South Bay Elites Got Lovey Dovey at Arka

Dressed up and ready for some pre-Valentine's Day fun, South Bay-Peninsula Elites celebrated their most recent event, Love Bites @ Arka, a new Indian restaurant in Sunnyvale. As they lined up outside the venue to check in and get their name tags, Elites and their +1's participated in a mix CD exchange, where they were assigned to bring a compilation of their favorite love songs in celebration of Valentine's Day. And as they enterted the restaurant, a mix created by Community Manager Abby S was playing overhead. 

Arka prepared a buffet of original dishes specially for the Yelp Elites, including coconut chicken, avocado & walnut seekh kebab and beet shammi kebab. But, hands down, the star food of the night by far was the broccoli in sweet chili sauce. "First off, I have to say: Who knew broccoli could taste so good? OK, maybe it was fried, but OMG. Best. Broccoli. Ever." raved Janet H. Arka also served a "to die for" rose water and strawberry panna cotta that helped soothe everyone's mouth after a spicy meal.

To drink, Solerno blood orange liqueur drinks were prepared and passed around. The Red Pisco Amigo consisted of Solerno, Pisco, lime juice and agave syrup. And The Moulin Rough was made from Solerno, peach Schnapps, vodka and lychee. Jen C found both cocktails to be "super sweet and super yummy!" Tamas Estates winery, located in Livermore, was also there offering tastings of their Zinfandel, Cabernet blend as well as Pinot Grigio that yelpers like Kathleen N thought were "delightful".

Henna artist Farrah J was on-hand, offering henna art. Guests had designs of all kinds on their hands, arms and even on up their neck! Elite Daisy T thought, "It was really cool to have a henna artist there. Farrah is so sweet and artistic! She did my art so quickly, I was impressed with her skills. It really pulled the theme of the whole event together." 

As the event came to an end, Elites left stuffed full of Indian food and Valentine's candy, covered in henna and with a new CD to play in the car on the way home. New to Elite events, Albert H summed it up best: "The food was good, the crowds moderate, the people wonderful … and I got a mix CD with an ABBA song on it.  How can you go wrong with that?" Agreed!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Abby S, South Bay-Peninsula Community Manager (with Nique F and Asia M)