This weekend was the 2nd Annual Foodbuzz Festival in San Francisco and since I’m now living on the West Coast again, I was determined to attend.
After a fairly miserable (and thus undocumented) trip from LA to SF, I finally made it to the Bay Area. Being a super nerdy multi-tasking couple, Kyle and I decided to combine the Foodbuzz weekend with a networking trip for him so we took an alternate route up the state. It involved more cows and fewer people people with all their teeth…and that’s all I’ll say about that.
Ok no it’s not. Our pit stop along the way was about as far from a dream destination as it gets. I’m fairly certain I could’ve scored some drugs if I had ventured farther than 10 feet from the car. Needless to say, lunch was provided by Trader Joe’s. Alternate options included Applebee’s or KFC…or cocaine from the local park.
Yeah. So anyone who follows me on Twitter knows how much fun I had in Modesto.
But that’s a story for another time never.
The important thing is that Kyle and I made it home…and eventually Friday arrived…
Initially I had planned on staying with my sister, but after mentioning this to Holly, she and Janetha convinced me this was unacceptable. Next thing I knew, my weekend overnight arrangements were all accounted for, without a second thought on my part. Is it weird that I felt 100% comfortable spooning with people I’d never actually met in real life?
When I arrived on Friday, I discovered I was in fact staying in Danica’s swanky time share. She and her hubby were sweet enough to let me crash there, only moments after even meeting!
She posted more photos of the gorgeous presidential suite here.
Not only was she kind enough to share her room with us, but she even brought us all swag bags (Annie’s goodies!). Isn’t she the cutest?!?!
Foodbuzz hooked it up too (I still haven’t even finished sorting through it all)…and Janetha brought us all home-made trail mix and the best travel mug ever.
I’m pretty sure I had the sweetest roomie arrangement out of anyone at the festival. And if you don’t agree with me now, maybe this photo will change your mind?
Holly the yogi? She got ready with some time to spare, allowing her ample opportunity to give me fashion advice and practice her yoga poses. Brilliant.
After we all figured out our camera/purse/foodie gift exchange/outfit situation, we were off to the Welcome Reception. But not without subjecting Danica’s poor husband to a photo session.
Danica, Janetha, me, Holly, Susan – XXX
Similar to these ladies, Fort Mason has a special place in my heart.
Kyle proposed just a few yards away.
The Bay is so damn picturesque.
I’m not sure that beauty translated in this picture, but…yeah.
It’s safe to say we know how to have fun!
Don’t kill me for posting this Holly!!!
Almost immediately after entering, we were handed a glass of wine (don’t mind if I do!). Holly was my partner in [boozing] crime, so I didn’t feel the least bit guilty. 😉
We mingled for a little bit before being seated to do the foodie gift exchange.
I scored Danica’s delicious gift, which was a vegan recipe and all the ingredients needed to make it. Lucky me!
At this point I was feeling my wine buzz and in desperate need of real food. Hungry at a food festival?! Not cool man, not cool. Although the cheese platter had little appeal to me, I did use a few carbs to sponge up the alcohol.
Bread sandwich anyone?
After a quick hello and welcome from the Foodbuzz committee, it was a free for all to get to the grub. We all descended upon the food carts like a pack of hungry wolves…or maybe it just felt that way to me?
Likes
- Spacious setting (the large setting made mingling with others easy)
- Copious amounts of booze (no further explanation needed)
- Vegan Paella (this dish was the highlight of the night for me)
- Local vendors (I love how supportive the festival was [is] of the SF foodie scene)
- Recycle bins (they were everywhere – as were the eco-friendly cups made from corn)
Dislikes
- Spacious setting (at times it almost felt too spread out, so I didn’t see some bloggers at all that night)
- Lack of vegan options (there were bean tacos and vegan paella, but I would have enjoyed more choices – I was jealous of all the tasty treats the non-lactose intolerant bloggers got to taste)
- Organization (it wasn’t all bad, but there were many times that I had to wait in a long line to get food, which could have been avoided with a little more planning)
And now some food photos…
Tacolicious had pinto bean tacos which were nice with a squeeze of lime.
