I got to the press room, checked through my event selections, and found out that I had no tickets to any events on Friday. I went down to the blogger lounge, talked with a concierge-in-training about a under-the-radar restaurant (I found it, man! It’s called Kaijitsu), and then crossed the West Side Highway to try and see if I could get into the Grand Tasting tent. No dice. I went over to the media tent and asked if I could get credentials. I wasn’t on the list and was treated with the exact you’re-not-on-the-list attitude you might expect at an event where the check-in table staff had been there for nine hours already that day. I withheld my anxiety the best I could as they told me how unlikely it would be for me to get in touch with anyone wielding enough power to bestow entrance upon me.
I emailed Robin of Robin Insley & Associates not really expecting a response (she had to be busy beyond busy on Friday) and she shot an email back within minutes! Thanks, Robin! I had a great time.
This is what the event was all about:
My first bite at the event. How could I not after this post?
Didn’t provide the most illumination, but it was my favorite non-food visual here:
I am not an Aperol fan, but this was surprisingly tasty cocktail. Gotta rethink my stance on not liking this stuff.
This was my favorite taste of the day. Le Grand has a bunch of awesome pestos, tapenades and an incredible tzatziki. I talked to the owner, Bernard, and he was excited about the packaging. Nice guy.
They had these tattoos that said “I (heart) LAMB.” I wanted one. I asked to see if they would help me put it on, and she wet a napkin for me. She thought that I’d kept it on for long enough, but turns out that the bottom of the B didn’t apply so well, so I helped it along to make it “I (heart) LAMP.” Just as good.
Best prepared food of the day came from Barilla pasta. Sausage, Peas, and cheese tortellini. There used to be a sentence on the back of the Barilla pasta, “Barilla pasta is made with care so you can be proud to feed it to your family,” or something like that. It made me look for Barilla pasta every time I went to the grocery store. I think they really do care.
Jessica Randazza kicking ass all weekend for Kitchen Aid:
The sexiest presentation all day was by VeeV. Great setup aligned with the branding.
The top cocktail was the Sagatiba Cachaça chased by the chili-sugar dusted strawberry. I still can’t pronounce Cachaça.
New must have oil for your kitchen; Pistachio Oil from La Tourangelle.
The Like Stickers make their first appearance at Jelly Belly:
The family at DelGrosso. I had a combination spicy pepper/vodka sauce with farfalle, thought I knew the girl on the right from somewhere, but maybe she just has one of those faces.
I still like Flor de Caña the best, but this was pretty good rum.
I know Bulldog Gin’s website is http://BulldogGin.com, but I still think they might want to grab http://bulldog-gin.com as well… In a quick glance, it reads Bulldoggin’, which sounds kind of like the fake porno in The Big Lebowski. In all seriousness, it’s a great gin – sweet marketing, good lookin’ bottle. I met the CEO, Anshuman. Cool cat – wishing him much success in the future!
I forget the name of this stuff, but he hit me with some ginger stuff. It would be great in cocktails.
Sly Sake distributing gentleman:
And his sake:
I think they were popular because of the matching kimonos. My first taste of the Pumpkin Wheat Ale from Blue Moon won’t be my last. Every bit as awesome as it sounds (I type as I am enjoying a Samuel Adams Octoberfest).
It’s Fabio Viviani (Thanks, Rose)!!
These two are enjoying some exceptionally gorgeous POM Sorbetto. Favorite dessert taste of the day:
The woman from this company wanted this picture, and I had her business card, but I losted it.
