Florida Winefest Showcase Food and Wine Tasting

The Florida Winefest Food and Wine Tasting is one of my favorite events of the year, and the profits are donated to worthy children's charities. I always count on the luncheon to serve excellent wines and offer a multitude of delicious bites to eat. The wines predictably included some of the cream of the crop, with some of my personal favorites being Flowers, Chalk Hill and Saddleback. However, the food this year definitely seemed to reflect the state of the economy. Instead of the usual entree-worthy samplings, many of the restaurants served tastes on crackers, tortilla chips or bread. Imagine my dismay when after waiting in a long line to sample the sea bass croquettes provided by one of my favorite restaurants, Selva Grill, that just when I only had two people ahead of me, it was announced that that the last croquette of the day had been served. It was not even noon yet!

From the foods that were available to sample, honorable mention goes to Ark catering for their tuna tartar served with guacamole (yes on a tortilla chip, but it was homemade) and the Lido Beach Resort for paella that surpasses the paella I've had at previous tastings from Ceviche. The Colony's snapper is always delicious, but it's always snapper that the Colony serves at tastings. I'd love to have something new to sample next time. These events are meant to showcase restaurants. My advice to restaurants is to use these tastings to do just that. Do something special; show people what you've got! In this economy, it's even more of a reason to do so. For many people, if they're going to spend the money on a nice meal, then it's got to be extra special. So make it extraordinary, tempt us, and bring enough food to feed everyone! Next year, I'll be back and see.

0 members like this