Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Buick Discovery + Food & Wine Event

Last weekend, we had the marvelous opportunity attend the Buick Discovery + Food & Wine event (you actually could have too).


We got to test drive some cars.


After we signed in at the kiosks.


Female photo (not my painted nails) below, with Ming recipe on the event passes.


We had a quick nosh before the demos started.


The first group got to drive first. This was great, as I had the opportunity to drive the new Regal Turbo. It was a damn nice car, similar to the A6's I have driven previously. Our gracious test rider let me open her up on the short test drive, and let's just say, this car can move.


Here is a guy talking about the Enclave.



After that we had a pastry demo with Ben Roche


He applies molecular gastronomy to desserts.


His s'more "bombs" were nothing short of incredible.


He also made caramel soy sauce ice cream using liquid nitrogen. Awesome. I mean it was one of the best things I have eaten. That s'more next to it? A dried marshmallow "wick," and a chocolate ball filled with liquid graham cracker. Hell yes.


Here is a shot of the next chef, Jonathan Sawyer. I forget the name of the sous chef, but it didn't matter because all he did was stand there much like that.



He (they?) made ratatouille stuffed fried zucchini blossoms. Absolutely delicious to eat, will probably never make them at home.



Finally, after way too long without wine at an event sponsored by Food & Wine, we merged groups and headed to the main event. I was particularly excited to see Ming Tsai, as he is a legend in the food world. He came out to much fan fare, and did not disappoint.


He was witty, sarcastic, slightly off-color and enthusiastic. The perfect combination for an entertainer. He really made it apparent, the difference between the chefs we saw earlier, and a superstar.



He started with a soy noodle chicken. Nothing too crazy, but a satisfying dish. I actually went home and made stir fry the next two nights in a row. Thanks for the inspiration, Ming.



He waxed-poetic about his beloved Kyocera knives, and indeed threw a piece of ginger up and caught it on the blade. Show-off.




One of our group members correctly answered a trivia question, because I told them the answer (it was Thomas Keller – the answer, not the friend), so they were able to get a sample of his second dish.



It was a mango and pepper pork stir fry, he called it his "sweet and sour pork." I think this one was more for show, as it came out bland and kind of chewy. Nevertheless, it was really just a dish for him to demo techniques. Which must have seemed like insanity to the audience member that asked how he learned to flip food in a pan. Really lady?




We had an awesome time, received a free signed cookbook from Ming, drank some mediocre wine, and tasted soy sauce ice cream. What did YOU do on your Saturday night?

11 comments:

Angela said...

Were you there when someone asked what "wok oil" was? I almost died :)

Philly Phoodie said...

YES! Where can I get "wok oil?" HAHA. Did you enjoy the event? We had a GREAT time.

Anonymous said...

I feel this post should invoke a more vigorous debate about the use of molecular gastronomy in food preparation.

Angela said...

Yes!!! i loved it considering it was free also. Are you going to the Blogger photo event at R2L next sat?

Angela said...

re: molec gastro. that was the gunner of the group!!!

Philly Phoodie said...

I am not going to the R2L event. And I can't believe the use of liquid nitrogen was being questioned!

Angela said...

the use of dry ice was even stranger...

JO said...

Molecular gastronomy feels like genetic engineering.

BiggRigg said...

The Buick event was great. I think my favorite was the soy ice cream, but the best part was later in the evening when I found Michael Green, the wine guy, stammering around slurring something about the 6 S's of drinking wine!

Anonymous said...

I also attended this same kind of event that's why it's a bit nostalgic for me because memories keep on backing in.

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Anonymous said...

looks bland to meh meh