Events Archives - Page 7 of 8 - Queen of the Food Age

McCrady’s Wine Lunch

November 7, 2014

*Note, I received a free meal at McCrady's as part of a luncheon I was

invited to on behalf of Wines of Provence*

Last week I was invited to a wine-pairing lunch at McCrady’s. Since that sentence contains some of my all-time favorite words, I was quick to respond “yes!” (that should come as no surprise, since you should be aware of my obsession with Sean Brock by now). Upon arrival at the McCrady’s banquet room, I was given a glass of M Rose by Minuty ($19.99/bottle), and it was delicious. Fruity and light and basically everything I wanted in a rose. We all took our seats and were treated to a short presentation about rose Wines of Provence, which I found very informative. Afterward, we got a 5-course lunch, prepared by Lucas Weir, the banquet chef at McCrady’s.

I have a love/hate relationship with prix fixe menus

I have personally always preferred rose wine to red or white because I think it’s a perfect balance. One of the diners at our table who’s been in the wine business for a number of years remarked that rose is “the only wine [he] knew of that really goes well with BBQ.” And if that isn’t a good enough reason to drink rose wine, then I don’t know what is. #PinkWineMakesMeHappy

And 4 bottles of pink wine makes me sing horrible renditions of 80’s songs. But that’s a bit long for a hashtag.

Course 1 – Grilled Shrimp with Persimmon, Peanut and Benne paired with Hecht & Bannier Cotes de Provence Rose ($17.99) and Mâitres Vignerons de la Vidaubanaise Le Provençal ($14.99). I loved this dish. It was fruity, but much more savory than sweet. The shrimp were perfectly cooked and served with the perfect amount of persimmon sauce, with a little bit of crunch from the benne seeds. Both of the wines paired perfectly, but I preferred the Hecht & Bannier with the food (but the le provençal was better on its own).

I wish all shrimp tasted like this.

Course 2 – Steamed Sea Trout with Turnips and Carolina Gold Rice paired with Gassier en Provence Sables d’Azur and Maison Saint Aix, AIX. I’m usually not a fan of trout, and I never would’ve ordered this on my own, but it was absolutely delicious. Very mild, citrusy, and creamy. The citrus and creaminess went really well with the AIX Rose, which I really enjoyed. It had a nice hint of grapefruit and was absolutely perfect with this meal. The Sables d’Azur I found to be a little blander and although it was still good, I preferred the AIX.

You can eat the skin, I’m told. But I never eat the skin.

Course 3 – Ember Roasted Pork with Chestnuts, Grapefruit, and Truffle paired with Chateau la Gordonne La Chapelle Gordonne ($29) and Chateau de Bernes Terres de Berne ($19.99). The pork was superb. It melted in your mouth and was bursting with flavor. I wasn’t as big a fan of the chestnuts, as they had the same consistency as undercooked beans. But maybe that’s the way chestnuts are supposed to be eaten? I’m not sure. In terms of the wines, I preferred the terres de berne for sipping on its own, but the la chapelle gordonne was absolutely perfect with the pork (and now I totally understand what he meant about roses pairing well with BBQ).

Now I’m going to be really bougie and only order rose with my BBQ.

Course 4 – Green Hill Camembert, Honeycrisp Apple, and Appalachian Red Corn paired with Chateau d’Esclans Les Clans ($65). This was one of my favorite courses. I loved the cheese with the apple and the mustard sauce that came with it. They made the Appalachian red corn into little crisps that tasted like cornflakes and were just a little sweet. Everything about this dish, from the taste to the preparation, was absolutely delicious. The wine that was paired with this dish was my least favorite of all the ones we tasted (and it’s a good thing too, since it was also the most expensive). It was very acidic and oaky and had a distinctly bitter and smoky taste. Just not my cup of tea.

I think all meals should have a cheese course.

Course 5 – Banana Cake with Coffee and Black Walnut paired with Chateau Paradis Rouge ($17.99). This was probably my least favorite course. The banana cake was dry and bitter from the coffee. The wine was nice and fruity and I opted to make that my dessert and gave up on the cake.

A sad ending to an otherwise perfect meal.

All in all I had a wonderful meal at McCrady’s (like every other meal I’ve had there), and I appreciate Wines of Provence for inviting me and helping open my eyes to the wonders of rose wines. Now that I know how well they pair with pork, and how inexpensive they are, I’ll definitely be having a few glasses of these roses in the future!

