With my $20 in "Slow Dough" and my biodegradable fork (made from potatoes), I entered the event. Hello, San Francisco, I am here to EAT!
This lobster made sure to grab a few breadsticks.
When I entered the event, I jumped in the first line I saw. It was for pizza. While we waited, we ate breadsticks, just like the lobster above.
Next to the lobster, there was a Bready Bear.
Check out these outdoor bread ovens.
Quite possibly the best pizza I've ever had. Perfect crust, perfect sauce, not too much cheese. OMG if the line wasn't a mile long, I could eat so much of this stuff!
Later, Eddie showed me the Bread Gator
Chocolate and Coffee...mmm.
I entered the indoor part of the event as I stuffed my pizza in my face. Directly ahead, I saw big signs that said "Chocolate" and "Coffee." OMG, had I died and gone to heaven? No pictures of the chocolate because I ate it too quickly. You'll have to settle for coffee.
One of the three coffees I tasted.
Coffee had 2 sides to its exhibit: coffee and espresso. I did coffee first. I was absolutely astounded by the coffee tasting. We were given small tastes of 3 different coffees as we learned where the beans came from and how they were processed. Normally I don't really get much out of signs on coffees that say things about "vanilla notes" or "light, citrus flavor." I've rarely met a coffee I don't like, but it all tastes like coffee to me. Here, the 3 coffees tasted incredibly different from one another - and all 3 were delicious. So good you could drink them black. Amazing!
Next, espresso! The line was long because the expert baristas were taking their time to make sure each espresso, macchiato, or cappuccino was perfect.
Beautiful.
I tried 3 of the different espressos they were serving. The first was AMAZING. It was from El Salvador. The second, from Panama, was horrible. The third, from Costa Rica, was in between. Hmm, I sound like Goldilocks. For someone like me who tends to love all coffee, it was quite a shock to try an espresso and dislike it. I think that one was made using a different processing method than most coffees and that probably had a lot to do with it. It was moments like this that really enforced the value of biodiversity in our food supply!!!!
The asked if I wanted Flight 1 or Flight 2. I said: BOTH!
One bowl was yogurt, cherry, and fig. The other has chocolate (made from goat milk), sweet cream, and butter pecan. By this point, my tummy had already started hurting from the sheer quantity of junk food it contained. I hope next year they serve fruits and vegetables!!!!!
I was so into my ice cream I lost my camera. Look at how nice people were!
During tea tasting, I doubled back to the couch where I ate my ice cream and found this sign. My 10mpx brand new Nikon was safe. I went back to finish my tea tour of Japan (yum!) and then went to the info desk for my camera.
With my camera in hand, I figured that as long as I'm outside, near the beer, I needed some beer. Bad idea but that didn't deter me. Here's the menu (above).
A chocolate oatmeal stout from Stone Brewery in San Diego.
I forgot before I ordered that I don't usually like Stone Brewery. They are good beers, just made to appeal to... well, not me anyway. This stout wasn't as unappealing to me as the others I've tried.
Dubbel Fantasy, also from San Diego.
I also got a dubbel, which was delicious. It had a very strong flavor, so it was a beer you'd sip, not chug. OK maybe other people don't tend to chug beers but I like wheat beers and when I get a good one I chug. I didn't finish my beers because my stomach was absolutely angry with me by this point. You must understand, I don't usually start drinking before noon. (Now I need to find this beer on tap in San Diego so I can finish my glass.)
Native American foods, to settle my tummy.
The Native American booth served a bean and buffalo stew and some hominy. I caved and ate meat. I figured the stew would calm my tummy a little bit. Then I popped a pill for nausea to make sure. (One advantage to having migraines is that the doctors keep you all stocked up with drugs.)
Olive oil.
Here's another food I normally like. I have never, EVER found an olive oil I don't like - until now. Most of these weren't for me, actually. They were each so different! Some were peppery, some were... I don't even know how to describe them. I kept tasting more and more, hoping to find that flavor I usually associate with olive oil, but each one was unique.
I don't think it's a bad thing that I didn't like every food I tried. Most foods sold in America are produced with the goal of selling as many as possible and they probably are aimed at the lowest common denominator. The foods here showed a wide range in diversity due to different locations, varieties, ages, and processing methods. Eddie told me that olive oils taste different when they are made from the same olives, depending on when the olive was harvested during the season.
Outside the Taste Pavilion, we ran into the White House Organic Farm Project bus.
Nothing unusual about this bus, right?
OK, I lied. It's 2 school buses fused together with a green roof.
A message for Barack Obama.
You can sign the petition for planting a farm at the White House here. The petition calls for a farm that provides food to the President and his family, as well as to DC public schools and food pantries. |
