We showed up a little later this time. And it seems like the other attendees had the same idea. People trickled in throughout the day and there was definitely less people. It was a little cooler that day. Thank goodness!
Easy Tiger - Rye Tartlets (with Duck Romesco). The duck was great. The rye was too dry and fell apart when you bit into it.
Bufalina - Sage Burrata (with red wine poached strawberries and brown butter crisped sage). I freaking love burrata.
The Maple Syrup Lady - Maple Pecan Baklava, Maple Candy
Tiny Pies - Mini Pecan Pies. Cute! And very good. Apparently later in the day they had key lime, which I didn't get to try... booo. :(
Corner - Avocado Cheesecake (with prickly pear jelly and pistachio crumble). They get the award for the most interesting dish. The presentation is amazing first of all. The colors are so beautiful. And I got to see them plate these... :) You can totally taste the avocado, it was so smooth but light. Not too sweet and just enough.
Knob Creek - Blackberry Peach Tea Lemonade (with Knob Creek bourbon). My fiance liked it. Too strong for me!
Fork & Vine - Asparagus Salad. It was nice to get some veggies. A little too much sauce but otherwise another great dish. It's no scallops though. haha.
Bess Bistro - Pig Face Rillette (with kimchi bbq sauce, mung bean cilantro salad, pickled strawberry vinaigrette, on a lavash cracker). Didn't care for the lavash... too hard. But the pig face... SPOT ON. So good.
Little City - Cold Brew Coffee. I thought it was cool that it comes in bottles!
Finn & Porter - Grilled Octopus. One of the favorites of the day. The octopus was amazingly tender. Grilled to perfection and was complimented so well by the fennel/radish salad on the bottom. I wish I had more stomach space to go back for more.
La Barbecue - Brisket (on a plantain chip). I've heard great things about La Barbecue for a long time now but we've never had time to check them out in Austin. Brisket... amazing. That char is awesome. I bit mine in half and then the other half fell into the grass. I was devastated... Almost applied the 5 second rule but talked myself out of it. haha.
Wu Chow - Cold Noodles (with shredded chicken, in Peanut Sauce).
Baked by Amy's - S'mores and Brown Sugar Homemade Pop Tarts. No macarons today. Darn... These were cute too. But was just ok. Needed more filling, otherwise the crust is a tad dry.
La Condesa - Chicharrones. Mini Paletas (pineapple, tequila). They had two of the most interesting looking dishes. The paletas were in dry ice so you can see the cold air flying off of them. (check the Facebook page for a video) The Chicharrones had these hot sauce droppers stuck in there. Totally cool. But wasn't so tasty.
Cafe Mueller - Brisket Taco. Good, but after La Barbecue, the brisket didn't compare.
Odd Duck - Fire Roasted Calf (with oven-baked bread). Roasted calf was good, the bread was tough to bite through. Their line was super long too...
Pass & Provisions - Corned Beef Leg with Cabbage and Rye. My favorite dish of the day by far! First of all, it's huge!! The rye "tortilla" had a bunch of seasoning in it and I loved the texture. But the star is definitely the corned beef leg. I mean... the cooking process is insane. Loved the giant leg just hanging there. I also saw them cooking it on the fire. But it was soooo freaking tender. Melt in your mouth and went so well with the slaw. I was already so full when I got to them so I thought I'd just eat a bite or two. I ended up eating about 2/3rds of it... hehe.
Here are some other items where I either don't know the description of the dish and/or the vendor:
Braised Pork over Sticky Rice (topped with pickled onions and watermelon radish)
Black and Bleu Crustini (beef tenderloin, caramelized onions, gorgonzola)
Shrimp (honey glazed?) - these went so fast... my fiance had to wait for them to put out more. But delicious!
Tekeen - Wine Cocktail
Chef Richard Blais Demo "For Goodness Steak". Top Chef contestant and Top Chef All-Stars winner. Love this guy! Known for using interesting cooking methods. His demo had liquid nitrogen and a handheld smoker.
Chef Tyson Cole Demo - Uchi/Uchiko - Yellowtail Handroll. Uchi has been on my list forever, but still haven't made it there. It's quite expensive. Chef Cole was the only chef demo that made food for everyone in the audience. :)
It was a fun weekend. Lots of delicious food, and I got to see some of my favorite chefs! Got several autographs on my CHOMP! shirt!! :) Tony Mantuano, Graham Elliot, Antonia Lofaso, Richard Blais, and Jamie Bissonnette. I'd say it was a success!!
I do wish that both of us drank more. I felt like there were at least the same amount of alcohol vendors than food, if not more. We kind of missed out on that part of the festival... So maybe we didn't fully get our money's worth. Oh well. This was on my bucket list. And now I can check it off! Next time... the Aspen Food + Wine Festival!! :D
~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~
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