Maui: Tedeschi Vineyards

A few years ago while we were vacationing in Maui, we stumbled upon this winery in East Maui a few miles away from Haleakala Crater. It's a quaint little vineyard resembling a sugar plantation from years past. The highlight of the vineyard is their Tasting Room. When you walk into the cottage, you see a long bar with shelves behind it stocked with various red, white and sparkling wines. Our favorite wine was the Maui Splash. It's a light and fruity wine with a combination of pineapple and passion fruit. Believe or not but they actually carry this wine at BevMo as well as their Maui Blanc. Since our fav wine was available in the Mainland, we ended up picking up a specialty port wine called Framboise de Maui which is a Raspberry Wine. I wish we could have bought one of the sparkling wines since those were good as well. This is a definite must-see place for wine lovers.


What to buy:

• Maui Splash - $9.99 at BevMo
• Hula O Maui (Sparking Pineapple wine) - $18.00
• Framboise de Maui (Raspberry wine) - $39.00

Things to know:

• If you plan on going to the Crater, you should try to drop by here right after. It's a few miles down Route 37 (Haleakala Highway).
• The wine tours are complimentary, 3 per day (check their website for the times).
• If you don't want to pack the wine in your luggage, the vineyard can ship your purchases for a small fee.

Website: http://www.mauiwine.com/

Miami Beach: Joe's Stone Crab

When Marc and I were in Miami during our second leg of our honeymoon, we dropped by the infamous Joe's Stone Crab for some seafood and Key Lime Pie. There's nothing better than having the freshest stone crab around. We ordered medium Stone Crabs (roughly 8 claws), sauteed shrimp, fried calamari, and a slice key lime pie. While, everything was finger-licking good, I think the star of the meal was the Key Lime Pie. I've never had anything like it. It's a cross from a Popsicle and a cheesecake in a bright yellow color with a thick graham cracker pie crust. While there are other Joe restaurants in Las Vegas and Chicago, it will never be as good as the original. I highly recommend dropping by this place if you're ever in the area.

What to order:

• Joe's Famous Cole Slaw - $5.95
• Fried Calamari - $9.95
• Sauteed Shrimp - $18.95
• Medium Stone Crabs (8 claws) - $ Market value, roughly $21-$23
• Slice Key Lime Pie - $6.95

Things to know:

• The full restaurant has a strict dress code (no athletic gear or beach wear) but you can get the same stuff at its Take Away cafe right next door.
  
• Joe's has its own parking lot so you don't have to park valet or on the street.
• They don't take reservations. The restaurant opens at 5pm but the Take Away cafe is open all day for dine in or take out.

Website: http://www.joesstonecrab.com

About Us: Foodie Finder

Hi, We're Marc and Joce and we started Foodie Finder as a source for great food finds for individuals looking for new places to eat or curious at what happens at those 'fancy-schmancy' places.

Our full-time jobs allows us to travel extensively and eat where ever we want. We're based in San Diego, CA but due to San Diego's conservative cuisine, we're forced to search for great food digs across the country. Follow us on our food adventures and find out what city we end up next.

To contact us, please email: foodiefinder@gmail.com.

Additional info (for curious minds):

What do you do (aka full-time jobs)?

• Marc is a engineering architect for a security software company as well as a real-life MarcGuyver. He can fix anything.
  
• Joce is a market research manager for a medical device company and is known to be the walking 'single-source of truth'. Think human-Google and kgb.com on steroids.

What nationality are you?

• We're both Filipino, Ilocano to be exact.
• For the record, we do eat 'chocolate-meat' but we don't cook it at home. We leave that to the relatives.

How often do you travel?

• Frequently. Sometimes we're both in different cities for work. At minimum we're away at least once a month.

Happiest foodie experience?

• Our wedding reception at the Bellagio. It was all about the food. We spared no expense.

Do you pay for your meals?

• Majority of the time yes unless we're on business travel then we expense it to a certain degree. We're not in media so we don't get PR people calling us to dine at their places. That's why we have 'the list'. Real places that we want to go to, not because someone asks us to.
• The only exception is Las Vegas. We have somewhat high roller status and receive the typical perks (e.g. suites, meals, gambling credits, etc.).

What are your plans for future destinations?

• International travel in 2011. France, UK, Spain, Italy, etc.
• We will also take shorter, weekender trips to New York, New Orleans, Chicago, Seattle, etc.

Any food allergies?

• Him: None. Dislikes sea urchin.
• Her: None. Also dislikes sea urchin but will eat it anyway.

Most expensive meal out of pocket?

• Him: Joel Robuchon at the Mansion in Las Vegas, NV.
• Her: Alinea in Chicago, IL.

Favorite cuisine?

• Him: Filipino, Southern, creole/cajun.
• Her: Filipino, French, avant-garde.

I will always order...

• Him: A steak, specifically a rib eye prepared medium rare and seafood gumbo.
• Her: Foie Gras and a mojito.

I will not eat...

• Him: Foie Gras or any type of game meat (e.g. rabbit, venison, goose, etc).
• Her: Anything that is still alive or premature (e.g. balut - premature duck egg). It's gotta be dead and cooked somewhat before I'll eat it.

A food request...

• For someone to make a Filipino hot dog famous. For example, take longaniza stick it in a pandesal roll/bun and market it as the next best food craze.

Worst time to eat...

• During a Manny Pacquiao fight.