Bastille Day/ Terra Madre at Bar Cento

I was very close to passing on the Terra Madre/Bastille Day event at Bar Cento (after dropping so much dosh on food in the last week, little of which was expensed), I decided this was too great of an opportunity to pass on. With an all star line up cooking, a chance to meet other food enthusiasts, and supporting a great cause. How could I pass it up?

On Monday afternoon I took the Rapid out to W. 25th (I could have driven but I spent way too much time in my car last week). I know a lot of people are opposed to public transit but you can't beat the Rapid Transit if it is going to somewhere near your destination. The thing I hate the most in this world is stop lights. Some people hate cats, some people hate school, I hate stop lights.

I met my wife there and we sat down had a couple of drinks. I went to wash my hands and when I came back the line for the food had hit the front dooor.The line actually moved pretty good considering the massive spread that was laid out at the bar. This was definitely not the place to be if you were counting calories or looking for something light. There was an absolute ton of food. Pork, turkey, duck, a slew of different cheeses, charcuterie, pate, there was food everywhere. Many of Cleveland's top chefs were also in attendance Jonathan Sawyer, Steve Shimoler, Rocco Whalen, etc. were on hand to help support the cause. I would have to say that my favorite item was probably the beets with cheese. I typically do not like beets, as a matter of fact I used to gag on them (along with cooked carrots), when I was a kid. My wife took a liking to the turkey. I like things like this because you get sample a lot of things that you don't normally see. Since they're usually small portions you don't feel bad if you don't like it. The only thing I didn't like was the pate.

As far as I could tell the turn out was really good. I don't know what something like this would normally get, but it seemed like a pretty full house to me. Since I'm not going to get to the Veggie U event out in Milan, I figured this would be the next best thing. This really was a lot of fun.

Regina and I are back from our trip to the east coast. The bags are unpacked, the laundry done, the dog is back home, and now it's time to catch up on some blogging!!!We went to a lot of great restaurants out east while I finished up some work New York and New Jersey. In the coming weeks I'll give a recap on some of the highlights.