And I’d like to sit right here while I drink them, please and thank you. Photo via Facebook

McCrady’s
2 Unity Alley
Charleston, SC 29401
(843)577-0025

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Events

Food Film Festival, Night 3, “An Edible Adventure”

May 19, 2014

Part 3 of 3 of my Food Film Festival Series. I hope you enjoy, and know that as soon as this week is over, I should have much more time and be able to get back in the habit of posting 3x a week (and I have quite a few restaurant reviews in my arsenal, so those are on the way). Night 3 of the Food Film Festival was probably the night I was most excited for, and it definitely lived up to the hype.

My mother was also very impressed. Photo by Gregg Lambton-Carr

The pre-party was featured Sushi by O-Ku, and some delicious fried chicken skins and tempura vegetables done by the organizers of the festival. Everything was super yummy, and I never thought I’d say that about a chicken skin.

Although, to be fair, I didn’t know it was chicken skin when I agreed to eat it.

The first film of the night was “Sushi: Handcrafted Happiness,” which was literally 1 minute long and I think I missed most of it trying to get a good picture. The sushi that O-Ku made at the pre-party was delicious, though, so I guess that makes up for it.

Just now realizing this looks like a mouth. Kind of creepy, but cool.

The second film of the night was “Beer: A Beautiful Artistic Symphony,” which was 2 minutes and 22 seconds of entertainment. It was funny and informative and I loved the way Charlie Bamforth really made beer into an art form. Also, I’m always down for some free Sierra Nevada.

I feel like I know him already. Or maybe I just wish I knew him.

The third film of the night was my favorite of the night (and perhaps the whole festival), “Guacamole – A Gambling Recipe,” which was an adorable stop-motion story of the old west, told by vegetables. Just under 3 minutes, I was enthralled from beginning to end. Also, the guacamole was delicious.

Guacamole + Stop Motion = A Winning Combination

The next film was the film that I’d been waiting for during the entire festival: Biting Into The Ramen Burger. The film documented chef Keizo Shimamoto during the summer of 2013 when he invented the Ramen Burger, which quickly became a sensation. I mean, who wouldn’t be interested in a “bun” made out of ramen with a delicious burger in the middle?

So good.

Unfortunately, we’d have to wait until the after party to be able to taste one of these delicious burgers, and taste we did. I ate 2 of them before pilfering a few more to take home with me to be eaten later and shared with friends. The burger was awesome. I loved the texture of the ramen buns, paired with the tanginess of the soy sauce that went on it. The flavors were like nothing I’d ever had before and it was easy for me to understand why some people would wait in line for over 3 hours just to try one.

Also, I got to meet the Chef!

Next up was “The Mobile Blues,” a 4-minute long film about the hunt for blue crabs in Mobile Bay. To complement the film, we tried blue crab crostini from Charleston Crab House and Alabama Seafood, which was fresh and very yummy.

I prefer to think of it as a “Crabby Patty”

Still on the seafood kick, but switching gears a bit, “Tako NY” was the story of Chef Karl Palma and his love for street food. The audience watched as he crafted the much-loved “takoyaki” balls, which looked like something sweet, but were actually very savory.

Also full of squid.

Moving onto the sweet part of the evening, we screened the film “Sweet Legacy,” directed by festival director George Motz, detailing the legacy of the “In The Raw” company and the family behind the brand. To go along with the film, we were given “banana brulee” prepared by the FFF chefs, with a donut featuring In The Raw sugar, which was delicious.

I mean, it's dough covered in sugar. What's not to love?

I mean, it’s fried dough covered in sugar. What’s not to love?

The final film was “Where Does a Compost Cookie Come From?” which was essentially a video recipe card, showing all of the different elements that go into a compost cookie from Momofuku Milk Bar in NYC (potato chips, butterscotch, oatmeal… what a combo!). The film was great, but the cookie was even better. The after party featured a bunch of other cookies that they make like the corn cookie (with real corn!), blueberry cream, chocolate chip, and more.

Although, only giving me half of a cookie is kind of cruel.

The afterparty was so much fun. Tina got to try a popsicle from King of Pops in Charleston, which she’d never had before. She talked to the guys for a while and really enjoyed it.

She was really excited about the popsicle. And basically everything else.

Then we ate our body weight in Ramen Burgers, drank a little too much, and stuffed a bunch of samples in our purses to take home. The rep from Jarlsberg cheese even gave us a bunch of cheese samples to take home (and by “a bunch,” I mean “5 whole pounds of cheese.” It was awesome.)

