Nov 12 2009
The 1st Annual Foodbuzz Blogger Festival in San Francisco
We were among the 250 bloggers that had the honor of attending the very first Foodbuzz Blogger Festival in SF this past weekend (for free!). It was the ultimate food affair – we got to eat and drink to our hearts desire for 3 straight days, all thanks to the wonderful people at Foodbuzz. Great company, delicious eats, and a suitcase full of freebies and goodies – what more could we ask for?
Our weekend in SF consisted of a Welcome Reception at Hotel Vitale on Friday evening. Later that night, we got a taste of San Francisco's finest street food. Saturday was spent at City View at the Metreon where we got to taste a ton of food, get tipsy on wine and beer, see live demonstrations from our peers, and juggle bags of free swag. The eating didn't stop there! We spent Saturday night at Greenleaf Produce Warehouse for a lovely dinner and awards ceremony (congrats to those who won!). And alas, on Sunday, everyone got to say goodbye over brunch and Bloody Marys at Restaurant Lulu. Whew! Keep reading for the juicy details...
At the Friday night Street Food "Fare", we feasted on tacos from Tacolicious - shown here are the braised short ribs and chorizo potato.
At the Roli Roti booth, they were handing out Mini Rotisserie Porchetta on an Acme Roll with curly cress & onion marmalade. This definitely reminded us of the porchetta sandwich we had in Rome!
When you think it couldn't get any better - it got better! I was beyond ecstatic when I saw an oyster booth! Hot Island Oyster Company was shucking oysters for us and it definitely filled my cravings for oysters. Thank you!!!
Besides pigging out, we also got drinks at the bar. This one in particular was fantastic, but I don't remember the name! Let's just say it was like a mojito except they used basil and less sugar. Cheers!
I'm a huge fan of beets, so this caught my eye as I strolled by the booths - Beet Salad with Point Reyes Blue and Far West Fungi Vol au Vent from Spencer on the Go.
There were more food, sweets, and drinks that we tried at the SF Street Food Fare but I can only show you so much! On to the next day!
Before we went to the Tasting Pavilion at the Metreon, we got to be part of an olive oil tasting seminar. They made us try the olive oil as if it was wine - how very interesting (and weird!). I don't know about you, but I don't like the taste of oil by itself. The best part was that we got to take home 2 bottles of Extra Virgin Olive Oil from California Olive Ranch.
We spent Saturday afternoon at the Taste Pavilion where over 50 producers, brands, wineries and chefs spoiled us with their goodies. Here is the Mezzetta booth and their little martini bar. Cute!
One of our favorite tastings was this refreshing shrimp, scallop and octopus ceviche made by Executive Chef Jesse Perez from Fuego Restaurant in Long Beach. We'll have to visit his restaurant in the near future to feast on some Latin-inspired dishes.
There were cupcakes galore... and yet we didn't even take a bite. (We wanted to save room in our stomachs for the savory stuff - like the little mushroom tartlets with pomegranate on top).
We got to chat with the owner of All Spice Cafe, JD Cowles. He specializes in gourmet hot sauces like Chipotle Garlic Sauce and Cayenne Habanero Sauce - and they are award winning! Notice how his label looks exactly like him? Charming. Hehe.
To make matters worse, we attended a wine seminar on California sparkling wine. If I had finished those 4 glasses of wine, I would've been hammered!
We each got a signed copy of Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day, written by Jeff Hertzberg, M.D. and Zoe Francois. The book has hundreds of recipes featuring whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and gluten-free ingredients. (Hmm, maybe we'll have a giveaway for one of our books).
We finally got the opportunity to meet our foodie friends, Kim and Hong, from the Ravenous Couple blog. They won a free trip to SF for a recipe they submitted for Nature Pride's contest - Fried Halloumi Cheese Toast. Great job, guys!!
On top of the eating and drinking, there was a photo booth for our picture-taking pleasure. Foodies-4-Lyfe.
With the help of the crew from Outstanding in the Field, Foodbuzz coordinated an extraodinary evening for the bloggers at Greenleaf Produce Warehouse, where we wined and dined in an urban, farm-to-table setting. Our menu consisted of a seasonal and everything-organic menu with a traditional Korean influence.
I thought it was funny that they had seasoned shrimp chips on the tables for us (Asians know what I'm talking about). Our appetizer plate consisted of some kimchi and other pickled vegetables.
Since this was a family-style meal, we shared everything and passed the dishes along to each other. The udon with grilled Monterey calamari and the mushroom risotto was light and pleasant.
