Foodbuzz fest, round two: Eat, drink and be

Friday morning was the start of three days of fun & food with some friends I already had and some I was yet to meet.

Friday breakfast- For those of us who signed up for the focus group we were lucky enough to get the 2nd best meal of the festival. Bocadillos has amazing desserts and we've had apps there, but now I am all about their breakfast.

What if I answer some questions for you I get to drink mimosas and eat Serrano ham? Sweet!!

Photo Courtesy Laura Sampson

The egg sandwiches with Serrano ham, the cheese plates, crispy potatoes with romesco sauce & fresh fruit were perfect and the company was great. This was the most personal I got with any of the Foodbuzz staff over the weekend and it was great. 

photo courtesy Laura Sampson

They care about our thoughts and opinions, which is important. I will admit that once or twice I felt they were asking different questions than what they were looking for.

Oh yeah and when you're invited to be a part of a focus group? Please don't dominate the conversation.

Friday night- I got to meet up with a lot of my local pals & meet some of my newer twitter followers.

I love the gift exchange idea, though I heard some people didn't bring gifts (party foul) or were rude about what they got (party foul) or couldn't figure out how to successfully trade a gift they didn't like.

I was happy with my gift. And the person I gifted seemed pretty happy, too, so yeah!

Also I landed at a great table with fun people (okay, I have to say it, one of the people was not fun. She was scary. And local. Seriously, I'm praying she was just drunk. Otherwise I have no explanation.)

Now the whole weekend would have been a lot less fun without: Heather, Sam, Arnold, Steph, Tracy, Laura, Elise, Irv,Annelies, Crystal, Amir, and a host of other amazing people who should just tell me I forget them!
 
4505 as usual rocked the house so much I had to go outside and tell the guys on the grill thanks. Pork with jalapeno on a cornmeal sesame bun? I do!

Magnolia had my favorite beer of the night with a Bitter that was clean & smooth and indeed very drinkable.

Hand over the cookie and no one gets hurt..... Courtesy Laura Sampson

Tacolicious was good but sorry, Namu super rocked the taconess with a Korean taco: nori wrapper cradling short ribs, rice, kimchee... I don't even know, but it all made my mouth super happy. Namu? I luv you.

My Roli Roti plate caused the same stir as last year. I get it without the bread and people assumed I said I was gluten free. Roli Roti isn't like that! Just tell them you don't want bread and they'll hook you up with all the yums without the bread. You ain't gotta lie to kick it, peeps.

Photo Courtesy Laura Sampson

I was bummed by the lobster cappuccino & escargot. I would never have known that was escargot. But the puff pastry was nice.

As always the fabulous Randall Grahm had a wonderful offering in the Contra, and my glass of wine included a hug, which made it even better. Wine crush!

The Saturday morning Video blogging panel was really informative.

*Content is key
*If you want success, you have to find it
*You don't have to be in the picture to video blog. And you can always add a voiceover
*The more content you have, the more traffic you get


Evening- I was disappointed that some of the people who were helpful and informative on Twitter and sessions were not really that friendly in person. They were so busy being 'famous' they forget to just be real. I love my friends because they are themselves all the time.

It's cool to be a well known blogger and major kudos to you if you are able to make a living from it. You might want to make a little note to self: without your fans? You'd be back at a 9-5. So be a little less "I'm too cool for you."

The lesson came via Laura, aka Hey What's for Dinner Mom, who pointed out that people don't become asses after they are famous. If you are a genuine person (ahem, Elise aka Simply Recipes? BEST hugger EVER) then you won't let fame go to your head.

On the plus side, I think I was at one of the funnest tables in the joint and can honestly say I would be happy to dine on a Golden beet tart like that again and again.

My scallops were perfectly cooked. No really. Perfect.

The lamb (and there were quite a few lamb jokes earlier in the week, so great timing!) was beautiful, juicy, & well matched with the squash.

Each course was paired with Bonny Doon Vineyard wine (Wine Crush!) and gorgeous.....

Until I was bummed about dessert.

The fruit was lovely. After the tart, the scallops and the lamb, though, that dessert was a letdown.

We went and chocolate toffee cookies from Hot Cookie in the Castro and they were awesome.

Who's a Hot Cookie?! Laura, of course.

Sunday- I wanted bacon and orange juice but settle for bacon & tea.

After brunch we went to Art Fibers where Heather tells us we can 'taste' the yarn before we buy it. This of course leads to a frenzy of yarn tasting. Yummy!

All in all, this was a great weekend, full of food, love, laughter, food, magic, heart, soul, food and friendship. Even if some people, for me, got lost in translation.