Vegan paella by Diamond Lil – a true food cart. This mobile restaurant is basically a 1957 Greyhound bus, which drives around using leftover cooking oil as fuel, delivering quality food to different regions. How clever! They offered two paellas – one with octopus and the other without any animal products.
Sustainable and convenient? Yes. Tasty? Indeed.
Mission Mini Cupcakes dominated the center table, but sadly, they came without their vegan flavors.
Roli Roti had mega meat action, but the potatoes I tried were delicious.
I think it’s fairly obvious how I felt about Thirsty Bear’s beer. I don’t even like IPAs, but the golden vanilla flavor was actually pretty good.
I tried other flavors too. ;) Thanks for the photo Danica! Although it’s blurry, the pic has too many amazing things going on to deny the rest of you all.
Curry Up Now had vegetarian kathi rolls, but unfortunately they had paneer (which has dairy) in them. They were so sweet and accommodating, they made me one without the paneer though (actually Danica was the one who asked and then gave me a bite of hers because I was too busy being a social butterfly).
It was seriously overwhelming seeing so many other bloggers that I recognized and felt like I “knew.” I hardly got a chance to say hi and suddenly the event was over!
Of course, that didn’t mean our night was over…
We met up with my sister and Kyle afterwards…and by the time we made it back to the hotel, it was pretty clear neither Holly nor myself would be joining the 6:30 am run organized by Janetha.
To be continued…
it’s too bad yours and holly’s 3some with the tin man kept you from running saturday morning…
What a bummer about the lack of vegan food! You’d think they’d have plans to better accomodate different types of foodies.
soooo jealous oh my goodness gracious! HOW FUN!
Awesome! Really enjoying living vicariously through all your recaps!
i love you.
i don’t even want to kill you for posting any of those pictures. i just want to spoon in bed, skip 6:30am runs and drink copious amounts of coffee together with the gang.
thank GOODNESS you didn’t have the vegetarian kathi roll from curry up now that i did – it had chicken in it!!! woops!
The lack of vegan foods was definitely a bummer. I ended up eating about 1000 cupcakes just to make up for the lack of meatless dishes…which weren’t vegan either, but they were good haha.
Hmmmm, why didn’t you post any pics of people feeding you? 😉
bhahahahha you took the I-5 didn’t you?
“Lack of vegan options (there were bean tacos and vegan paella, but I would have enjoyed more choices – I was jealous of all the tasty treats the non-lactose intolerant bloggers got to taste)”–
Ok so I posted about this (probably on the post that you had me take your pictures down on) and I got RIPPED in my comments. Like from 3 or 4 people. They totally chewed me out. I left a few of the nicer (yet still snarky) comments up b/c there were other people who had replied to them and it would have been weirder to delete them…and I felt the same.
But I ended up just edited off any critiques of the food. I loved the paella, but after a day of traveling, I was starving and had 3 servings of paella and was still….hungry! Anyway though, I survived 🙂
Glad you had a blast with your roommates!
Yeah. I mena, I liked the paella, and I did think it was a satisfactory meal. But because it was a food festival and they asked about various diets, etc. I did expect to have more options. I guess what it came down to was I was jealous of others who weren’t vegan, and I rarely feel that way. I wanted to get to sample more things and try different new dishes, and basically just gorge on everything…but when all was said and done, I had two choices.
Hey! It was so great to meet you at FBF! I agree about the lack of vegan options…I’m not a vegan, but I think FB should have put more options out there. It would have been a great opportunity to sample more interesting vegan cuisine!
Anyway, I’m glad you had a blast with Holly and everyone else!
what an awesome time!!! hahahaha i love that you snuggled with people you met for your first time officially! nothing like startin it off good 🙂
Wow we totally missed each other!! How did we miss each other? I was hoping to catch you there too. Yeah next time you’re in nor cal hit me up. Oh and no don’t go to Modesto. I lived there and when I was able to leave I jammed. lol
haha. i dont blame you. ick.
Awwww, how did I ever miss you saying Kyle proposed to you at Fort Mason!!!!
I can’t wait to hear whatcha think of the Harvest Grain Salad….Lucky you 😉
xoxo!
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