I came to San Francisco and the Foodbuzz Festival to meet
new people, some I would know from Twitter and their blogs, and many others to
whom I would be newly introduced and take time to share stories and geek out
about food with.
Anything else that came of my time with the Foodbuzz community
would be that proverbial bonus and the side trips I had planned before and
after the festival are sure to lock in the trip as worthwhile.
The Foodbuzz Festival kicked off with a welcome reception
and dinner at the Terra Gallery not far from the Hyatt which was the base for
the conference. I chatted up a few folks on the bus as we rode to our
destination and it was clear everyone was excited to check out what the FB crew
had planned for us. Laura from Sprint 2 The Table and Sarah from Smart Kitchen
were particularly interested in my beverage and winemaking slant. I was hopeful
that my blog’s focus might resonate with the foodies I would meet.
Having the
priorities that I do the first placed I headed to was the bar. I already knew
that Bonny Doon and 21 Amendment Brewery would both be pouring their
products, giving me lots of worthy options!
I started off with the Querry from Bonny Doon, an apple,
quince and pear cider (maybe not specifically the right word, but it conveys
the understanding) which I recommended to several other festival goers checking
out the bar selection after arriving. It turns out cider is more of a solid
common denominator for the foodie set than I had ever imagined. And that makes
me immensely happy. I love cider, think it is underappreciated and can see it
going places with more attention.
I wandered over to two friendly looking ladies, Kelly and
Shannon, who had also just met. We started talking about the festivities ahead
and the cider that we were all drinking. The cider pours cloudy with
considerable carbonation and moderate white head, much like a golden ale. It is
very nuanced with tart cider apples and some subtle spice influence, something
I would characterize as like ginger. This product presents itself very much
like a sparkling wine or champagne, making its appeal to women that much more
clear to me.
( Me, Shannon and Kelly enjoying a late night drink. )
Shannon’s blog is named Killer Bunnies which I found hugely
memorable and a great conversation starter. To find out that her blog is that
of a vegan baker nearly made me piss myself. I came to find Shannon snarky,
funny, irreverent and quite fashionable if her shoes on Saturday night are any
indication. Shannon, I need a picture of your shoes to show my wife, she might
think I was being creepy otherwise!
One of the meetups I was very much looking forward to was
Meg Maker from Bonny Doon Vineyard. Meg also writes the blog Maker’s Table. The
big joke was that we both live in New Hampshire and had to travel to California
to finally meet. With a hug exchanged I introduced Meg to Kelly and Shannon and
asked Meg to talk a little bit about the cider. We talked a bit and Meg moved
on to work the room.
Kelly writes the Pink Apron and was equally interested in
the time in SF to meet new people, check out the festival food and have some
fun. Kelly’s admission that she worked in food marketing and that one account
she supports is McDonalds inspired some interesting conversation about foodies
and the foodie agenda. That conversation morphed into one about local food and
how foodies and food bloggers can be so driven about the importance of local
food but be so ignorant of the economic and accessibility issues that go along
with it. My biggest concern is the one size fits all mentality where foodies
push local food as an imperative that everyone must take up without recognizing
how few people really care about the idea and aren’t in search of a solution to
the perceived problem. As I always state with these comments, I’m not saying
that this is right or just, but it what it is and more people pushing the
agenda need to acknowledge it, understand that their passion may not be shared,
and act accordingly.
I went back to the bar and grabbed a 21 Amendment Brew Free
or Die IPA. This is another 21A beer that is pleasantly drinkable with plenty
of hops and a little sweetness to balance everything out. And the name! Anyone from NH or members of our homebrew club Brew Free or Die can get with that!
We transitioned from the reception to dinner and you’ll note
I haven’t mentioned the food yet. That’s because I didn’t pay much attention to
what of the passed appetizers I had consumed. The people were more exciting. Before
moving on I grabbed a glass of the 21A watermelon ale thinking it might make
for interesting pairings over dinner.
We moved upstairs found a table and hit the buffet lines to
seek out some eats. The variety was broad with a wide range of ingredients and
techniques. There were dishes made with scallops, pork belly, a beef stew,
macaroni & cheese with bacon, lentil salad, beet ravioli and others. Many
of the recipes were provided by Foodbuzz Featured Publishers, a great
opportunity to share with the community to be sure.
The biggest challenge for the food was that because it was
being made for so many people it didn’t have the charm that the recipes they were
made from hint at. A few examples might help people contextualize what I am suggesting.
The pork belly was lukewarm and chewy rather than soft. The lentil salad was
absent of some spice and salt making it seem flat. The bacon on the macaroni
and cheese tasted like Baco’s and I have doubts that it what was intended. I
didn’t find anything that was outright bad, but I can’t gush about what I did
have. When I get home I will take a stroll back through the menu and seek out
any recipes that I might want to replicate at home.
Jen from Tiny Urban Kitchen, and the winner of Project Food
Blog 2010, shared a bit about her
journey in food blogging and what she is up to since Project Food Blog. Her
primary topic was her motivations to donate her PFB winnings to charity. You
can read more about her post PFB adventures in her recent blog post.
The Foodbuzz Blog Awards seemed to be very casually received
and with the amount of talking during the announcements I can only think many
people didn’t care. We were nominated in the Best Single Topic category and
while we didn’t win I was the person in the room clapping the loudest for all
the nominees and the ultimate winner. Being a good sport is an absolute
requirement for authenticity. Shame on many participants for not being more
engaging in the award announcements. There is a lot of talk about community and
in this case I didn’t see it. Foodbuzz, you might want to scrap this activity
in the future, I don’t think enough people care.
While I was mingling around I grabbed a glass of the BonnyDoon Contra, a red field blend of 6 different grapes. I found a nice mix of black
fruits and earth in both the nose and mouth. I didn’t give it as much attention
as I would have like, but then again I do know where to get some if I want to
give a more thorough review!
We moved on to dessert which came off more positive from
what I saw. Multi-colored macarons, truffles, mini cheesecakes and cookie
sandwiches all got some thoughtful consideration. The most overwhelming feedback
was on the pate du fruites, which from what I understand was massively sour. I
didn’t try it and I’m not sure what result was expected, but the feedback I saw
didn’t seem to make me think this was it. The most interesting dessert item for
me was a chocolate hummus filled pastry cup. The savory aromas and flavors gave
the hummus away easily. The presentation was oddly reminiscent of refried
beans, which certainly is an interesting twist. With a little less sugar the
filling could be used in a savory dish where chocolate was a good fit. This
versatility gave me a few things to consider.
Over dessert I shared a bottle of my own 2010 Strawberry
wine with my tablemates including Monica, Debby, Joshua, Allie, Shannon, Kelly, Dorothy, and Cynthia.
Sharing the fruits of one my passions with new people is always exciting for
me. I love feedback and collecting impressions from new tasters offers me
information that is crucial for better understanding my own wines. I was
honored at the positive feedback and the mentions I got in the wrap-up of
several of the tasters the following day. Check out Shannon’s kind words in
Foodbuzz Was Fun Last Night and Cynthia’s Facebook pictures from the table.
The event wound down and I boarded the bus headed back for the
hotel. Earlier I had thought some form of after-party would have been fun, but
as I got closer to the hotel I realized water and TV was going to be enough
to see me off to sleep. Having been up for almost 20 hours and knowing I needed
to rest up for day two, this plan didn’t bother me at all.
Cheers!
Jason
