spiced-banana-breakfast-muffins). I had a lot of fun making this as I had never made chai spice from scratch or worked with bananas before.
I recently started doing social media for Calajo Catering, which includes event photography, professional photo shoots, and social media postings and stories. It has been pretty exciting working for a company whose food and work ethic I admire so much! I’m so excited for this opportunity and I will occasionally share projects I’m doing on this website!