But then we felt like this for the rest of the night.

And, there’s my mother, looking excited again.

We can’t wait until next year!

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Events

Food Film Festival, Night 2: Food Porn Party

May 9, 2014

So these past 2 weeks were really fun, but also very busy, so I’m a little (read: a lot) behind on all of the things I need to catch you guys up with. So let’s get started! Saturday 4/26 was the second night of the Food Film Festival and I was excited to be joined by my mom for the “Food Porn Party.” She was excited but wasn’t really sure what to expect.

What she definitely wasn't expecting was to meet her first food porn star, but that's how you roll at the Food Film Festival.

What she definitely wasn’t expecting was to meet her first food porn star, but that’s how they roll at the Food Film Festival.

Night 2 took place at High Wire Brewing on King Street, which is a really cool space if you haven’t been there yet.

Photo Credit: Gregg Lambton-Carr

The pre-party was catered by Charleston Harbor Fish House and featured lots of delicious hors d’oeuvres, like prosciutto, goat cheese, arugula, and fig roll,. I’ve never been to CHFH before, but after these snacks, I’ve added it to my list of places to try.

And this is just the pre-party!

I was really excited to try the gin from High Wire, as I’d heard it was delicious.

I may not have been making that face, but I was definitely as excited as that lady was. Photo Credit: Georgi Richardson

They were using it to make a signature cocktail, the Fitzgerald, featuring gin, lemon juice, bitters, simple syrup and a green onion (I think?) as a garnish that I used as a straw. It was so yummy. I’m not a huge fan of gin, but I love High Wire’s. It wasn’t too pine sol tasting like I think most gins are and it had just a little bit of sweetness to it.

Gosh, I’m so photogenic. Photo Credit: Gregg Lambton-Carr

The second night of the festival consisted of 10 films, all related to food porn, i.e. food that tastes as good as it looks. I’ll give a brief synopsis of each of the films, as well as the food it was paired with. The first was Paloma, a delightful short film served with a paloma cocktail, which basically tasted like a margarita. Tina didn’t care for hers, so whoops! 2 for me!

To be fair it was more of a shot than a “drink.”

The Best Fish Tacos In Ensanada was really short, and I don’t actually remember much from the film. These tacos came from Basico in Charleston (also on my list of places to try) and I don’t know if it’s the best fish taco I’ve ever had, but I did enjoy it. Again, Tina refused to try a fish taco, so I got to have 2.

Gosh, I love fish tacos.

How To Make A Turtle Burger was hilarious and fun, despite the fact that it had no dialogue. What it did have, however, was a sexy butt crack shot, which was hilarious and fun. A turtle burger (turkey burger wrapped in turkey bacon with hot dogs designed to be the shape of a turtle) was provided for us to try from HoM, and it was very yummy. It even tasted good 2 days later when I gave my leftovers to a friend.

No, that’s not one of the guys from Duck Dynasty.

Lemon Muffins With A Sweet Surprise was also a fun film. I wish all recipes came with a short video like this. The muffins were provided by Browns Court Bakery, and damn were they good. I may have stolen 3 of them after the movie was over (and you wonder why I’m on a diet now).

Spoiler alert: the “sweet surprise” is a mounds candy bar.

Fondue was probably my favorite of all of the films. Featuring the world’s first food porn star, this raunchy comedy short film gave you all the instructions for cooking fondue, and some visual aids for how to eat it.

Very visual.

Old Fashioned Salted Caramels was also really fun to watch, and even more fun to eat. You may notice that the donuts in my picture are different than the ones featured in the film, and that’s because shipping issues caused the original donuts to be held up so they had to call in some unglazed Krispy Kremes to fill in. I’m not complaining, because they were so tasty. Tina also grabbed about 12 of the actual Caramels that Libby passed out, and they were equally tasty.

Caramel on a Krispy Kreme donut? Psh. Diabetes is totally worth it.

The most heartfelt and emotional of all of the films was Crazy, A Story About Cake (And Other Things). It was the story of one family’s recipe for a cake that was treasured and passed down from one member to another. It actually made me tear up a little, I’m not gonna lie. It was great. Here’s my mother posing for a picture. George’s aunt made the crazy cake for the festival, and it was actually pretty good, despite the fact that you make the whole cake in the pan. No mixing bowl needed!

Maybe because it reminds me of my crazy family.

At Home with Edward Wohl was told documentary style and was the longest film of the night. He makes hand carved wooden cutting boards out of this special type of wood out in wisconsin (I think). The film was fun and had just the right touch of humor, whimsy, and morality.

