“It is for the first time Japanese restaurant is bestowed upon Six Star Diamond Award. This is the result of hard, persistent work and we are proud to bring this message to Japanese people” – says Megu’s President Koichi Yokoyama.

In a way it recognizes that Japanese cuisine is on a ]]>

“It is for the first time Japanese restaurant is bestowed upon Six Star Diamond Award. This is the result of hard, persistent work and we are proud to bring this message to Japanese people” – says Megu’s President Koichi Yokoyama.

In a way it recognizes that Japanese cuisine is on a pare with the finest French. Isn’t it an occasion well worth celebrating?

Angolan beauty Leila Lopes – Miss Universe 2011 joined the celebration at Megu.

CiCi Li also joined the celebration. She thinks that Megu is best for delivering sophisticated Japanese dining experience. She loves Megu’s Kobe Beef on the Rock!

  I don’t know about you, but I really love scallops. Today let’s learn how to make amazing pan seared scallops with Chef Jason. You know what I truly think about Chef Jason’s scallops? It’s a perfect bite! Every elements just complementary ]]> Food, Travel, Lifestyle Videos — Be happy and be CiCiLicious!

 
I don’t know about you, but I really love scallops. Today let’s learn how to make amazing pan seared scallops with Chef Jason. You know what I truly think about Chef Jason’s scallops? It’s a perfect bite! Every elements just complementary with each other perfectly! Triomphe itself is a tribute to simplicity of design, with a “jewel box” atmosphere filled with quiet conversations and delicious aromas. A perfect respite from the bustling streets of the city, Triomphe lounge features expert mixologists serving one of a kind cocktails and an expertly chosen wine selections. Triomphe continues to earn high honors with a 25 for food and service in the 2012 Zagat ratings.
 
Scallop Recipe:
 
4 large u-10 diver sea scallops

4 medium porcini mushrooms sliced

1 tbs porcini butter

1 cup chicken stock

½ cup heavy cream

1 tbs chopped parsley

½ tsp truffle oil

Basil oil for drizzle

Salt & pepper to taste

½ tsp blended oil for searing
 
49 West 44th St.
NYC, NY 10036
(212) 453-4233
www.triomphe-newyork.com

Thanks to Home Food: Taste the Italian Food at Home of Cesarine!! I was able to learn and make traditional Italian pasta from scratch. The learning experience was super interactive and informative. I enjoyed the true taste of Italian hospitality!

Home Food is with the Guardianship & Exploitation Association of the ]]>

Thanks to Home Food: Taste the Italian Food at Home of Cesarine!! I was able to learn and make traditional Italian pasta from scratch. The learning experience was super interactive and informative. I enjoyed the true taste of Italian hospitality!

Home Food is with the Guardianship & Exploitation Association of the Traditional Culinary Gastronomic Heritage of Italy. Home Food  is sponsored by the Ministry of Agricultural Politics, by various regions of Italy and the University of Bologna. The ladies of the house are affectionately called Cesarine; in praise of all the grandmothers, the carers, the aunts, that have enriched our childhoods.

Home Food has aimed to promote traditional recipes, the sense of Italian hospitality, and the emphasis on the local products. It has created a network of Cesarine across Italy, and now in the US, offering a welcoming table of traditional foods and love.

www.homefood.it

Subscribe to CiCi’s Newsletter for a chance to win $150 worth gifts from Rain in March and lots of wonderful presents are coming up every month!

【新唐人2012年2月25日訊】【旅行天下】（2-34）CiCi的意大利都靈之旅（34）：和CICI一起感受偉大詩人帕維澤的筆下風光。

位處南歐的意大利，是個令人陶醉的美麗國度。這裡不但是美食美酒的故鄉、古文明的搖籃，也是文藝復興的發源地。這次旅行天下要帶大家去親自一覽她的萬種風情。

Stay in touch with me! Hey there, I have the greatest gift on earth for you this holiday! You don’t believe or don’t know what it is yet? Here’s what other famous people have talked about it… ]]> CiCi Goes to Shen Yun!

Food, Travel, Lifestyle Videos — Be happy and be CiCiLicious!

Stay in touch with me! Hey there, I have the greatest gift on earth for you this holiday! You don’t believe or don’t know what it is yet? Here’s what other famous people have talked about it… So now you know what I’m talking about. Shen Yun Performing Arts is for sure the greatest show on earth. They are so breathtaking and full with positive energy. They are touring around the world with brand new performances, and will be at your city soon. Check out their website for the ticket info. So have you seen Shen Yun yet?

