fondue

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.

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

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.

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

 

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.

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!

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.

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.

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).

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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).

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.

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!