Food Buzz Festival 2010 - Food Pavilion, Foodzie and More

I divided Saturday Food Buzz 2010 into three posts because it was like three days in one. You can read about Saturday morning and my food fight with my husband here and you can come back tomorrow to read about another kind of food fight.

This post is all about the most amazing eating and drinking two hours of the weekend. The food pavilion at the Metreon. It was the time to take a nibble, a sip of wine, embrace my foodie friends and even make a video with my husband. This was probably the highlight of the entire Festival for me because it was the only time my husband could share the fun with me and my food buzz friends. I wish I would have taken more pictures, but I was captivated by “samples.”

The food buzz sponsors included some big companies like Nature Pride’s Bread, Buitoni and Electrolux. There were so many wonderful sponsors and I can’t name them all. Please visit Food Buzz’s Sponsors Page to get an idea of how much food we were able to sample. My personal favorites were the smaller food artisans, many a part of Foodzie, and on-line marketplace. You can sign up for a subscription for monthly sampling, which is a great way to discover the latest finishing salt, spice or sweet treat, etc. I have personally tried many of the items, and suggest the foodie gift card for Christmas for those hard to buy or out of town. Everyone LOVES a food gift. (hint, hint).

One of my all time favorites is anything from La Mar’s Mendocino Sea Salt and Seasoning
Their latest addition is Sea Smoke. I am on my second jar of Nori Sea Salt, which they were gracious enough to give me two years in a row, even though they weren’t gifting. It was my excitement last year and a little begging and my blog post for fusion radish focaccia with Nori Sea salt. If you do a blog post with one of their products, they might give you a big hug or even a product in the mail.

Sea Smoke is their latest product. Isn’t that a fabulous name?

Our favorite wine of the trip: Highroller from JAQK Cellars

Royal Hawaiian Honey (everything honey should bee)

Ice Cream is the only sweet I really like. Three Twins is remarkable.

Saag Meats, also part of our goodie bags.

Ghiradelli gave us lots of treats in our bags and at the Pavilion, and their bittersweet chips are my favorite “grocery store” brand for every day baking.

Bravo to best bite of the day: A chanterelle mushroom soup with a candy cap mushroom cream, from a chef named Daniel, but I don’t know who he was with. When the last bite is still the best bite, you know you landed upon gold. (How can I get the recipe for this?)

My husbands favorite was the fish tacos (Alaska Seafood). He stood in a long line and said it was worth it to get full portioned tacos of halibut and salmon.

It’s hard to believe this group of food bloggers only hours later headed to the Ferry Plaza for a sit down dinner put on by the Cooking Channel. You don’t want to miss that post; the evening left its mark on me, even causing a few bad dreams.

Skipping a bit ahead, the next morning we were treated to a brunch sponsored by Nature’s Pride Bread. It was yet one more opportunity to meet some fellow food bloggers and get into some great conversations.

These are just a few foodie friends I connected with over the weekend.

Shelly of Nibbles of Tidbits, A Food Blog
Niki of Salt and Pepper
Steph Snow of Steph Chows also of Foodiacs (thanks for the T-shirt. I’ve been wearing it every day)
Wendy of The Cupcakery
Macaela of Wine and Food Culture who works at Round Pond Estates (more on this awesome winery later)
Normal of Plantanos, Mangoes and Me!
Elena of Food Practice
Sierra of Food Buzz
Ryan of Food Buzz
Colby of Food Buzz
Charlie of Food Buzz
Daniel, the chef of the Gala Dinner
Liren of Kitchen Confidante

and, then to my old time buddies, it was my pleasure to see you again.

Crystal and Amir of The Duo Dishes
Greg of Sippity Sup
Joan of Foodalogue
Val of More Than Burnt Toast

See part 1 of this year’s food buzz festival here.
See part 2 of this year’s food buzz festival here.
See last year’s food buzz post here.

More to come: The Gala Dinner, Napa Valley, and the recipe for the best bloody mary ever from Jason, the bartender at the Sir Francis Drake.

Spinach Tiger Entry 238- Angela Roberts – Food Buzz Festival 2010 – Food Pavillion, Foozie and More

Key Words: Food Buzz, General, Food Event, Travel