SAVOR NEW ORLEANS FLAVOR

I was honored to receive an invite to the New Orleans Wine and Food Experience -Saturday Grand Tasting by Barefoot Wine!  The event took place under the big top of the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center.  The strands of carnival lights lit the room with food, wine, chatter and excitement.  The layout of the room I’m sure was designed with the moto “The Big Easy” because it allowed for movement between stations quite smoothly.  New Orleans is known as a visitor’s city and they treat you like you’re their closest friend.  The southern hospitality filled the room of vendors beckoning the palate of foodies and wine aficionados to sample everything in the venue which is just impossible but I gave it a good try!

Connoisseurs, purveyors and novice wine drinkers alike took part in meeting wine makers from around the globe and top upcoming chefs of the Creole, Cajun; French inspired world of New Orleans. Over 75 restaurants served bites savory and sweet and the combination of both was presented by The Bombay Club with a Foie Gras Cheesecake!

CULINARY GETAWAY 

Going into this wine and food experience I was simply partial to Barefoot Wine which has been a participant for the last 10 years at the NOWFE.  There was not one appetizer that could not be paired with one of the Barefoot Wines or Bubbly in this wonderland of wine and one bites! Barefoot had a variety of their catalog on hand to pour including the new line of light, rich, spicy, fruity wines of the red variety. Rich Red, Rosa Red and Sweet Red Blends are to be served chilled. Any one of the red blends taste as if you bit into a fresh summer berry fruit basket!  Throughout the experience I did sample quite a few of the wines that where available for the tasting, but always found myself back at the Barefoot table for a splash of one or another of their products to cleans my palate for the next go around.

 MISSION CHEFS OF NEW ORLEANS

I found pleasure not only in the sampling but the instructional seminars. The seminars gave step by step instruction on how to prepare some of the famous Louisiana dishes, learn tips from local chefs and guest sommeliers gave pointers about food and wine pairing with tastings. I quickly became a setting member of the New Orleans Mission Chief Demonstrations which gave a few tricks of the trade on how to prepare great culinary dishes on a budget! Cooking is a passion of mine, anytime I can gain knowledge of a culture through food it’s welcomed, paired with chefs that are focused on aiding the homeless, hungry and hurting souls of our nation is as warm and comforting as the cousine of New Orleans.

The opportunity to see who will be crowned the King or Queen of the eighth annual Louisiana Seafood Cook-Off, hosted by the Louisiana Seafood Promotion & Marketing Board was a treat as well.  Ten chefs from across the state of Louisiana competed for the coveted title and the winner represents the Louisiana seafood industry at events throughout the year.

As the event came to a close I found myself sitting in the VIP Lounge having my last sip of the experience, with two wonderful locals sharing stories of their last 10 years of attending the event and offering helpful tips about the city as well as awesome spots that I should take the time to dine.

But, there was no need to concern myself with where to dine for the evening.  Barefoot had planned a media dinner to be held at Antonio’s the oldest restaurant in the French Quarter.  I’ll  catch you up on that adventure in another post…until then “Let the good times roll”.