This picture reminds me of Mystery Science Theater 3000 a little bit.

Food Play was probably my least favorite of the films this night. I thought it was a little slow moving and was a little awkward. I get why some people would be really into this kind of humor, I’m just not one of them. I do appreciate the idea and the filmography, though.

Just not my style.

My least favorite of the food samples came from Butcher & Bee’s torta for the film One Minute Meal, which was surprising because I usually love everything B&B (including owner Michael Shemtov).

Sorry B&B.

The after party in the parking lot featured lots more samplings of the things we’d tried during the films, as well as a delicious clam pudding from The Macintosh (it was better than it sounds), some cookies, and good company (I finally met Holy City Sinner! How fun!). The after-after party was at The Macintosh, in the special events space on the patio in the very back of the restaurant. It was gorgeous back there, but after sampling the food they brought out for us (not that I was at all hungry) I stand by my original review saying that I don’t really care for it. I feel bad because Chef Bacon seems like a really nice guy.

My phone really doesn’t do it justice.

Tina and I capped the night off with a ride home from Co-Pilot, which you guys should really check out because it’s a solid business plan and why isn’t this service offered everywhere? Hopefully I’ll get night 3 up in the next couple of days, followed by a few solid weeks of restaurant reviews and a recap of my time at the American Culinary Foundation’s Southeastern Conference. See you soon!

Look how cute we are! Photo Credit: Gregg Lambton-Carr

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Events

Charleston Food Film Festival, Night 1

April 25, 2014

I’m basically a professional photographer.

Last night, Lily and I attended the first night of the 2nd Annual Charleston Food Film Festival atop the USS Yorktown in the Charleston Harbor.

Look how excited we are!

The main feature the first night was “Kings of BBQ Barbecue Kuwait,” a short film by director John Markus (who’s super nice, btw), which chronicles him as he “teams up with the most legendary BBQ Pitmasters in America, travel to the Middle East, and cook an unforgettable homestyle dinner of smoked brisket and chicken for thousands of US troops stationed in Kuwait.”

The film was about 37 minutes long, and was a joy to watch. I was entertained from start to finish. The coolest part was when you were sitting in your seat watching the soldiers enjoy their brisket on the screen, brisket suddenly appeared in your lap for you to try, too. The brisket was provided by Sticky Fingers and was prepared by the pitmasters from the film who’d been cooking it for most of the day.

The best kinds of events are the ones where food magically appears in front of you.

The second film was called “Mile High Pie,” by director Melanie Addington, which told the story of ” mile-high pies at Ed & Kay’s Restaurant in Benton, Arkansas.” The film was about 4 minutes long, and I really enjoyed the lemon meringue pie we sampled during the film, provided by Wild Flour bakery in Charleston.

Magically appearing pie!

After the films were over, there were buffet stations setup with a full BBQ feast available (chicken wings, brisket, baked beans, coleslaw, potato salad, and beers from Holy City Brewery), being served to us by the same pitmasters who were featured in the first film.

So delicious.

Although I took the time to stop and talk to each of the pitmasters, I was extra excited to get a photo with my favorite, Johnny Trigg, a two-time Jack Daniels World Championship Invitational grand champ.

The champ, Johnny Trigg!

I really enjoyed getting the opportunity to talk to director John Markus about what inspired him to make the movie. You can tell by the way he talked (even with BBQ sauce smeared on his cheek) that he put some of his own heart into the film. He seemed to genuinely be pleased to hear that we enjoyed the film.

Director John Markus

I had a crazy amount of fun and can’t wait for tonight and tomorrow’s events, where I’ll be joined by my mom at High Wire Distilling (which I’m excited about because I haven’t been there yet). Tickets are still on sale, and if you enter QUEENS10 at checkout, you’ll save 10%! Hope to see you there!

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Events

The 2nd Annual Charleston Food Film Festival

April 16, 2014

The 2nd Annual Charleston Food Film Festival is returning April 24-26 for 3 days of BBQ, movies, and celebration!

Like “scratch and sniff,” but like A THOUSAND TIMES BETTER. (Photo courtesy of The Food Film Festival)

I’ve been lucky enough to receive free tickets to this event and I’m so excited for it. Because I love you all, I’m going to help you to attend as well! Get 10% off your ticket price when you enter the promo code “QUEENS10” at checkout! Plus, you can feel good knowing that your ticket to the festival benefits Growfood Carolina, The Good Food Project, and the Food Bank of NYC. The only thing better than having fun is having fun for a good cause!

