Kirbie's Cravings

Foodbuzz Festival Gala Dinner

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This is my final post on the Second Annual Foodbuzz Festival I attended this weekend in San Francisco.  After this, Iโ€™ll be getting back to blogging about the other places Iโ€™ve been eating at. You can read my previous posts on the Street Food Fare event and the Taste Pavilion event.

The gala dinner was held at the Ferry Building, a popular attraction in SF, especially for foodies. It is home to the famous Farmerโ€™s market, and houses a plethora of shops and restaurants. I had hoped to explore the Farmerโ€™s market and the shops inside the Ferry Building, but the busy schedule the Foodbuzz Festival committee had planned didnโ€™t leave me much time.

I was able to arrive about an hour before the gala to explore the stores inside the Ferry Building, though most of them were already closed for the night. I did manage to do some shopping at Sur La Table. I will have to come back at another point to try the food at the shops inside the Ferry Building.

The gala started with a cocktail hour outside with passed hors dโ€™oeuvres.  Afterward, we made our way inside to be seated for a four course dinner sponsored by the Cooking Channel.  The dining room was beautifully decorated with sparkling little lights.


The tables were full of wineglasses, four glasses for each setting. I donโ€™t think Iโ€™ve ever seen so many wine glasses on a table before.

Going in to the dinner, I have to admit, my expectations were not high for the quality of food we would be served. However, I was pleasantly surprised. The dinner courses were wonderfully prepared and on par to many of the fine dining places Iโ€™ve eaten at.

Our first course was a Roasted Golden Beet tart. The tart was made of polenta and was accompanied by chopped red beets. Iโ€™m not a huge fan of polenta, so this was my least favorite course.

The next course was Seared Scallops with Fennel. I love scallops, but usually the scallop dishes I eat are overcooked or too raw. The scallops on my plate were cooked a perfect medium rare. They were some of the best scallops Iโ€™ve had.

Our third course was a Rosemary and Garlic Infused Rack of Lamb, served with local wild mushrooms and butternut squash puree.  Each person was served a generous portion of lamb. Mine was still slightly pink in the middle, which is how I like my meat cooked.  The chops were tender, though they lacked a little in the flavor department. I really enjoyed the butternut squash puree. It was a great twist on the classic mashed potatoes side usually served.

Our final course was a butter almond cake with oranges and a sherry sauce. The cake wasnโ€™t too sweet and was pretty light as far as desserts go.

With each course, we were also served a different wine. I liked that we were given different wine glasses for each wine so that we didnโ€™t feel the need to finish the previous courseโ€™s wine. The dinner was a long event, but a perfect way to get to really bond with the people at your table.

There was one more event the next day: a farewell brunch.  I chose not to attend the final event. The rainy forecast, exhaustion from the previous days, and the long commute factored into my decision. Had I been staying in SF, I definitely would have attended the final day. All in all, the Foodbuzz Festival was a fun experience full of food, wine, and meeting great people.

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    3 comments on โ€œFoodbuzz Festival Gala Dinnerโ€

    1. Oh that gala looks delicious! I would love to try those scallops.
      Yes I agree about your reflection on boathouse. Thanks for comment!

    2. Sounds like you had a lot of fun and came home w/ a full tummy!

      I was telling my friends that you are inspiring me to write my own blog now ๐Ÿ™‚ I tried to google Foodbuzz โ€“ but it came up w/ foodbuzzsd.com? Can you give me more info?

      It seems like sooo much work to write a blog thou. I donโ€™t know how you all do it. It must take up alot of your time!

      You did a really nice job w/ this Festival post!

      • Hi Faye- Writing the blog is time consuming, but I really enjoy doing it, so I donโ€™t mind that it takes up a lot of my time. You can go to Foodbuzzโ€™s site at http://www.foodbuzz.com
        Basically itโ€™s a really large site of food blogs. If you write a blog that is mostly about food, you can register to be one of their โ€œfeatured publishers.โ€ (You can find a link to register at the bottom of their page.)
        Let me know if you have any other questions about writing a blog, foodbuzz or whatever else.