You know ... it's a wonder The NorCal6 even made it to the Sacramento Grilled Cheese Festival at all last month. (What with my accidental cancellation of the original tickets purchased and their re-acquisition. What a cluster ...)
But we made it. And, for the most part, a terrific time was had by all.
The Fest, an annual gathering of all things grilled cheese, was strung out over the course of a weekend. Saturday featured UNLIMITED samples of specialty grilled cheese sandwiches, craft beers, regional wines, desserts and more for those 21 and older while Sunday was the family friendly day where the food samples and drink were available for individual charge, not the free-for-all of the day prior.
he's #1 in many of these photos ...
Grant, Kelly, Missy and I got in an hour early courtesy of V.I.P. passes and Pete and Laurie joined us shortly thereafter. Street parking was relatively easy when we got there. I can only imagine how strained the parking situation got as the event got close to go time.
Held at Southside Park in downtown Sacramento, you couldn't have asked for a better location. It was pleasant, sunny and never got too hot over the course of the thing.
And, oh ... the comestibles they had coming out the booths! Let's highlight a few, shall we?
There was a BBBJ, a blackberry bacon brie & jalapeño grilled cheese concoction from Bella Art Works that was surprisingly tasty. Additionally, this same joint featured the Mother Clucker, breaded chicken, provolone, cheddar and honey mayo. Damned good stuff. Two particular sandwiches from Rancho Rio Bravo Catering - the Cowboy Up (smokehouse brisket, smokey cheese, TexiCali blackberryy red wine & cracked pepper) and the Wranglers Roundup (smoked pulled pork and cheese with duck plum cranberry sauce) - were exceptional.
I didn't get the chance to grab two specific sandwiches I was looking forward to from Sacramento Pop Up Truck: The Crustacean (a lobster and Gruyère grilled cheese) and The Surf And Turf (a brisket, lobster and Gruyère creation). There was only so much you could get to as the day wore on and the crowds increased in size.
But one of my favorites was a French onion grilled cheese sandwich that came with a side of French onion soup. There were two vendors featuring French onion grilled cheese so I'm not sure which one I got from who but, whichever one I got my hands on, was the right pick. It was outstanding. And I wish I would have gone back for seconds.
But, you have to understand, there wasn't just grilled cheese on the menu. There was beer tasting as well, raising this little get together to an entirely different level of affair. It was a grilled cheese festival and brewfest, too!
At Ease Brewing Company, Great Notion Brewing, Morgan Territory Brewing, Track 7 Brewing Co., Boring Rose Brewing Co., Sierra Nevada Brewing Company - Chico were some of the breweries present along with a few more I don't recall.
And, if that wasn't enough of a good time, there were distilleries in attendance as well handing out tiny sample shots and signature cocktails as well! Humboldt Distillery, J.J. Pfister Distilling Co, River City Brands, South Fork Vodka to name a few. It was J.J. Pfister Distilling which had a very, very tasty rye whiskey sample I gravitated to a a time or several. I even got Grant to give it a try. And he didn't dislike it, a bit of a surprise there. (Grant? Not a rye guy.) And once Pete and Laurie got there, Pete was drug here and there to give the various samples a try, too. The girls were drinking some foo-foo sweet pink grapefruit vodka punch refresher from South Fork Vodka that wasn't too shabby. Even Missy was digging on it ... and she doesn't like grapefruit.
Needless to say, with all the food being munched on and all the liquids swigged, we had a pretty damned good time ... enough so we all concluded we'll be headed back next year.
In conclusion, I may have had a little bit too good a time at the festival. But what's a little frivolity among friends? Even loud ones like me?
As the saying goes (a recent one I've come to embrace):
Next up? Our house ... were there's gonna be a Bunko Party with a Mexican food theme ...
Don’t forget Nothin Bundt Cakes was there too! Another yummy treat to balance out all the savory of the day! Foo foo drink rocked, too bad I was a designated driver. Need to fix that next year!
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