October 28, 2005

• Wild Wild East-West, Wedding!!!

  
  

   

  
  

  Last weekend, Mixygirl and I headed to Phoenix Arizona for my med school friend, Ed and his fiancee Julia’s wedding.  The line for security at LAX was going out the door and across the sidewalk!!!  Fortunately it flowed pretty well.  Phoenix from the air looked a lot like LA, but I noticed there would be these little mountains sticking out here and there in the middle of the city, unlike LA.

  
  

   

  
  

  We stayed at this cool little boutique hotel called the Hermosa inn, where the wedding was to be held.  It had pueblo style rooms, and cool cactii in the garden.

  
  

   

  
  

  After a little rest we headed to this really good restaurant called, the Roaring Fork.  It’s famous for its new take on Southwest cuisine.

  
  

   

  
  

  We started out with some local brews, but we also had some Arizona Margaritas with huckleberry juice in them, which I learned was native to the Southwest.  All the dishes at this restaurant were just amazing and bursting with big flavors.  Every dish earned a super DHS Status. 

  
  

   

  
  

  Even the bread was great and full of Southwest spices.  The first dish was a New Mexico fondue pot with lambchops, apples, roasted squash, and pistachio bread.

  
  

   

  
  

  Mixygirl had an amazing Sugar chile cured duck breast, with green beans, toasted pumpkin seeds, goat cheese, and dumplings.  I had beef short ribs braised in a Dr. Pepper BBQ sauce served with sauteed mushrooms and double buttered grits.  The duck meat was so tender, it was amazing, and the short ribs just fell apart with a fork, utterly delicious.

  
  

   

  
  

  Despite the fact that we were full, we made room for their signature green chile macaroni and cheese, which was perhaps tastier than the main dishes, if you can believe it.  Dessert was a trio of sorbets from left to right 1) Meyer lemon with huckleberry sauce, 2) Tomatillo served on a deep fried tomatillo skin, and 3) McClendon Farm’s key-lime grapefruit.  I highly recommend this restaurant if you are ever in Phoenix.

  
  

   

  
  

  Mixy and I had a wonderful time at Ed and Julia’s wedding.  The ceremony was short and sweet, located on the grounds of the Hermosa Inn.

  
  

   

  
  

  The reception was at the Inn’s well known restaurant called Lon’s.  Albert Woo, AKA Suk, my good friend from med school and undergrad was there with us (we even all slept in the same bed later that night). 

  
  

   

  
  

  The food was actually, some of the best wedding food I’ve ever had.  I got distracted and forgot to take a picture til 1/2 way through.  After the reception, we went to Ed and Julia’s villa for the traditional Korean Peh-Bek ceremony.

  
  

   

  
  

  During Peh-Bek the bride and groom bow to various family members who in turn throw dates (representing boys), and chestnuts (representing girls) at them in hopes of them producing offspring soon.

  
  

   

  
  

  The end of the ceremony is signaled by Ed carrying out his wife Julia on piggyback.  Unfortunately, he tried to piggyback his Mom afterwards and dropped her on the ground. 

  
  

   

  
  

  After Peh-Bek, Suk and I drove literally just a minute away to soak in the sunset at Camelback Mountain.  It was beautiful, except a homeowner got pissed off that we were parked in front of his house.  He’s got a pretty cool cactus though in his front yard.

  
  

   

  
  

  When evening time rolled around, everybody returned to the Villa for a home cooked meal by all the local Korean Moms.  It was awesome.  Everybody hung out real late, and I really had fun getting to know Ed and Julia’s friends (Daniel Dae Kim from LOST was supposed to go, but was a last minute cancellation due to a Vanity Fair photo shoot).  Julia provided some musical entertainment, and I’m proud to say that I was the DJ of the night with the Ipod. 

  
  

  

  
  

  Like any good Korean wedding, we did get to see Ed’s Dad lecturing the younger generation at one point during the festivities.  One of the most fun weddings I’ve been to,  but that’s not it.  Mixygirl and I used this as a little mini vacation, and there’s more to report about from Phoenix, and after that the Grand Canyon and Sedona. 

  • 8:09 pm
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