Fab Finds: Ginza Asian Bistro & Paint Nite
Last Thursday night I had the opportunity of finally attending my first Paint Nite!! I had been wanting to go to one of these events for so long and when my mom told me there was one coming up as a fundraiser to support the Central Valley Chapter of California Women for Agriculture, I was in! If you’re unfamiliar with Paint Nite, it’s basically a night where you get together with friends, family, or whoever you’d like and drink wine, cocktails or any beverage of your choice while you paint something awesome! They have a painting instructor there to help guide you and bring out your creative side while painting the chosen piece of the evening. How can you go wrong with a night like that!?
My Finished Painting of "Crazee Daizee"
So let me back up… once my friend Danae had confirmed she was in, first thing's first, we had to decide where we would be stuffing our faces before the event! For a few months, I had my eye on this new Asian fusion restaurant named Ginza Asian Bistro here in town, and FINALLY, we took the plunge and went! When you walk inside, you really don’t feel like you’re in Fresno… I mean, they have it decorated so classy and so chic! Once we sat down, our waitress immediately brought us the Asian version of chips and salsa, crispy won-tons with sweet and sour dipping sauce, omg, so good!
Their menu was SO large with many delicious options, so we had to strategically decide on our dinner items. First up and most importantly, we needed a cocktail to get our evening started! Our waitress suggested we try the "Share a Berry" (drink for 2) and her suggestion was on point. It was ridiculous.
Ingredients: A thoughtful blend of double Ciroc Pineapple Vodka, Malibu Rum, DeKuyper Crème de Banana, pineapple juice w/fresh berries to share
UNREAL! Not to mention, it came with super fun long straws!!
Dinner Decision time… first up, Sushi. Duh.
Bethpage Roll:
Lobster salad, crunch, topped with tuna, salmon, shrimp, avocado & spicy sauce
Philadelphia Roll:
Cream cheese, smoked salmon & cucumber
Then we decided we wanted some sort of a rice AND noodle situation… we were really going all in folks!
Thai Pineapple Fried Rice:
Made with jumbo shrimp, chicken, pineapple, raisins and cashews…LITERALLY served in a grilled halved pineapple, gorgeous!
Pad Thai with Chicken:
Sautéed Thai thin noodles with egg, bean sprouts, scallions and bean curd, served with a side of crushed peanuts
We definitely had so many options in mind, but that just means we’ll have to go back and try more! #treatyoself
We finished dinner just in time to head across the way to The Tasting Room where Paint Nite was being held! Lucky for us, my mom had saved all three of us seats together which is KEY when attending these events! They really stress to be there 15 mins early and they’re not kidding, otherwise your group gets separated and what’s the fun in that!?
Before we sat down, we ordered our wine, put on our festive lime green aprons and waited for instruction!
Our instructor Brenda introduced herself to all of us and let me tell you, she was a RIOT!!! I am so happy we got her as ours because she made the night! She had such great energy and such a fun personality! The first thing she had us do was take a hilarious Paint Nite oath, which really set the mood for the night and got us all laughing! We then wet our brushes and got to it!
As each step was introduced, Brenda was so encouraging and made sure we weren’t trying to be too PERFECT! That was something I had to really let go of during this experience because for the most part I’m very precise with everything I do, so to do something that was so freeing and to have no idea how it was going to turn out was actually invigorating!
Take a look at our painting process!
We really enjoyed ourselves so much and couldn’t believe that we hadn’t done this sooner! The next day, we signed up for another one, sooooo clearly we had a great time! If you're looking for a super fun night out, THIS IS IT!! Book it now, you won't regret it!
