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Seattle Food and Wine Experience
With over 20 restaurants and 30 wineries setting up shop for an afternoon of tastings it would have been near impossible to make your way through everything the Seattle Food and Wine Experience had to offer. But more than a thousand people made their way to the Seattle Center this past weekend to try and do just that.
With some of the region's top chefs, vintners and artisan brewers bringing their finest food and drink to the Exhibition Center one could have been tempted (as I was) to start with the first sample offered and work your way through the entire list.
But with so many offerings it was clear from the start that there would not be enough hours (or appetite) in the day to taste your way through the hundreds of samples. So, with a more methodical approach I searched out a dozen or so "can't miss" restaurants and wineries and from that culled a (non-exhaustive) list of my favorites.
Please feel free to add any of your favorites I missed in comments.
Grand Reve Vintners Pouring from its 2006 Collaboration III, Grand Reve Vintners has teamed up with some of the top Washington winemakers to produce wines that beautifully highlight the grapes grown on the rocky, steep upper slopes of Red Mountain.
Frost Doughnuts Judging by the line in front of the Frost Doughnuts booth I wasn't the only one to have this on my 'favorite' list. Just shy of celebrating its first year in business this Mill Creek enterprise is making plenty of friends with its smokey bacon maple bar -- among the many other varieties (I'm partial to the Salted Caramel). Look for them to be expanding to new locations soon.
McCrea Cellars- When you think of the best in Washington State Syrah - McCrea is always at the top of the list. That was certainly the case on Sunday as McCrea showcased its prized ‘95 Syrah.
Cafe Campagne - Chef Daisley Gordan treated hundreds of hungry (and appreciative) souls to a wonderful Lamb Merguez sausage with chickpea puree and herbs. Even with some of the fine food being offered up at other stations I found myself coming back to Cafe Campagne for "just one more" taste.
Rogue Ales - A perennial Portland favorite, Roque has always had a fanatical following. You can even become a card carrying member of the Roque Nation which was evident when a fellow beer enthusiast flashed his membership card to the Rouge rep. Of the several ales being sampled the Morimoto Black Obi Soba found its way to the top of my list -- offering a rich, nutty flavor that maintained a certain level of crispness difficult to find in darker beers. Once you've had an ale from Roque (and fortunately for us they are readily available in stores throughout Washington State) you'll likely become a Rogue Nation convert as well.
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Jenise Silva contributed to this report.
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