Food Buzz Festival – November 5-7, 2010     

We were very excited to attend the 2nd Annual Foodbuzz Festival in San Francisco.  San Francisco is an idyllic place to host this event with its unique personality and charm as well as being one of the top two Culinary meccas on the West Coast.  Having been originally from the Bay Area, it was nice to be back in the old stomping grounds, but as always, it was a treat to experience all the new and exciting things that have changed.  The first day of the event kicked off with a “Street Food Fare” featuring some of the best from a few of the artisan beer breweries from around town along with some of the ever so popular food trucks and farmers market purveyors.  Having been food truck chasers in Southern California at one time, we have grown to embrace the truly extraordinary foods put out by some of these wonderful chefs.   

A special thanks to Black Market Bakery, based in Irvine, California, for providing this wonderful gift bag for the evening’s gift exchange.  We thought it represented our love for wine and Italian cooking perfectly.  If you haven’t tried the Cabernet Brownies or the Cabernet Pasta from Black Market Bakery it’s a must try the next time you’re in Irvine.  The Cabernet adds a depth of richness and earthiness that is just delicious.  We hope Raya from Raya Runs enjoys the goodies.    

Raya of Raya Runs is the lucky winner of the Black Market Goodie Bag! SWEET!!

The first evening’s festivities featured a gift bag exchange that allowed us to meet some new fellow food bloggers from across the country.  We met a couple new friends from as far away as Florida and North Carolina.  Pictured above is:  Stepfanie from SparkPeople, Melissa from Trying to Heal and Teri from a Foodie Stays Fit.   

Featured here is the Mini Porchetta Sandwiches from Roli Roti.  This was one of my favorite things that I tried at the Street Food Fare, and I wished it wasn’t one of the things that I had eaten at the end of the night once I was already stuffed to the brim.  They slow roast the pork roll on a rotisserie to seal in all those tasty juices.  Once they slice off a hearty serving, they take the sliced artisan bread and smear it in the drippings from the cutting board so that it soaks into the bread.   Next they add their caramelized onion spread, some fresh arugula, pair the whole things with some roasted potatoes, and voila!    

It was fun to catch up with Chrystal & Amir of Duo Dishes; Erika of In Erika’s Kitchen and Amanda of The Cilantropist.     

Here are some of the amazing things we sampled during the Street Food Fare!  Pictured from the top left and going clockwise, you’ll see a pork loin sandwich from 4505 Meats.  The pork loin has been brined in jalapeno pickling liquid, crusted in corn meal and then lightly fried to perfection.  The pork is then topped with pickled green beans, onions and a coriander aioli sauce and served on a toasted buttery sesame bun, complete with chicharrones.  This was our favorite dish of the night!  The pork was tender with a nice crust from the corn meal.  The pickled vegetables gave a nice tang to the sandwich.  We have never tasted chicharrones like this before…it was light,  airy and very well seasoned.  Hong, from The Ravenous Couple, and I are ready to enjoy the offering from 4505 Meats, the Spencer On The Go truck (Yes! it’s the one you saw on the Food Network’s The Great Food Truck Race)  We enjoyed a great lamb cheek sandwich from Spencer On the Go.  Center bottom:  a great Golden Vanilla beer made with real vanilla beans from Thirsty Bear Brewing Company, and some yummy take home Chicharrones from 4505 Meats.   

 Needless to say, we had a great time sampling the delicious offerings and of course meeting and catching up with other food bloggers and people in the food industry.  The Street Food Fare was a fun way to kick off the Foodbuzz Festival.  Check back for our recap of the rest of the 2nd Annual Foodbuzz Festival.  More delectable food photos to come!

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