ATOD Also Means …

I believe that the moment you sip or bite into something that takes your breath away … you’ve harnessed the priceless moment when you have truly lived.

— Dawn Garcia, Founder

JUROR – International Design Awards | 2015-2021

 Emcee + Head Judge, Off the Hook Seafood Festival

Oyster Shucking Competition | 2015-2019

{CREATIVITY}

I’m a lover of design that makes a point, architecture that immerses itself in our world, films and television that opens our eyes to what’s possible and what needs to change, art that awakens our soul, screams out truth, and delivers a powerful message, and travel experiences that evoke ones soul.

{Co-Founder of White Lies + Alibis Dinner Series, avid food lover.}

If I’m being honest, I’m a foodaholic—but when I say that, I mean I love EXQUISITE food. I love food that looks like artwork placed before me and the minute my mouth rests on the cold prongs of the fork and that bite inches its way onto my tongue and takes me to a place of provocation and joy … well, that’s the kind of food that leaves me mesmerized.

I love a good street taco that tastes like I’m sitting around a table eating with family.

You see, for food like that – you need love. And passion. And imagination. All three of which must be totally absent of ego and arrogance or the food loses it’s luster.

I’m in search of food that surprises —and—if you’re cooking up a traditional dish, I want to taste the love.

The ULTIMATE Goal: To encourage chefs never to compromise quality, passion— OR—taste. EVER. If you can do that, your success in this industry is inevitable.

{MIXOLOGY}

Not because I think there is some magical foam that makes a cocktail a million times better …

but simply because a cocktail is a combination of your greatest love story and your most perfect sin.

Mixologists are the mad scientists of libations, and while it seems to be a title that even the most talented aren’t sure of, it is in fact an art. Let’s face it, making the perfect drink isn’t quite as simple as 007 makes it look. Sure, you can throw in a few ingredients and shake that gorgeous martini shaker now oozing with condensation until it seems just right, but should you make a martini remiss a splash of true Vermouth? Well, you’ve missed the mark according to me.

And I’m no expert. I just love a great martini.

Not the pretentious kind. The kind that values a little of the old school and then twists that right on it’s head. Then again, I’m also the girl that walks into a bar and asks for a drink with a little heat. I don’t mean tabasco or Sriracha. I mean a muddled jalapeño with as salted sugar, chile rim gently coated with the rind of lime. I’m looking for something inventive because if you want to impress me with a peaked foam, I want you to impress me with taste. (Ok and sure, a pretty foam is hard to deny.)

The ULTIMATE Goal: To find the drink that tells me its own story …

{And More To The Point}

I’m not a hateful “critic” or someone claiming to be an “expert”. I have taste. And a healthy dose of expectation.

I want precision and grace and innovation and quality. I want to feel connected to the soul of the world. That exists in creative expression.

I DO NOT want to be told I’m supposed to think it’s fabulous because the rest of the world says so. Good is good—but superb? Well, that’s a bit of a misnomer. You can’t disguise that in elitism or an eccentric staff. It’s something that you can taste and feel and that kind of unequivocal passion is precisely what I’m looking for.

If you want me to experience a design-centric hotel, dive into the heart of cultural immersion, try your soul on a plate or your imagination in a glass? I’m all yours.