Food Forum Festivities!

Allison, Max and I hit up the VFN Forum at Shelburne Farms Coach Barn last night. I had never been to this event before so, I wasn't quite sure what to expect. Max is a food buyer at City Market here in Burlington so, he shared his experiences from past events. The main event was a walk-around tasting dinner inside the Coach Barn. Fun! There were a few familiar faces there so, we spent some time comparing notes in passing with Nelia & Marin and Jeff & Cristina. I was lucky enough to get a discounted ticket this year through work so, I figured why not try it out? Most of the food was very tasty. I grabbed some descriptions from VFN's FB page just to give you a sampling:

-Smoked Duclos & Thompson Lamb Shoulder Flatbread Taco with Native Berry Mole, Feta, and Honey Habanero Pickled Onions

-Hard Cider Braised Veal Breast with Harissa, Smoked Cheddar Buttermilk Biscuit & Lemon Balm Aioli

-Misty Knoll Chicken Confit with Lower Notch Berry Farm Blueberry Compote and Rosemary Pain Perdu

(+) Yep. Serious. My favorites were the lamb pastrami sandwich, gazpacho w/ a dollop of smoked sour cream on top (so good!!), cheesy risotto fried rice ball (it had a more sophisticated name than that but, I was too hot to remember it), Nelia's brother's QUAIL!! OH and the goat cheese gouda. There were some others at the top of the list too. I'm sure I consumed at least 6 types of slow cooked beef. We decided that was the trend of the evening. No complaints from me.

(-) What I will comment on it the temperature of the Coach Barn. Get it together Shelburne Farms! I don't like AC but, when there are that many ticket holders inside eating hot food, they should be cool. Second, I appreciate the recycling situation but, when you get a new toothpick or plate every 5 minutes, you need a place to put them. How about a few more recycling bins next time so people don't have to pile their trash on the table. Third, include at least 1 glass of wine in the ticket price-I think that's only fair.

The event was schedule to run from 5-9. We took off at 7:30p after having some coffee ice cream. There weren't any speakers this year so, I'm still wondering how they filled the last 1.5 hours of the event.

I'm really glad I went. The company was fantastic and the food was very tasty but, I think they could do better next time.