The sea trout was baked with dashikombu, fried garlic, and Japanese curry powder. Beside that is the roasted brussels sprouts, ponzu fried garlic, guanciale, and bonito flakes (it was definitely a crowd pleaser!).
We finished off with the soy braised beef chucks and oxtails with baby carrots and potatoes. For dessert, we had Koshihikari rice pudding with cookie crumble and warren pear.
The finale of the Foodbuzz Blogger Festival ended at Restaurant Lulu on Sunday morning, presented by Nature's Pride.
I guess the people at Foodbuzz felt sorry for everyone having to ruin their diets over the weekend, so they gave us salad to eat at the brunch.
On second thought, they weren't done stuffing us with more fat-induced foods, like this Frittata with aged cheddar and wild mushrooms... and French Toast with pear compote and whipped cinnamon butter. Kill me now.
Foodbuzz gave the food bloggers a special weekend to remember – and we are absolutely thrilled we had the chance to be a part of this amazing event. They did a wonderful job accommodating everyone and the events all went smoothly and without any complaints. We couldn’t have asked for a more fulfilling experience with our fellow foodie friends and all we can say is… when is next year’s event? We’re THERE!
You guys are so cute! It was nice to finally meet you, and it’s always awesome to look at your great pics. Can you believe it flew by so quickly? Guess it’s time to check off the days until next year’s festival!
Wow, so much delicious food!
Great photos! I love looking at everyones pictures, we were at the same event but each have different photos! Can’t wait until next year.
i’m jealous–what an awesome event to be a part of!
You’ve captured these amazing event so well! You guys are such a cute couple!
I am not going to miss this event next year! The food looks great, but having so many foodies together at one time and meeting our fellow FBZ friends is what I will be looking forward to most.
Glad you had a great time.
Great post! Those cupcake photos are killing me!
- Alison
wow looks like you guys had a wonderful time! I wish I could have been there
Great pictures! It was so great to meet you both. Hope you enjoy the book!
Cheers, Zoë
Holy frijole — I was getting razzed by other bloggers that I totally missed out by not going and these photos and your descriptions only compound the Epic Razzing. Next year I will be better about planning my schedule and hop a plane down there (if it’s going to be in the same spot!). The shrimp chips – LOL. So true.
It was nice meeting you guys briefly at the FB festival… cheers to more happy and yummy eats!
Thanks for sharing! It really looks like a wonderful time indeed!
looks so good. You did a great job of capturing the event.
Thumbs UP!
Sounds like such a fun time! Love all of your pictures!
Great photos! That was one fabulous weekend. Sorry we didn’t meet. Looking forward to meeting you at the next one!
LL
gosh..i am green with envy…that looked so fun you guys! =)
Food, food and more food. Looks and sounds like the best weekend ever! How do I get there next year?
Andy, it’s very simple: Just start a food blog and become a featured publisher! Then you can get all the benefits like us. We encourage all of our friends to do it… why just sit and read about our great food adventures when you can JOIN us??
What a fun event & eating time! Love the funny pics of the 4 of you!
Great photos and report — I hope to go next year!
Shelly
Hey guys! Great recap! I love the photo of you guys and ravenous couple. So cute!
I enjoyed having brunch with you! I’m linking this post to my today’s post. Thank you.
Great meeting you at the Foodbuzz feast (I mean fest). The weekend was a lot of fun and it was a great way to connect with other food lovers.
[...] The Food Addicts are from the L.A. area and we’re just getting in contact with them. We really appreciate the photos they they posted in their review of the event. [...]
Hey guys! Great to meet you and have a chance to chat with you at dinner!
I’m still kicking myself for having missed the FB Festival. But, thanks to your *amazing* recap, I do feel like I’ve had a little taste. Thanks so much for the most comprehensive review I’ve read. You’ve done an amazing job with this post and the photos are magnificent!
This looks like SO much fun. I can’t believe we live in SF and didn’t know about it. BOOOO
It was so great to meet both of you at dinner on Saturday! Thanks for swinging by my blog, I will be by here again as well. Your photos are beautiful!
Wow, just. WOW. So sad we didn’t get to go.
that looks so exciting….so much food & so much fun. How I wish I was there!
Great meeting the both of you guys, especially meeting a fellow LA blogger. Hope to catch you guys at a future dining event!
Thanks for sharing this with us. Sounds great. All that good food…….. How can you be surrounded by so much great stuff?
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The information here is really useful.
I will share it with my friends.
Cheers