“An extraordinary experience… exquisitely beautiful.” Cate Blanchett – Academy Award-winning actress

“A marvelous evening… I am completely enchanted” Her Royal Highness – Princess Michael of Kent

“A mesmerizing performance… reclaiming the divinely inspired cultural heritage of China” Donna Karan – Creator of Donna Karan New York and DKNY

“So inspiring. I think I may have found some ideas for the next Avatar movie.” Robert Stromberg – Academy award-winning production designer for Avatar

“Elegant and very athletic, very skilled” John McColgan – Riverdance producer

【新唐人2012年1月21日訊】【旅行天下】（2-29）過年特別節目：隨我們一同感受世界各地的過年氣氛！

Chinese New Year is the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays. In China, it is known as “Spring Festival,” the literal translation of the Chinese name 春節, since the spring season in Chinese calendar starts with lichun, the first solar term in a Chinese calendar year. It ]]>

【新唐人2012年1月21日訊】【旅行天下】（2-29）過年特別節目：隨我們一同感受世界各地的過年氣氛！

Chinese New Year is the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays. In China, it is known as “Spring Festival,” the literal translation of the Chinese name 春節, since the spring season in Chinese calendar starts with lichun, the first solar term in a Chinese calendar year. It marks the end of the winter season, analogous to the Western Carnival. The festival begins on the first day of the first month in the traditional Chinese calendar and ends with Lantern Festival which is on the 15th day. Chinese New Year’s Eve, a day where Chinese families gather for their annual reunion dinner, is known as 除夕or “Eve of the Passing Year.” Because the Chinese calendar is lunisolar, the Chinese New Year is often referred to as the “Lunar New Year”.

Winter brings all the dryness — American doctors name dry skin as the major skin care problem in winter. But did you know that South Africans are even more concern with dryness, because of the harsh climate and long time exposure to sun. Therefore, we are heading to RAIN Africa, ]]>

Winter brings all the dryness — American doctors name dry skin as the major skin care problem in winter. But did you know that South Africans are even more concern with dryness, because of the harsh climate and long time exposure to sun. Therefore, we are heading to RAIN Africa, my challenge is to solve the dryness problem and to unveil to you African beauty secrets, and give you first hand information.

In Africa, rain gives life and life depends on it. The cycle of the season is born into all living things, young and old. Rain is the gift that brings simple wealth to the plains, villages and mountains. Rain is refreshing in the still heat of the day; it cools the thirsty land, awakens the senses and sharpens the aromas of the bush. The dry wind brings the gift that African people can smell, a gift that is a cause for celebration. The Sotho people use the words ‘Khotso Pula Nala’ meaning peace, rain and abundance as their traditional greeting.

The African Landscape, so blessed with abundance, is the source and inspiration for our bath and body products. The time honoured secrets of indigenous flora and medicinal plants are gathered from the various plant regions blended into the Rain products. Kalahari Melon oil with its water retentive properties from the desert region, Baobab oil from the bushveld, Mongongo nut oil from the midlands, Marula oil and Mafura butter from the lowveld, along with palm butter, tropical coconut and castor oils, delicately perfumed aromatic and essential plant oils, our products uplift body and spirit.

Rain products are intensively handmade. They create employment and opportunity where millions have no work and no hope. Each product wears, as a badge of honour, its unique tribute to the maker. They ought not think of irregularity as a defect. Handmade by its very definition means a delightful uncertainty when it comes to uniformity and tangible evidence that a human hand has carefully made the item.

Time honoured african medicines have been tried and tested over thousands of years. Southern africa’s traditional healers or ‘inyangas’ have relied for centuries on the medicinal plants of the region for the ingredients of balms, tinctures, infusions and salves, gathered in the wild. The knowledge of these wise herbalists was passed on through oral tradition and today modern science has confirmed the curative value of many of south africa’s indigenous plants.

Ingredients are wild harvested from the veld by groups of women who are formed into co-operatives. These oils are refined by laboratories in France and rendered safe and highly suitable for cosmetic use. We have made use of kalahari melon, marula, mongongo nut, baobab and mafura butters throughout our african spa range.

This range offers scrubs, muds, butters, masks, soaks, oils — a veritable pantry from which to feed and nourish your skin in the privacy of your home or via professional spa or salon use. Their african spa range is founded on the age-old wisdom of african herbalists and perfected by contemporary botanical scientific research.

RAIN Africa at Rockefeller Center
59 West 49th Street between 5th and 6th Ave
New York, NY, 10112
Tel: 212.239.3070

http://rainafrica.com

Store Hours:
Monday — Friday: 10am — 8 pm
Saturday: 10 am — 8 pm
Sunday: 12 am — 7 pm

Truffle Hunting is a very exciting experience. A white truffle hunter is accompanied by….. a dog! In fact, white truffles grow under the ground, so only with dog’s sense of smell and intuition could lead us to white truffles.

12 Dos and Don’ts in Piedmont Region in Italy

It was my first ]]>

Truffle Hunting is a very exciting experience. A white truffle hunter is accompanied by….. a dog! In fact, white truffles grow under the ground, so only with dog’s sense of smell and intuition could lead us to white truffles.

12 Dos and Don’ts in Piedmont Region in Italy

It was my first trip to Italy… After not being able to sleep on the plane for 10 hours, we arrived at Turin in Italy with 6 hours of jetlag versus New York. For the first time: hearing people spoke Italian everywhere but not English; seeing Romanesque and Baroque styled building everywhere but not Skyscrapers; smelling super fresh air in the sky everywhere but not polluted air from yellow cabs.