Food and Movies, 2 of my favorite things (Photo Credit: Olivia Rae James)

So basically, we’re going to watch a bunch of short films about food and then you get to try the foods featured in the films. I’m personally looking forward to Best Fish Tacos in Ensenada and Biting Into The Ramen Burger, which both sound delicious, but How To Make A Turtle Burger intrigues me, as well. Click to the Charleston Food Film Festival for a full list of the films to be featured.

This is a collage of pictures I liked from this year’s films, and one shot of last year’s festival.

Since it is a 3-day event, here’s a breakdown of each event from the Food Film Festival website. I’m going to all three, and I am SO PUMPED.

Thursday 4/24/14: The Kings of Barbecue presented by Sticky Fingers Smokehouse
Location: The flight deck of the USS Yorktown, Patriot’s Point
Details: The Official Kick-off of the 2014 Food Film Festival season, The Kings of Barbecue features an exclusive screening of The Kings of BBQ Barbecue Kuwait, by Emmy-Award winner John Markus, which follows world champion competitive pitmasters as they join forces to cook a BBQ feast for 5,000 troop in Kuwait. That’s followed by an all-you-can-eat smoked brisket and chicken dinner cooked by world champion pitmasters Nicole Davenport, Jamie Geer, Tommy Houston, John Markus, Paul Schatte, Tuffy Stone, and Johnny Trigg.

Friday 4/25/14: The Food Porn Party
Location: High Wire Distilling Co.
Details: Celebrating the art of beautiful, close-up images of food set to music, The Food Porn Party showcases unique food films and dishes from local and national chefs and purveyors…from West Coast doughnuts and Baja fish tacos, to fondue and the Turtle Burger (it’s not what you think!).

Saturday 4/26/14: Edible Adventure #010: Ramen Burgers + More
Location: High Wire Distilling Co.
Details: For the 10th installment of its Edible Adventure series, the Festival brings Ramen Burger creator Keizo Shimamoto to Charleston for one night only to serve his famous dish following the southeastern premiere of Director Mike Fox’s Biting Into the Ramen Burger. Many more exotic flavors will be featured, from Chef Karl Palma’s Takoyaki Balls to Momofuku Milk Bar’s Compost Cookie and much more.

If this photo is any indication, this event is going to be a total blast (Photo Credit: Adam Chandler)

So go get your tickets (don’t forget to enter QUEENS10 at checkout to save 10%) and I’ll save you a seat!

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Events

Duvall Express Launch Party

February 10, 2014

A few weeks back, I was invited to attend the launch party for Duvall Express, a small event catering and event space in North Charleston, SC. The space is very multi-purpose, incorporating events, theater productions, catering kitchen, and serving as a “home base” for a number of the Lowcountry’s best food trucks. The event was in conjunction with Lowcountry Local First and consisted of many local vendors setting up tables in the space and offering samples of their products for everyone to try, in addition to the menu provided by Duvall Express.

You had me at “Mac and Cheese Buffet”

Josh at Duvall Express was kind enough to give us the “Behind-The-Scenes” tour of the multiple kitchens (yes, there are more than one!) and the event spaces in their North Charleston facility. Duvall Express partnered with South Carolina vendors whose products they incorporated into their local-themed menu. It’s nice to see businesses focused on helping out local entrepreneurs. Couple that with the fact that pretty much everything that I tried from their catering menu was delicious, and you can bet I can’t wait to attend an event catered by Duvall Express!

Duvall Express
2816 Azalea Dr
North Charleston, SC 29405
(843) 763-9222 ext. 20

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Events Restaurant Reviews

Happy Dog, Cleveland, OH

August 2, 2013

While staying in Cleveland in July, we were sitting in our hotel room watching Food Network (because we’re a bunch of lardo’s) when a commercial came on for “Best Thing I Ever Ate.” We were about to turn off the tv and walk out the door, when Michael Symon came on and said the best thing he ever ate was a hot dog from Happy Dog in Cleveland. Sean and I immediately looked at each other as a plan quickly formed in our brains.

We have lots of ideas. Not a lot of “good” ideas, though.

The space is very divey. You can tell this is more of a place to go at night (they have a stage setup for live music), so it looked kind of empty in the daylight. When you sit down, there are long, thin sheets of paper with all the toppings and sauces you can get on your hot dog. Their housemade quarter pound hot dog costs $5, but you get unlimited toppings, so I think that totally makes up for it. When you flip the paper over, you have a choice between fries and tater tots, and the list of all the toppings you can get on those. Basically it was my dream restaurant.

