NOWFE

May 28th, 2011

Friday was the first time I’ve gone to NOWFE. Because the Superdome is closed down for renovations, this year’s grand tasting was held at the Morial Convention Center, Hall J. The second grand tasting will be tomorrow 5/28/11 between 2pm and 5pm. If you have a spare $100 lying around and are a true oenophile, this event is for you!

I just got a new SLR, so I stretched its legs for the first time – I didn’t use a flash, I didn’t want to annoy folks…

The crowd gathers

Wine glasses are ready

The setting was starry

Delgado Culinary School had one of the best offerings – yellowtail tartar

Sokol Blosser from Oregon, one of my faves

Lotsa tables to drink and dine

Besh Steakhouse had an Asian steak and glass noodles dish – they had one of the longest lines and were one of the first stations closed too

Crawfish boil popcorn!

Drago’s had a seafood risotto

Reginelli’s had a grilled portobello bruschetta mmmm!

Pontchartrain Vineyards had a lovely sauvignon blanc that tasted like green apples

By this time the lines were forming, look at the line for the Rib Room!

Lotsa, lotsa wines, from everywhere! Australia, South Africa, California, Europe, the Northshore…

Rouse’s had a wasabi shrimp cocktail whew!

The nice man from Octavia Books was there – I brought him food tastings during the evening and he was still smiling after I spilled some cornbread and bisque over his books eek!

Antoine’s had a yummy crab pasta

The chefs from the Ritz Carlton were hard at work

They prepared a crabmeat eggroll and a cotton candy – peach schnapps – berry custard thingy that was quite sweet and good as this random dude demonstrated!

The stations had water to rinse your glass between tastings

Restaurant Galvez served a lovely gazpacho

Fleurty Girl produced the event T-shirts

The best dessert all night, made with Old New Orleans Rum and produced by Bee Sweet Cupcakes on Magazine OMG delish and they ran out!

Colorful displays were abundant

A marching band roared through the hall around 8:30

and as the end of the night drew near, debris began collecting everywhere

Then at about 8:50 the Voice of the Wetlands Allstars (Anders Osborne, George Porter, Jr., Johnny Vidacovich, Cyril Neville and Chief Monk Boudreaux) came on and played until around 9:30

Lil’ Eliza Jane

Hope their voices were loud enough to get this little guy back home

See y’all next year!

Filed under: Culture, Food, Louisiana, Photography, The NoLA Life, The Northshore

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