Music City Food + Wine
By now you’ve probably heard about the Music City Food + Wine festival (MCFW) on September 20th and 21st. I for one, can't wait to go - it's two days of food from not only my favorite restaurants in Nashville but also from chefs whose cooking I wouldn't otherwise get to sample. Winning.
MCFW pulls together chefs, restaurateurs and food industry folk both nationally and locally over two days for a fun, interactive festival. Sit in on demos by big names like Masaharu Morimoto (Sushi A to Z), Andrew Zimmern (Globally Hot Chicken), and Amanda Freitag (Egg-Spertise); or if cooking demos aren’t your thing and you prefer getting an insider’s look how chefs think and what inspires them, the panels are great for that. Last year, I sat in on the panel on southern cuisine and as someone not from this country, it was wonderful insight into the food I’ve grown to love in this part of America. This year, I’m looking forward to the Kitchen Disasters panel on Saturday with Michael Symon, Ashley Christensen, Andrew Zimmern and Levon Wallace.
Back to the food (clearly, it's what's important to me): The Grand Taste goes from 11am – 4pm on Saturday and Sunday, and the participating restaurants serve up an quite impressive amount of food through the day which is good because you'll need something to soak up all that wine and booze you also get.
If it was anything like last year, you won’t go home hungry, and you’ll be going back for seconds, maybe even thirds. Some highlights from last year were the Hot Chicken from Hattie B’s (they’ll be there again this year), some poached mutsu apples from Tavern (pictured), and okonomiyaki from Otaku South (also back this year). Something new for this year is the Martin’s Bar-B-Que Joint & Friends section. I didn't get to eat what they cooked last year so it sounds like I'll have plenty of opportunity this time!
Who doesn't love tiny wooden spoons?
Okonomiyaki from Otaku South
On Saturday night, the visiting chefs will showcase their skills at Harvest Night. I didn’t get to go last year so I’m really curious to see what it’s like. And it wouldn’t be a food and wine festival without music – they haven’t announced it yet but there will be live music during Harvest Night so follow MCFW on Twitter for the announcement!
Another fun aspect of this festival is that the chefs are fairly accessible – they’re walking around, mingling, chatting and hanging out (celebrity chefs: they’re just like us!) which is really cool to see. Not going to lie, I’m already geeking out that I get to see Chef Morimoto in the flesh. Most of all, I’m just really excited about the food.
Click here to get your tickets and for more details on the festival. You can also follow Music City Food + Wine on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
See you there!