So. Many. Delicious. Choices.

I was a little overwhelmed at first, because there are so many choices. I ended up ordering my hot dog with pimento mac and cheese (of course), bleu cheese coleslaw, caramelized onions, bacon, and roasted garlic aioli. I was a little worried that it was going to be too many flavors for one hot dog, but the chef managed to balance the distribution of everything really well. I loved it.

There’s macaroni and cheese on my hot dog. Did I mention that this is my dream restaurant??

I stayed pretty basic with my tater tots (because you know I love me some tater tots) and just got them with nacho cheese sauce and bacon.

Sorry for the poor quality. I was trying to eat and take pictures at the same time.

Ben was brave and ordered the Michael Symon “Best Thing I Ever Ate” dog which has alien relish, chunky peanut butter, and sriracha hot sauce. As weird as it sounds, it was actually delicious. The peanut butter was not sweet at all, so it really complemented the other flavors of the dog.

Ben is slightly better at eating and taking pictures at the same time.

Ben, longing for his homeland, also got the “poutine” fries, which are fries topped with bacon, feta cheese, and beef gravy. Though it wasn’t authentic Canadian poutine, it was still pretty darn good, so no complaints here.

I could eat like 3 of those right now.

Sean built his own dog and topped it with bourbon baked beens, pimento mac and cheese, and bacon spiked southern style greens. It was very much a southern hot dog. The bite I had was delish. He also got fries, but kept them pretty basic with cheese and bacon.

I promise there’s a hot dog under all that macaroni

Christine got a very Christine hot dog, topped with cucumbers, caramelized onions, and brazilian chimichurri.

Christine is kind of strange. But I love her anyway. Or maybe because of that. I’m not sure.

The one thing I thought was kind of weird was that instead of putting the sauces onto your hot dog, they brought them all out at once on a tray, so you can put it on yourself depending on how much you want. So we ended up getting 4 people’s worth of sauces brought out at once, without any idea which sauce belonged to which person (especially since we all had short term memory loss and forgot which sauces we all ordered once they took our papers away).

Saucepacalypse!

They also have a ton of beers on tap, including a few that they brew in-house. We got a pint of the chocolate peanut butter cup porter, and it was really yummy.

Mac and cheese hot dogs?Peanut butter cup beer? This place is heaven.

All in all I really enjoyed this place and would totally go back again next time I’m in Cleveland. Thanks for the recommendation, Mr. Symon!

I definitely left happy.

Happy Dog
5801 Detroit Ave
Cleveland, OH 44102
(216) 651-9474

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Events

fcupid13 at Mellow Mushroom

February 22, 2013

Every year on Valentine’s day, Mellow Mushroom in downtown Charleston hosts an fcupid party for singles or “those awesome couples who would rather party down than dine in an over-priced and stuffy restaurant.” I went my senior year with Ross and Lily and basically just ate pizza and talked about how Valentine’s day is stupid. This year, however, they incorporated the Walking Dead and held a contest via Twitter and Instagram to use the Dead Yourself app and #fcupid13 for a chance to win a bar tab. Which I won, because I’m awesome.

I make a pretty hot Zombie

When Laura and I got to the party, the whole upstairs area was transformed into this zombie party complete with ice luge, zombie piñata (which looked way too much like a clown for my comfort), fake bugs everywhere (which I didn’t realize were fake at first and scared the crap out of me), a live funk-rock-hip-hop band, a zombie face painter, and pictures of people who Deaded Themselves on Twitter and Instagram all over the walls. It felt like I was at a haunted Halloween party, which was great.

Zombeeeez

Even though we left before the piñata because A. it was late and we have to be up early to work for The Man and B. we forgot there was a piñata–it was still really fun and I’ll definitely be going next year! Check out the album for more pictures!

: I make a pretty hot Zombie

: This one is creepier, for some reason. I think it’s the eyes.

: This one is technically my mom and I can’t tell whether it’s creepy or hilarious.

: Look! I’m on the wall!

: Freaking awesome ice luge.

: Didn’t notice dudeman in the background til just now. Huh.

: Laura’s so intense!

: Hardcore Zombie

: Zombeeeez

: Rawr!

: This is the creepiest piñata I’ve ever seen. Kind of wish I’d been able to beat it to death with a bat.