They also say sì sì sì sì sì sì wherever I go, which sounds like I’m super popular there… CiCi CiCi CiCi! So I was no longer tired. I was so eager to discover every single detail of this region! Here are some dos and don’ts for you!

Dos:

1. 1. Bring European adaptor plug.
2. 2. Wear comfortable shoes and stylist clothing.
3. 3. Exchange dollars to euros.
4. 4. Bring Amex or Capital One cards if you have because they don’t charge exchange rate.
5. 5. Have breakfast in the hotel because most of them include breakfast.
6. 6. Go to the top of National Cinema Museum and you will see the view of the entire Turin.
7. 7. Check out the Piazza Castello, the heart of the city, where Palazzo Reale, Palazzo Madama, the Royal Library and Armoury, the Teatro Regio and the church of San Lorenzo are located.
8. 8. Drink a cup of Bicerin, a traditional hot drink for Turin, made of espresso, chocolate, and milk.
9. 9. Check out Fontanafredda, one of the most historical wine cellar in Alba.
10. 10. Join a white truffle hunting tour in Alba. It’s one of the most exciting of experiences for truffle enthusiasts. A white truffle hunter is accompanied by….. a dog! In fact, white truffles grow under the ground, so only with dog’s sense of smell and intuition could lead us to white truffles.
11. 11. Visit the International Alba White Truffle Festival. They have been celebrating the harvest of white truffles since 1929 from every early October through mid-November.
12. 12. Bring white truffles, hazelnuts, chocolates, and wines such as Barberesco and Barolo back as Souvenirs. In case you do bring white truffles back, be aware that they only last for a week.

Don’ts:

1. 1. Don’t order Cappuccino after 11am because it only serves in the morning.
2. 2. Don’t order soda with your meals because people only drink wine or water with meals.
3. 3. Don’t order Diet Coke because they only have Light Coke and it’s a girly and childish drink.
4. 4. Don’t order food to go unless is a pizza place.
5. 5. Don’t eat a salad before main course because they consider a side dish not appetizer.
6. 6. Don’t drive in Alba as they have super tiny routes and mountain routes.
7. 7. Don’t use their toilet papers too hard because most of them are harder and rougher than what we have in the US…
8. 8. Don’t go to the shops from 12:30pm to 4pm because they usually take 3 to 4 hours lunch break.
9. 9. Don’t go to the bank in the afternoon because they only open in the morning and 1 hour in the afternoon.
10. 10. Don’t give money to the baggers because then they won’t leave you alone.
11. 11. Don’t wear tank top and shorts in a Church.
12. 12. Tipping is not required. Indeed, tipping people you personally know is considered offensive.

Today CiCi is exploring SOHO; a trendy and diverse area of Manhattan filled with shopping, fashion and food. CiCi’s getting an early start, before the street gets busy and crowded. First stop: “Loopy Mango.” Once plentiful in SOHO, now boutiques like this are rare. Under one roof, you’ll find everything ]]>  

Today CiCi is exploring SOHO; a trendy and diverse area of Manhattan filled with shopping, fashion and food. CiCi’s getting an early start, before the street gets busy and crowded. First stop: “Loopy Mango.” Once plentiful in SOHO, now boutiques like this are rare. Under one roof, you’ll find everything from jewelry to clothing to a working classic Harley Davidson motorcycle (not in the budget.)

For refueling, CiCi stopped at “Vive la Crepe.” She learned how to make crepes, even making her own with Nutella sauce. They have many choose from; sweet to savory, and specially folded for portability.

Keeping with this theme, CiCi’s next stop was “L’ecole,” a restaurant within the French Culinary Institute, where they teach the next generation of chefs in a real-world setting, preparing meals for discerning patrons. CiCi got to sample several dishes, while interviewing an Instructor.

Next, CiCi visited a little shop called “Yaso;” another SOHO boutique, filled with unique fashions, accessories, and a very friendly owner.

Outside, a light rain inspired CiCi to find “Sanctuary,” a very special teahouse, carrying more varieties than you can imagine, including some with a flower that “blooms” in your cup.

Next, CiCi’s instincts led her to an amazing bookstore café called, “Housing Works.” This is a non-profit volunteer run café. Beyond a gathering place to sip coffee, tea, or wine, and perhaps enjoy baked goodies while perusing books, their proceeds go to AIDS awareness and education.

For dinner, Yelp’s rave reviews inspired CiCi to visit Ed’s Lobster Bar. There she helped prepare the famous lobster rolls, and taste the new lobster meatballs. Ed is so committed, he wears a tattoo of his lobster logo proudly on his arm.

After a day in SOHO, CiCi reflected on her adventure: boutiques, crepes, the French Culinary Institute, a library with a social conscience, and lobster rolls. With all that diversity and creativity, the connecting thread was their passion to share their art, cultures, and food.