A Night of Sush’Italian

Another great event!
I loved our little «Room crawl». Starting out at The Sushi Room where we learned how to make a cali roll and got to sample a delicious poke salad and spicy roll from their menu. I usually not a fan of sake at all, but the unfiltered that we got to sample (and some of us got to take home) was really good. I enjoyed watching some of our Phx Elites get up there and try their hand at making rolls (and tasting their creations afterwards).
Onto The Living Room, which was packed and for good reason. The bruschettas were delicious, to the point that we kept ordering more. The wines were fabulous as well (I think I only tried 4 of the 10).
All in all a great night w/​good people and conversation.
Thanks to The Sushi Room and The Living Room for their gifts in our bags and of course, to our fearless community manager Miss Lindsey. Hope you all made it to your cars alright! I know I got soaked to the bone.

How could I describe this event in a word? Saucy? Sexy? Energetic? Bold? Talc-y…oh wait, those are the words we wannabe wine snobs threw out during our tastings.
Anyways…I’m not gonna lie — I was kind of confused by the concept of this event. I mean, really, I love sushi and Italian food, but were they going to be served at the same time? Do I get soy sauce to dip my bruschetta in? (No, we didn’t, but I’m still open to the idea…)
The sushi + sake portion of the night began at the swank Sushi Room. We tried both dry and sweet cold sake, and I liked them both. Actually, I loved that we didn’t have any hot sake — that stuff is pretty nasty! We each got a bottle of one of the varieties to take home.
The sushi was also great, but it was very shrimp-​heavy, and unfortunately I’m allergic so I didn’t get to try a lot of it. I did, however, devour the poke salad and a few creations made by the folks at the table.
After we sufficiently gorged on sushi, we moved over to the Living Room for more food + bev (not like we needed it…). A selection of bruschetta was already on our table, and we did not need prodding to dig in. I tried a green apple/​jam, roasted pepper/​goat cheese, and a chicken salad bruschetta. By FAR, my favorite of the three was the roasted peppers and goat cheese bruschetta — amazing! We also received a «sharing» bowl of basil pesto, mozzarella, balsamic, tomatoes and fresh crispy bread. This was GOOD… like wipe the bowl clean kind of good!
We then tasted too many wines to count (ok, I think I gave up after 7). It was nice to have the actual description of the wine and the flavors, as I’m not exactly a wine connoisseur. A lovely red coupled with our dessert of chocolate covered strawberries and I was stuffed. What a fun evening with some great fun and funny folks!
The only downside was the torrential downpour that mean I was totally soaked by the time I got to my car… AND one of my lovely fellow Unilocalers even drove me to my car!
As always, kudos to all who helped arrange this event — the lovely staff and management of The Sushi Room and the Living Room, and of course Lindsey.

Sushi and Italian in one night? What an unexpected but splendiferous combo!
I wouldn’t call myself a sushi extraodinaire by any means, but I loved having the hands on learning experience making sushi rolls! The poor sushi chef had to watch as I slaughtered the rolls with my «shredding» type sushi roll cutting. He was so patient though, and had a second roll waiting for me so I could improve my sushi roll slicing skills! For that, I am so grateful! What’s better is that, it didn’t matter how those rolls we made looked at the end. We just got to eat them! We got a little sake history as well while sampling different types. We were even shown the different types of rice that the sakes were made from.
The first hour went by so quickly that before we knew it, it was time to head over to The Living Room for some wine tasting and bruchetta. However, we had no idea we would have a sampling of 10 wines! Plus, these wines were accompanied by many appetizers… varying bruchettas, caprese salad, turkey cranberry rolls, and dessert — chocolate dipped strawberries. We started with a 1749 white wine and ended on a Clayhouse cabernet. We all sat and enjoyed a wonderful Tuesday evening together over food, wine, sake, and treats while a crazy storm raged outside. I know it sounds strange, but it made the night feel even cozier inside!
The Sushi Room, The Living Room, and of course, our hard working Unilocal master Lindsey! I applaud you for another fantabulous night! Thank you! Danke! Gracias! How many more ways can I say thank you?!

This was my first Elite event (I’ve previously attended 2 CMYEs), and I had a blast! I enjoyed chatting with a whole new group of Unilocalers. I think making more of these events «Elites only» (i.e. no plus ones) is a great idea because it forces shy, antisocial nerds like me to interact with strangers.
I didn’t partake in the rolls and poke passed out to the table since I’m a vegetarian, but the chef was kind enough to make me my own veggie roll. I really enjoyed it even without any soy sauce or wasabi. Then I got to try out making sushi myself with the help of Sebastian. I think it came out pretty good for a first attempt, and now I’m excited to try it at home. The sake tasting really opened my eyes because I always thought I hated sake. It turns out, I just don’t like the hot stuff my husband has with his Kirin. The unfiltered was especially good, sweet like bananas. I’m glad I got to take a bottle home, but I may have to fight my husband for it.
Like other Unilocalers, I bravely threw my diet out the window to eat a second dinner over at the wine bar. I’m glad I splurged because the caprese dish was fantastic. Definitely my favorite item of the night. I loved doing the wine tastings because I was surprised again, this time by an awesome Malbec which I usually don’t like. Ending the evening with a yummy Cabernet and a chocolate covered strawberry put a big smile on my face.
The torrential downpour as I raced to my car? Not so much.