A Gala Fit for Foodies

Saturday night of FoodBuzz fest was definitely the highlight of the weekend (for me, at least).  We reconvened at about 7pm outside the Ferry Building, where the Farmer?s Market I attended earlier in the day was held.

First up, we were treated to delicious appetizers and a Moscat wine from Bonny Doon Vineyards (in fact the entire evening was paired with Bonny Doon Vineyards wine). 

The Moscat was a great way to start the evening.  It was crisp, a little sweet, but not too overwhelming.

The weekend in a nutshell: camera+wine (oh, and food too!):

The appetizers I tried were the beef roll

And the goat cheese stuffed polenta

Light, tasty appetizers, that definitely were a sign of the greatness to come for dinner!

We then moved into the great hall for the dinner, and wow was it beautiful.

The centerpieces were so fun ? close up of the funky tree/moss centerpieces (which I loved)

And the?it was on to dinner.  But not before some additional photo ops!

Then, it was time for dinner.  The menu was incredible.

I had a slightly altered menu, but the wine pairings were still the same.

First up, an heirloom beat salad.  DELISH.  I love beets.  The wine pairing for this course was the Ca? Del Solo Abarino by Bonny Doons.  It was by far my favorite wine throughout the entire evening.  So crisp and wonderful ? I?m hoping to go to their tasting store in Santa Cruz soon for some more

I?ve never had a bad beet salad.  I just wish that my missing feta cheese had been replaced with goat cheese.  Because thats possibly my favorite salad combo ever.

Second course was Seared Scallops on a bed of fennel.  This was what it looked like with the butter sauce ? I eventually got a new one (and forgot to snap a photo!)

It was my first time having scallops ? and they were cooked (I?m assuming) to perfection, because they pretty much melted in my mouth.  Such a great second course.  I want more scallops.  Now.

The main entree for the evening was a lamb over mashed sweet potatoes.

I love a nice and tender lamb, and this lamb wais definitely cooked to my taste (even though I didn?t specify ? there were 350 people, afterall).  It was actually quite impressive how 350+ pieces of lamb came out so well.  It seriously tasted like heaven was melting in my mouth.

Dessert for me was different than everyone else.  But I believe I got a poached pear topped with some sort of sorbet, a fig and other assortment of fruit.  Personally, this is my preferred type of dessert.  While sometimes, yes, a nice piece of chocolate case would be nice, I?m a fruit/sorbet kind of girl and was pleasantly surprised when this came out.

Verdict?  FoodBuzz can serve me ANYTIME.  Seriously.  Delish.  The dinner was more than I expected and then some.  The food was great, the wine was awesome (though the only one I would definitely back for again was the first course wine or the moscat.  Soooo good.  Maybe I?m starting to become a white wine girl?!  Normally a good red is calling my name

Looking back at the Ferry Building after a delicious meal in the Grand Hall.  Gorgeous sight.  And we just ate there.  I was totally happy, totally food and wined out, totally had a food belly and all I wanted was sleep ? which was exactly where we headed.

Thanks to FoodBuzz for putting on such an incredible final dinner for the FoodBuzz fest ? it was more than I imagined.

And now, I?m blogging to you from SFO?where I?m waiting for my redeye flight to MSP-CHI to take off.  Can?t wait for a wonderful four day weekend to Chicago.  Expect food, drinks, friends and a happy happy girl behind the blog!  See you in Chicago!