Drum roll please… !!! The winner of the Feast Goodie Bag Giveaway is…Erika! Congrats! I’ll be reaching out with more details on your goodie bag.
Crispy rice salad from Sqirl in LA
Now, when you are like me and gorge yourself for 5 days straight, it becomes a little challenging to determine what were the best things you ate. It’s all a food-induced blur (okay, and slightly a wine-induced blur too…). Was it the kafir lime-infused coconut ice cream from Gregory Gourdet? Or perhaps the fried chicken and egg biscuit sandwiches from John Gorham? But what about the late night Hawaiian fest from Irving Street Kitchen?
But Feast is more than just buttery biscuits and rose all day. It’s also about the hysterical laughing in photo booths, gushing over which celebrity chefs you got to meet, singing awful karaoke on an old school bus, and turning virtual blogger friends into real life friends.
The Annual Feast Flip Cup Tournament:
Every year, ChefStable holds an intense flip cup tournament as an unofficial Feast after-party. It gets serious with costumes and teams representing multiple restaurants around the city. After watching last year’s event throw down, we were determined to get a PDX Food Blogger team for this year’s #WigznChainz edition. While we sadly did not win the trophy, we dominated round 1, had the biggest’s cheering section, and had a blast with both practice earlier in the evening and the actual event. How could we not have fun in wigs like these?
Bloggers represent! @TheSpicyBee, @TheKitchenPaper, @Bakery_Bingo, @PDXFoodLove, @LandingStanding @MereCDavison
The Wet Weather:
Ok, for most people this might have been a negative rather than a “favorite.” And for me, it was initially. But it turned into being a fun change of pace. After four years of sunny, gorgeous weather, Feast-goers finally experienced a bit of Portland realness with rain and more rain, soaking up the city nearly all day Saturday.
The Fields Park, home of the Saturday marquee event, turned into a gooey puddle fest. Did that stop us from having a good time? Heck no. Out came the raincoats and golashes, and out we went. I encountered a few out-of-towers who were great sports about it and said it was just a convenient excuse to go shopping. The event was still beautiful, the chefs were cheerful and upbeat, and the food was of course still equally delicious.
The Food:
Obviously the main point of Feast. With top chefs from Portland, Chicago, Austin and all over the country, there was a ton of incredible food. It is hard to narrow down but here are the top eats from my point of view.
Night Market
Spicy Salmon Chifa by Austin’s Launderette – Served at the new Latin themed Night Market, this was hands down the star of the whole Feast week. This spicy ceviche like dish with Chinese and Peruvian heritage was outstanding. I perhaps went back for thirds…
Playa Paella with Dungeness Crab and Fried Calamari from Crown Paella
Arincini Ranchero from Taylor Railworks
Pozole Rojo by Chicago’s Doves Luncheonette
Beef Rib Tacos from Podnah’s {I didn’t get a snap of this dish so use your imagination!}
Smoked
Smoked mussels a la crab boil by Holdfast
Charcoal-infused coconut milk ice cream with marionberry, hazelnut lime crunch and Thai chili from Departure – This brought me back to life after too much wine and meat the night prior. Gregory, I adore you for your ever-amazing and surprising ice cream dishes. This was incredibly flavorful, unique and just what my hangover needed.
Sai Oua Thai sausages from Pok Pok {sadly no photo of this one either}
Smoked Almond Chocolate Cookies from Coquine – Good news is you can get these any day over at the Mt Tabor restaurant/cafe!
Grand Bounty
Chocolate Tacolate from Salt & Straw – Basically an ice cream chocotaco, or what dreams are made of. Woodblock Chocolate dipped waffle cone filled with cinnamon ancho chile ice cream and a sprinkle of sea salt.
Iced coffee with espresso whipped cream from Nossa Familia – I don’t even like coffee, but this was a tasty pick-me-up and who doesn’t love any kind of whipped cream?!
Brunch Village
Fried chicken biscuits with pimento cheese from Toro Bravo
Congee with black bean sausage, honey, black vinegar and scallions from smallwares
Plum almond mac-croissant from Little T Baker
Another great year of Feast!
Did you attend this year’s Feast? What were your favorites?
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