Nyotaimori, or "Naked Sushi." You've Been Warned.

WARNING: This post should be rated ... at least PG-13. NC-17 maybe.
If the thought of eating sushi off an almost-naked woman offends you, I'd suggest you stop reading this.
Oh, and of course: NOT SAFE FOR WORK!
I'd like to say I did it out of journalistic duty, but in the end it was mainly because I was curious.
(And maybe this is a good time to point out that I'm a girl, so you don't get the wrong ideas about my intention :p )

I had read about nyotaimori (a.k.a naked sushi, a.k.a body sushi) before, then again on Deep End Dining's post about it at Hadaka Sushi (now closed).

The thought of it is definitely wrong. Can one objectify women even more than using a woman's naked (well, almost naked) as a plate?

Still, when a certain friend asked if I'd like to go try it, I was curious enough to say yes.
No restaurant I know of is offering nyotaimori, so the event offered at something called the Asianmodelpalooza (for unknown asian models to break into the biz, from what I can gather. That biz.) seemed to be a rare chance.
Apparently though, it was provided by ... let's say a very specialized catering company, simply named Naked Sushi Entertainment. Subtle.
The person in charge said that you can actually get these services starting from $65/ person depending on the menu, the model you chose, and um, how nude you want her to be. Anyway ...

Sushi served on banana leaves on an almost naked girl (she was wearing a g-string).
Earlier I wondered if we were allowed to talk to her, but she (I believe her stage name was Akira Lane) was actually quite talkative and lively. That made me feel better since she seemed less of an object.
Getting close-up shots of the food was rather dangerous, though...

Food porn takes on a new meaning.

The sushi itself was surprisingly not bad. It was better than I had expected although I wasn't expecting much at all. Yes, a lot of rolls here and it's no Mori.
It's sushi that you can expect at a standard sushi restaurant and I actually enjoyed the spicy hamachi roll. The sushi was provided by Queee Sushi in Chinatown, although of course, at these events the sushi isn't made right there on-site, so it isn't as fresh as sitting at a sushi bar.
But, really, does anyone expect this to be about the food?

Now I can at least say "been there, done that."
OK, stop staring.

If this is your thing, now you know where to get it (I'd imagine it'd make a great bachelor's party.)
Me, I'm bracing myself, waiting for my mom to read this and call and scold me, for people I've offended to leave hate comments, etc etc.

Laksa, Santa Monica Night Breeze (Chef Amy's Underground Dinner)

As we walked to the home in Santa Monica Hills on that breezy evening, I fell in love with the modern house. One of the coolest things about some underground dinners is the locations that they are held (of course, some are smaller in scale and are held at the chef's house). The sleek and spacious house that night's dinner was held at belongs to the brother in law of Chef Amy Jurist of Amy's Culinary Adventures.

Al fresco dining in their large backyard.

The decoration was provided courtesy of Jonathan Fong from Clever Floral Decor.
I like the colorful fortune cookies, and the embroidered chinese take-out floral arrangement!

Yes, I took one home. What?

Chef Amy Jurist and her team were furiously preparing the food. Thankfully, the house had a pretty big kitchen.
When we walked in, I noticed Joshua Klapper of La Fenêtre wines, whom I had just met for the first time at his fifth anniversary tasting. Coincidentally, he had met Chef Amy and he was doing the wine pairing for this dinner.

The night started with a sweet, fruity blended cocktail made with Filipino calamansi juice, mango, vodka.
This went down very easily, I had to be careful not to gulp it down as it was a smoothie.

Salmon and asparagus yakitori, Ahi tuna tartar with wasabi tobiko, Chicken and shrimp lumpia, Grilled beef satay with thai peanut sauce

Laksa (curry coconut) with rice noodles and shrimp
Wine: 2008 La Fenêtre A Cote Chardonnay, Santa Barbara County
I haven't had laksa since my last visit to Singapore. I've been looking for a good version of this dish in Los Angeles but hasn't succeeded. Chef Amy's version was surprisingly good. The flavors are not as rich and bold, but the essence was there. There's no squid or cockles but the shrimp was nicely cooked.

What it looks like to prepare food for 80 people at once:
Pupu Platter: Coconut shrimp, Thai cucumber salad, crab & shiitake dumpling, Peking duck in green tea sesame crepe. For this dish they also served a glass of Thai iced tea.
Wine: 2008 La Fenêtre A Cote Pinot Noir, Central Coast
I enjoyed everything on this plate except for the Thai cucumber salad which I found to be too vinegary for my taste. The green tea sesame crepe was a great unique touch to Peking duck.

The main entree: Miso glazed black cod with green tea soba and Asian vegetable melange
Wine: 2008 La Fenêtre Sierra Madre Pinot Noir, Santa Maria Valley
Miso black cod is a pretty common dish and probably for pretty good reason: It's a good combination. Cook your cod propery and everyone will enjoy it. That was the case here. The texture of the cod was spot on. There was too much sauce on the soba though, making it too sweet and a little soggy.

Dessert: Turon Saba (Banana and jackfruit springroll with macapuno banana ice cream) - Philippines
I had to google it but apparently macapuno is what kopyor in Indonesia is: a mutant coconut with more tender and crumbly meat. The macapuno banana ice cream was definitely the highlight of the dessert - now I have to wonder where I can possibly get more.

The other aspect of this dinner that we enjoyed very much was meeting interesting people from all walks of life both during the cocktail hour and sitting next to them at the big communal tables.

These underground dinners aren't exactly cheap at around $100 (depending on the dinners and when you purchase the tickets) though it does include all the pre-dinner drinks and wine pairing, but I like how her dinners are held at cool locations like this house, or art galleries. You won't know where it will be until a few days before though, and you won't know the full menu either. Since the themes of dinner change every time, from Asian to Cheese to Bacon, choose the one that's enticing if you're planning on trying Chef Amy's underground dinner for the first time.

Giveaway: Tickets to Pasadena Wine Festival

The second Pasadena Wine Festival is coming to the Los Angeles Arboretum on Saturday, October 9 from 2pm-10pm.

There will be wines from many regions in California, Spain, and Australia (see the participants here).

To soak up all that wine and fuel you up for a walk around the arboretum there will be samples and food for purchase from World Fare Bustaurant, The Dosa Truck, The Grilled Cheese Truck, Crepe 'N Around, Border Grill Truck, and Sprinkles.

I really wanted to go, walk around the arboretum while drinking wine myself but alas, I'll be out of the country. YOU can go though!

They're giving away FIVE PAIRS of general admission tickets ($28 value per ticket) to the festival which gets you:
admission to the arboretum to enjoy a tram tour (usually arboretum admission and tram tour would cost you $12), live music, food samples from the vendors, and you can sample wines from all the participating wineries for $1 each.

To win a pair, just leave a comment below with your email.
Get extra entries by tweeting: "Win tickets to Pasadena Wine Festival @PasWineFest via @gourmetpigs http://bit.ly/9E5eCW"
Leave another comment letting me know you did so though, so I can keep track!

Contest ends on September 30. There are five pairs to give away so you have pretty good chances. Good luck!