: Not sure what the edible brains were made out of… marzipan maybe? Cupcakes were red velvet and delish

Events

“Give Maple A Shot” Crown Royal Maple Finished Whisky Tasting Event

February 1, 2013

DISCLAIMER: I got free alcohol at this media event that I was invited to. Also, most of the pictures in this post are from external sources because iPhoto hates me and refuses to open and download my pictures.

HEY EVERYBODY, LOOK AT ME I'M IMPORTANT!

How does one get the title “Master of Whisky?” Sydney Gallimore, Master of Whisky, esq.

A couple weeks ago, someone from a marketing agency found my blog and decided I was important enough to be invited to a “special media event” at Social Restaurant + Wine Bar for the new Crown Royal Maple Finished Whisky. I saw the words “Free” and “Whisky” and was totally sold (and then I did a little happy dance that some stranger thought my blog was good enough to warrant “media” invitations).

Look at me, I AM SO PHOTOGENIC, YOU GUYS (photo from Carolina Nightlife)

I was a bit weirded out by the idea of maple whisky (and also, I really think it should be “whiskey”), but actually it’s delicious. Not too sweet, not overly maple-tasting. It was actually really, really yummy…although the smell was a bit overwhelming… as Tommy said “It smells like instant oatmeal in here.” I’m not a huge whisky person in general, but this is something I’d definitely buy again.

Laura and I getting harassed by paparazzi (and by that I mean I asked Bennett to take our picture)

The event was in 2 parts. I only stayed for the first part, which was the free drinks part. They offered 2 different cocktails, an old-fashioned and something called “The Manitoba,” which is what I got and it was delicious and sweet and fruity and delicious (yes. two deliciouses). The boys preferred the old-fashioned because it was “less frou-frou” and more manly. You could also get it on the rocks, which I’m sure was delicious, but I was too chicken to try.

I’ll try to recreate the manitoba at my house, but I doubt it’ll be as delicious.

There was also a mixology competition that was open to everyone brave enough to enter. I unfortunately had to leave before this happened (also before they brought the food out, which is the real tragedy), but Tommy and Bennett stayed and tried their hand at being master mixologists. They lost, but hey, we can’t all be winners like me. The grand prize was a maple body guitar (heh heh, maple wood. Maple whisky. GET IT?!) which I’m sure Benjamin would’ve been totally geeking out over had he been there (or maybe not.. I know nothing about guitars).

Look at that skill. Dudeman is a pro. (photo courtesy of Taylor Strategy)

Either way, it was a really fun event, the whisky is delicious, and people should invite me to more things that are free. Check out the album for more sweet pictures!

: Awesome artwork on the walls

: Laura and I getting harassed by paparazzi (and by that I mean, I asked Bennett to take our picture)

: Awesome artwork on the walls

: Laura and I getting harassed by paparazzi (and by that I mean, I asked Bennett to take our picture)

: I just need a few shots of my burger before I eat it…

: I just need a few shots of my burger before I eat it…

: That’s who won the maple guitar.

: HEY EVERYBODY, LOOK AT ME I’M IMPORTANT!

: That’s who won the maple guitar.

: Look at me, I AM SO PHOTOGENIC, YOU GUYS

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Events

Charleston Mac Off

November 16, 2012

If you know nothing else about me, you know I love macaroni and cheese. Seriously. I would give you my kidney for a quality bowl of mac and cheese. My favorite mac and cheese IN THE WORLD was made and served by the special education class at Greenville High School every Wednesday and you had to get there early before they sold out. I’ve spent most of my adult life trying (and failing) to find a bowl of mac and cheese that measured up. Enter the Charleston Mac Off… a macaroni and cheese festival/competition where you get to sample mac and cheese from some of the best restaurants in Charleston. Imagine my delight.

In case you have a bad imagination.

Ben and I bought the VIP package, which included admission and 25 tickets a person. The website said they were going to have 25 different restaurants, but they only ended up having 22, so we had some extra tickets. After we visited about half of the restaurants, we both started getting full and instead of getting a sample each, we started splitting the samples, so we ended up with a bunch more extra tickets. Luckily, they had drink vendors there, so I could drown my sorrows about all these extra tickets. My favorite drink was the Firefly Arnold Palmer, which was dangerously delicious (yay for not being DD!). In the future, I probably would have only gotten one VIP package and just bought general admission for Ben, as I think this would have been a more cost-effective option (plus you can buy more sample tickets as needed once you were actually there).

