Monday, April 20, 2009

A Grand Tasting - The Best of Pebble Beach Food and Wine 2009

Here's a little video recap I just put together of my favorite bites from inside the Lexus Grand Tasting tent at Pebble Beach. It was foodie nirvana - literally hundreds of the finest wine markers shoulder to chef coat with some of the most talented gastronomes in the country.

As I methodically worked my way around the giant white tent, I was pleasantly surprised to find the star chefs were not only present in the booths, in most cases they were the ones making and serving the food.

This gave the attendees a rare chance to hear what they were about to taste as described by the dishes creator. As you'll see in the video, while describing these offerings, most of the chefs had a twinkle in their eye that only shines through when you are truly enjoying what you're saying.

My favorite description was by Chris Cosentino, who created the ingenious "Liver and Kidney Pie" pictured here. Chris was beaming over every single component, and after one bite I knew why.

For the sake of time, and several star chefs' reputations, this video is not a complete catalog of the food, but a collection of my favorite bites. I thought it was going to be hard to decide on a favorite - that was until I tasted what Chef Mark Estee called a BLT. It was transcendent.

The little homemade English muffin topped with tomato gelée, pork belly, and romaine ice cream was simply amazing. It was a truly brilliant bite from concept to cocktail napkin.

In addition to the Grand Tasting covered here, I attended a couple demos by Chef Michele Richard (Chef Richard and Santa Claus have never been seen in the same room). They were a lot of fun, and I'll post more content this week as time allows.

I want to extend a special thanks to my friends at Foodbuzz who made covering this memorable event possible. For those of you who don't know about Foodbuzz yet, they're the ultimate social network for foodies, and I highly suggest signing up. Enjoy!




22 comments:

PrimeBrit said...

Two Iron and two Top Chefs would definitely make my day! I absolutely know that Stefan was lurking around Jamie! You are an inspiration Chef John and may this blog stay here forever!

JadedOne said...

Oh man I'm dying over here. When I saw this event on Foodbuzz.com I totally wanted to go! Sucks my hubby had to work that weekend. Maybe next year I'll finally be able to make it out there. That looked like an awesome fun with lotsa lovely bites. Thanks for sharing with those of us who couldn't make it!

Heidi from Savory Tv said...

Well done! I've added this to our Pebble Beach living vicariously via video post, with a link back to you!

Chef John said...

Thanks Heidi!

s. stockwell said...

This is great, I just posted it to my FB!

Anonymous said...

Hi, chef John! Great food. Do you think you could recreate this English muffin topped with tomato gelée, pork belly, and romaine ice cream? It would be great. Or could you make some that kind of ice cream?

Anonymous said...

OMGosh... what an amazing day you had!!! I eagerly await the videos you'll make of your "take" on some of these concoctions. BTW was your 'buddy" Guy Fieri there?

Anonymous said...

Is the printing on a t-shirt? An apron, or? Do you have it?

Chef John said...

yes, it was on an apron... all part of the S.W.A.G.

milkshake said...

I wish I were a chef and could go to the chef conferences like you... I picked a seriously wrong career

Chez US said...

GREAT JOB - I love the video!

You did a great job of making me hungry!

Anonymous said...

I must register a dissent. What is portrayed in this video are intellectual constructs with food items as the medium -a playing with flavors and textures ala Charlie Trotter or Thomas Keller. Really good food is sustenance raised to the highest level through attention to taste, technique, and the use of first quality ingredients.It is this latter approach the keeps me returning daily to this website, for that is the essence of what Chef John does. The contrast with the celebrity chefs is all in his favor.
One more dissent! The "BLT" shown here is not the "best ever." The best BLT consists of two slices of homemade bread slathered with mayonnaise that you just finished whipping up moments before; topped with good quality bacon, a red, ripe tomato from your august garden, and a leaf of lettuce from the same place- enjoyed sitting outside in your yard (with no celebrity chef within miles). I know this, Chef John knows this, and so do those who frequent this website. Case closed!

Chef John said...

It's never too late!! Oh wait, I was thinking of golf... never mind.

Chef John said...

thanks US! I made myself hungry.

Chef John said...

have you learned nothing from me? There is never only one "best ever!" I've personally had 7 BLT's that were the best ever. But I do agree about that part where you said I was better than them and their intellectual constructs.

alansand said...

Well done ! I felt I was there..I would have enjoyed it more if I didn´t have to keep turning down the music between comments but there you go..Alan Isla Margarita

SteamyKitchen said...

Love the recap!

kw said...

aww man, no mario batali..

then you could've showed up w/ ur shorts :)

thx for the recap chefori!

Anonymous said...

awesome song =D

Diana said...

That was fantastic! It really feels like being there. Thanks for sharing.

Mark Boxshus "Cookie Doctor" said...

Nicely done. Would have loved to attend. The food looked to die for!

Mark

Richard Oh said...

Great video Chef John... I was fortunate enough to taste some of those dishes. I was there pouring my wines and got the chance to wander around tasting some great food and wines. Can't wait until next year.

Cheers!