Music City Food & Wine 2018

Skull’s Rainbow Room Tri Star Tea at Music City Food & Wine

Another Music City Food & Wine in the books! While this may have been the hottest one of all the years, it was quite possibly my favorite thus far. I loved the addition of the Friday night bartender throwdown, bringing in some of the city’s best to compete to create the “Official Drink of Nashville”.

My vote went to Gertie’s Bar for their Dulcimer Splash: Tito’s Vodka, fresh blood orange and grapefruit juices, yellow chartreuse, and lemon juice, topped with sparkling rose.

As seems to be the trend, this year booze options once again outnumbered food options about 10 to 1, but I’m not complaining! There was still more than enough to eat, and even though I tried my best, I didn’t get to sample every single thing there.

I’ll try to hit the highlights and share my favorites, starting with Vui’s Bò lá lốt: beef with lemongrass, shallots, and garlic, wrapped in Betel Leaf, garnished with pickled carrot and daikon, fish sauce dressing, and peanuts. It was so delicious that I went back three times!

I also loved the tuna on crispy rice from Two Ten Jack, Funk Seoul Brother’s Koren Fried Chicken, and Virago’s Hamachi Crudo. Do you see a theme here? Yes, I may have a thing for all Asian cuisine.

The heat (as in temp and spice), had me chugging more than a few of Belle Meade Bourbon’s “Cold Fashioned” slushies.

Funk Seoul Brother brought their ever popular Korean Fried Chicken

Hamachi crudo from Virago:  green garlic yuzu and yucca chip

Oak Steakhouse CAB Beef Belly with rosemary milk cracker, caramelized onion, bleu cheese mousse, and tomato jam, Mason’s pork belly topped with quail egg, and Giovanni’s burrata & pesto.

Cooling off with ice cream from Hattie Jane’s Creamery

Capitol Grille’s Citrus Roasted Beets with Feta Mousse and Arugula

If you missed my recent post on Capitol Grille, be sure to go read it now, and then visit the restaurant soon! You will not be sorry.

The Dove (Knoxville) brisket stuffed peppers, Extra Dirty Rice from Henley, Tansuo’s Dan Dan Noodles, and Smoked and braised short rib with compressed watermelon from Walnut Kitchen (also Knoxville) 

I’ll be honest, I didn’t even eat this bite, as I’m not a big fan of bagels, but I loved Proper Bagel’s display, so I give them my unofficial “Best in Show” award!

The best part of the festival for me this year? Getting the opportunity to catch up with friends that I hadn’t seen in a while. If you’ve been following me for a long time, you know this lady has been a part of my blogging life since the get-go. In fact, she’s the one that explained to me how to even start a blog — almost 10 years ago! Yep, that’s my sweet friend, Erin of Erin’s Food Files.

Coffee Spiced Carrots from Etch

Deb Paquette of Etch always brings her A game. I lovvvved these coffee spice roasted carrots with ginger fig, blood orange crema, and spent grains.

Beet Pickled Deviled Eggs from Fin & Pearl: smoked salmon filling, salmon roe, fresh dill cracker

I’m a big fan of deviled eggs, and I could probably eat beets every day and never get sick of them, but I almost didn’t try these Pickled deviled eggs from Fin & Pearl because I saw the words “smoked salmon” in the description. That would have been a mistake, because these were great! I don’t typically like smoked salmon, but this dish proves that sometimes it’s worth trying new things.

And right next to those perfect little pickled deviled eggs I made an awesome discovery: this Sesame Vodka cocktail by Reyka. My only complaint is that they were too small! ;-)

While I was dead tired from hours of eating and drinking in the sun, I was able to rally and make it to Harvest Night on Saturday night where I finished the weekend with a bang. I was physically stopped dead in my tracks when I bit into this ice cream sandwich from Jeni’s. Yes, we all know how amazing her ice cream is, but it was THE COOKIE that just completely put it over the top.

I turned myself around, marched back over to the table and demanded to know more. What are these delicious things? Who makes them? And then I was able to meet the creator himself, the owner of Hi Fi Cookies. You guys, follow them. Watch what they’re doing, and search them out. You will not regret!

Here’s to another epic weekend of fun with friends and delicious discoveries at Music City Food & Wine! Until next year…