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Saffron 59 Catering is New York City's premier caterer and event planner specializing in Southeast Asian cuisine. For over 11 years, Saffron 59 has successfully orchestrated memorable affairs with attention to every detail.

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Filtering by Category: "chile"

Travel: My Top 5 Restaurants from Around the World

Irene Khin Wong

I have been traveling since I was 21 and I have always enjoyed eating the local cuisine wherever I visited.  I've had a lot of delightful and memorable meals; I only wish they were not always a continent away!

Chilean King Crab Ceviche Salad with Andes Corn

Chilean King Crab Ceviche Salad with Andes Corn

Here are my five favorite restaurants from the 50+ countries I have traveled to:

Aldea (Puerto Natales, Chile)

After traveling for 3 weeks and eating various fish stews (Chile’s National Dish); this unique restaurant blends the delicious flavors of the Mediterranean spices with great Chilean wine to pairs with.  You won’t easily find a place like this anywhere in the world.

Irene at Aldea Restuarant in Chile

Irene at Aldea Restuarant in Chile

L'Auberge de l'Ill (Illhaeusern, France)

Start with an aperitif in the garden with a peak abundance of roses and lilies then onto the dining room with its beautiful setting where dinner is best paired with Alsatian wine.  Their foie gras was orgasmic!  It’s a definitely like a 3-Michelin star restaurant to me.

Nyonyan and Baba (Singapore)

This restaurant was up the block from where I used to live for a few months in an old restored colonial house on the Emerald Hill Road and is full of ambiance with a real fusion of Asian cuisine.  Now in a new location.

Harmonique (Bangkok, Thailand)

This is one of my all time favorite restaurants, even though I have been to Bangkok a dozen times.  It is a traditional home restaurant situated near the river and is owned by three sisters.  My favorite dish is the steamed striped bass with chili and lime juice.  It’s fresh and deliciously simple amongst other Thai curries.

Yung Kee Restaurant (Central, Hong Kong)

The most amazing Roast Goose you will ever have that has been around for generations.  Don’t be surprised if you bump into your friends there; I do so every time I have lunch there.

Travel: Patagonia - A Gastronomical Trip Via Ruta Pan-Am Hwy

Irene Khin Wong

On route to the Glacier Serrano, Torres del Paine

On route to the Glacier Serrano, Torres del Paine

After touring through the rolling vineyards of wine valleys and endless picturesque lakes in Chile; my next adventure starts on a flight to “the end of the world”, Last Hope Sound, where Magellanic penguin colonies thrive and then on to Puerto Natales; the home of breath taking,

stunning national park

. It is an experience like no other, that will get under your skin and never leave you.

Salto Grande, The Big Leap Waterfall

Salto Grande,

pic by Irene K. Wong

With the help of

Fransisco

we had an excellent itinerary full of adventures with mountain treks, horseback riding across the Ultima Esperanza Province and lunch in between breaks that include

parrillada

in Torres del Paine National Park.

Torres Del Paine, Chile

Glacier by Serrano River,

pic by Irene K. Wong

Standing at the tip of the unspoiled frontier of South America, Patagonia stretches from the tip of South America to the ice capped mountains of the Andes. The experience affords one with breathtaking views of not only majestic fjords and brilliant azure lakes and channels of Patagonia, but also offers unique gastronomical treats like my favorite national dish of Chiloe, Chile, the curanto seafood stew during our stay.  And of course, there were endless snacks with variations of empanadas, all guzzled down with

herb-infused pisco sours

.

Fishing village of Chiloe, Chile

National Dish of Chiloe, La Curanto, 

pic by Irene K. Wong

Here are some great places to stay (prices are approximate and the season):

-

Weskar Lodge

~$250

-

Aqua Terra

~$100

-

Erractic Rock

~$40 - $90

-

The Singular

~$400-$600

-

Indigo

~$350

Great shopping spot:

- Origenses Artesanias- Chiloe

Dining:

- Afrigonia

- Aldea Restaurant

Reading list before and after your trip:

- In Patagonia by Bruce Chatwin (Penguin Classics)

- Chilean Patagonia’s Peaks, Up Close

(NYT)

- A Torres del Paine walking

guidebook

Sweet Pine berries

Local Sweet Pine Berries are great for marmalades!

Travel: Chile: From Deserts to the Roaring Seas

Irene Khin Wong

Mont Gras Winery

Month Gras Winery

After learning that they were planning on building 5 dams in the Southern part of Chile; this winter, we traveled to the country that has the driest desert in the world as well as dramatic fjords and serene channels. Chile, is a country with an endless bounty of colorful citrus fruits and fresh vegetables.

Viña del Mar (vineyard by the sea). There, we spent most of our time in one of the most fun city in Chile, unique in all of Latin America, Valparaíso.

From the flat city center riding up an incline elevator takes you to a to a very different city above.  Filled with tiny stores, talented artisans and quaint cafes. We could not take enough pictures of this city. No wonder it is named the Top 10 cities for artistic inspiration.

We took a 5 hour leisurely drive toward the south to Colchagua Valley beginning at the foothills of the Andes Mountains and reaching west to the Pacific Ocean. It looks much like Napa Valley with its ubiquitous vineyards, valley floor river and tree-studded foothills vs Alsace, France where I have also spent one summer with historic quaint towns. 

Overall, Colchagua is an oasis of rural calm with just enough sophistication to whet the wine traveler’s appetite. Thanks to our GPS, which lead us to drive unpaved rocky hilly roads and left us with a tenth of gas tank through a dense fog and storm, we finally arrived in Pucón. There we trekked to Huerquehue National Park.  The volcano's crater spends most of its day billowing smoke - and on clear nights it gives off an eerie red glow.

Passing  through the "lake district" with picturesque the towns of Valdivia, Puerto Varas and Osorno.  This fertile region is rich for Mapuche culture, existed before the Conquistadors arrival that now make up only 4% of Chilean population.

As we drove down further south, the greener it gets. It's so perfectly laid-back, you’ll start to feel a little sueño (sleepy) with all the adventures  from rafting to climbing, from hiking to hot-springs hopping, visiting neighboring colonial towns to sipping mate. Crossing half hour ride with a ferry-end of Pan American Highway (Ruta 5), we reached archipelago of Chiloe.

For the nature lover, this opens up opportunities to see the multitude of wildlife found in these waters including penguins, dolphins, seabirds and sea lions.  

Can't beat these fresh scallops w garlic and permesan

Fresh Scallops (Marcado Pescaderia of Santiago)

As for my next blog, part II of Chile, I will be boasting of some of the most dramatic landscapes and its unique cuisines from the "end of Earth", Patagonia. The region comprises the southern section of the Andes mountains to the southwest towards the Pacific ocean.

Places to stay  

Valparaíso:

Hotel Palacio

CiriloArmstrong

Colchagua Wine Valley:

Hotel Casa de Campo

Hotel TerraViña

in Pucón;

Hotel Antumalal

where the loyalties like Queen Elizabeth to Cary Grant had stayed

Chiloe:

Palafito Hostel

Please check out our

flickr.com/saffron59

for more beautiful panoramas of Chile