Music City Food & Wine 2017: A Recap

posted on October 9, 2017 by Beth // 2 Comments »

Adele’s tomato bite at MCFW 2017

Another Music City Food & Wine has come and gone. Can’t believe we have to wait an entire year for this weekend to happen again! *sad face*

Once again there were many good eats and LOADS of good drinks to be had. (I believe the alcohol to food ratio at this festival is about 10:1)  This year there were definitely some standouts, so I thought I’d quickly recap those with you guys. If any of you were in attendance and have thoughts, please comment and share!

One of my absolute favorite bites of the weekend was Adele’s  purple Cherokee heirloom tomato (seen above), Castelvetrano puree with herb oil, topped with toasted hemp seeds and some red vein sorrel.

 

Favorite cocktail of Friday night’s MCFW 2017: Zignum Twang – mezcal, watermelon and mint juice, margarita mix, orange liquor, and chile poblano salt.

 

Burratta bruschetta from Pastaria

I’ll be honest. At tasting events, I usually skip most of the stuff being served on bread, because 1) I don’t love bread, and 2) I find that they just fill me up too quickly, wasting precious stomach space. Thank goodness I didn’t pass this one by! The bruschetta from Pastaria was incredible. Fresh burrata with Calabrian chili, Sicilian oregano, and local TN honey – so simple, but perfection.

 

Chef Alon Shaya chats with my friend Erin Murray at that Toyota tent at MCFW 2017

You may recall that I had one of the best meals EVER at Alon Shaya’s restaurant Shaya in New Orleans last year. Just days after MCFW, the story broke that he and his business partner John Besh were parting ways, leaving the fate of Shaya up in the air. Needless to say, I’m hoping it stays alive and/or Alon opens a new, just-as-amazing place!

 

Cutest table at MCFW 2017 – Pickers Vodka

I mean, a tiki bubble-blowing machine, leis, and tropical drinks. How can you go wrong?

 

Sinema‘s Ricotta Agnolotti at MCFW 2017

The common theme with my favorite dishes this year seemed to be that most of them were meatless! Sinema’s ricotta agnolotti had sun dried tomato buerre monte, chives, parmesan, fried capers, and roasted king trumpet mushrooms. Delicious.

 

Etc Savory Cheesecake – smoked salmon, pumpernickel, cherry cocoa puree

The dish that surprised me the most of the entire weekend was Etc.’s savory cheesecake. You see, I’m not typically a big fan of smoked fish, but now I’ll never say that again. This smoked salmon dish was quite possibly my absolute favorite of the entire festival. In fact, I ate 3 of them! (shhhh, don’t tell anyone)

 

 

Etch‘s Pastrami Beets

And then, on the table right next to Etc. was Etch, their sister restaurant, whose dish came in a close second to the one above. Pastrami Beets with pretzel bacon crumble, smoked apple sauce, carrot kraut, caraway crema, and hot mustard were A++.

 

Oh, and did I mention that I met Hannah Hart of My Drunk Kitchen at MCFW?!?