Ah, yes. I can see that I am in the right place. Photo from Tag Your Pix

Here are the restaurants we sampled: The Roost, Graze, Coleman Public House, Duke’s, Magnolia’s, Castaways, The Tomato Shed, Crave, Angel Oak Restaurant, Sesame, Poogan’s Porch, Cherrywood BBQ & Alehouse, J Paulz, B Gourmet Catering, Smoky Oak, New Moon Pizzeria, Mad River, The Shelter, possibly more, but I can’t remember….Of all of the restaurants there, I’d say Graze, Crave, and Coleman Public House were the best.

Plus, check out that sunset!

Graze was definitely my favorite of the night. Their “Southern Supper” white cheddar mac and cheese with pulled pork and collard greens was outstanding, and it really stood out in the sea of cheesy noodles that was the Mac Off. Although many of the restaurants were doing some kind of pork-related mac and cheese (bacon, ham, pulled pork, etc), Graze was definitely the best. No contest. I obviously wasn’t the only person who thought they were outstanding, as they won the Critic’s Choice Best Mac and Cheese. When Groupon offered a dinner deal at Graze a couple days after the Mac Off, I didn’t hesitate to purchase it so I could taste that delicious mac and cheese again. I’ll let you know how the rest of their menu measures up in a future post!

Also, that was the size of all of the “samples.” Also known as a “full meal” in most parts of the world.

Coleman Public House was serving up smoked gouda mac and cheese with pecan-smoked bacon and white truffle oil. I’m usually hesitant about things with truffle oil because the flavor can be so overpowering, but this mac and cheese was awesome. All of the flavors really complemented each other, and I loved that it was super creamy. They also used those twirly cavatappi noodles, which I love. I know they didn’t win anything at the Mac Off, but they were voted “Best Coma-Inducing Skillet of Cheesy Goodness” on the City Paper’s Best of Charleston 2012 list.

(It’s the one on the left and it is straight up deloicious)

Crave’s Aged Cheddar Mac and Cheese, topped with parmesan cheese, was definitely the creamiest of the entire event. It also had the cheesiest flavors and I think this was the best traditional mac and cheese I’ve had at any restaurant in Charleston. They also won the People’s Choice Best Tasting Mac and Cheese award for the third year in a row this year, so I think it’s safe to say that they know what they’re doing. I was also really impressed that they were actually cooking their mac and cheese on-site, instead of bringing it already cooked like most of the others.

I forgot to take a picture, so I stole this one from Crave’s Facebook page. This was not the size of the sample. But almost.

There were a couple restaurants whose mac and cheese was so bad that I’ll never eat there. At the top of this list was Angel Oak Restaurant, and The Roost. Angel Oak’s tasted like it had peanut butter in it for some reason, which was strange. The Roost’s macaroni was really dried out, so that wasn’t good (especially since this was the first one I tried that night). All of the other restaurants there ranged from “Good” to “Okay,” and basically weren’t worth mentioning, in my opinion. The only other restaurant to get some kind of honor was the Tomato Shed for “Best Use of a Local Ingredient” in their “Shrimp Club Mac & Cheese” (local shrimp, tomatoes, dill, goat cheese, bacon, and something called “bloomy-rind cheese”). I thought it was ok, but was a little too fishy tasting for my liking. J Paulz was there with their truffled mac and cheese, which is really good, but I’d had it before so it wasn’t really that exciting.

The problem here is that there was a lot of macaroni, and not a lot of cheese. Except for the crispy, dried out cheese they put on top.

The most creative mac and cheese was the Mac and Cheese cupcake from B Gourmet Catering. It was a mini-muffin sized cupcake made with cheddar and breadcrumbs and topped with a pimento cheese “frosting,” and sprinkled with bacon. I thought it was good, albeit a little too greasy. They also had some pretty cool entertainment, a DJ, followed by a live band, bull riding, and a cornhole contest and “fire hula-hooper” (no actual fire that I saw). They also had one of those new VW Bugs there that they may have been raffling off, but I was too focused on eating Mac & Cheese to pay attention.

For those of you who might not be able to tell, that hula hoop is not actually on fire. Photo from Tag Your Pix

Next time I’ll probably bring my own chairs (seating was hard to come by as the night went on), and make a whole night of it. It was way better at the Mount Pleasant Park than when they held it at the bus shed downtown, so I hope they hold it there again. Overall I’d say this was the best food event I’ve ever attended and you can bet I’ll be there next year!

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