My Top 7: Ottawa Wine & Food Show Edition
First of all, it feels like forever since I wrote my last post. And secondly, what a busy week I just had! I feel as though I have been to the moon and back! For those of you who don’t know, the earlier part of last week I was enjoying myself (and all the Obama Headquarters madness) in Chicago, followed up by a weekend long trip to Ottawa. Now happy to be back on home turf, here are the top seven things that made my weekend at the Ottawa Food & Wine Show…
1. Coffee // Thank goodness for Starbucks… once we hit hour 3 in the car I started to feel like I could use a good boost of caffeine. Starbucks White Chocolate Mocha Latte is always the way to go!
2. Cinnamon & Sugar // Upon arrival in Ottawa we pretty much made a beeline to BeaverTails. Over the course of three days I managed to enjoy 2 of these delicacies. That should tide me over for another year….
3. The View from the Top // We were lucky enough to receive a tour of the World Exchange Center, which interestingly enough, included the roof. You could see all of Ottawa from up there.
4. Stunning Branding // I couldn’t help but swoon over the beautiful branding of The Cupcake Lounge and The Unrefined Olive – it must be the simplicity…
5. The Bacon Trend // I had the opportunity to (thoroughly) enjoy a sampling of a Bacon Cupcake. It was just what you would expect – big chunks of bacon with a huge swirl of sweet icing to balance out the saltiness… so good.
6. Canapés // I couldn’t help but make several trips to the Kingston booth, where award winning chef, Clark Day, was presenting a 3 course meal & wine pairing seminar. I tried my hardest to get into one of the very exclusive sittings, but unfortunately the tickets were sold out. I settled for the bite-sized canapés instead – Fresh Roasted Pepper & Chive Cheese with Sausage Speck on Butter Bakery Rye and Fire Spicy Spelt Focaccia, Hot Grainy Mustard, Fire Pickles & Sausage Chirizo.
7. Wonderful People // I am always amazed at the wonderful people I meet when I work these shows, this past weekend was no exception. The whole crew at the Unrefined Olive (the booth to our left), were simply wonderful. That said, I want to wish Elizabeth the best of luck with her grand opening in 3 days!
I’m feeling a bit out of “blog loop,” so feel free to bring me up to speed – what did you get up to past week?