Atlantic City Food And Wine Festival - The Grand Market

Saturday, July 28 and Sunday, July 29, 2012

Atlantic City Food And Wine Festival The Grand Market - Bally's
 

The Grand Market, lobby area

Allen attended The Grand Market at Bally's on Friday for a bit before he headed over to the Define "Cheese-Steak" event. We attended the Saturday session from 12:00 - 4:00PM with my brother and sister in law and had a great time. Allen and me also went on Sunday from 12:00 - 4:00PM and I took most of my pictures this day and did our shopping.


Chef Diane Henderiks

The Grand Market features food oriented companies selling everything from hot sauces, chocolate, brownies, peanuts, pecans, peanut butter and much more. Some restaurants from the Atlantic City casinos offered samples, and many wine and spirits companies had samples available for consumption. There were companies selling cookwares, knives, kitchen cabinet companies, etc. This year The Grand Market took place in three rooms back to back in the 6th floor of the Bally's Ballrooms. The Grand Market is one of the festival highlights and there were four sessions so people could squeeze a session or more in with other scheduled events.


Allen with Beverles Jenkins from Hot Wings On The Run

  

Hot Wings On The Run

Hot Wings On The Run

At The Grand Market you get to sample many kinds of food, desserts, hot sauces, taste wines and spirits and shop for many things. This year I was so happy to see more food vendors and I had a great time shopping.

Chef Ron Duprat With Allen



Chef Ron Duprat's Gourmet Hot Sauces



Some Yummy Fritters We Tried

When you entered The Grand Market, the first room featured a stage for chefs to do food demos and seating. On Saturday, we watched Chef and Nutritionist Diane Henderiks cook up fish tacos with tilapia and a nice pico de gallo salad.


Orchid, One Hot Mama's Sauces 



Hank Sauce



Hank Sauce

We loved Hot Wings On The Run and had a great time tasting several of their hot sauces and speaking to owner Beverles Jenkins. Allen purchased Hot Wings On The Run BJ's Green Hot Sauce, Smoked Honey Barbeque Sauce and Trini Hot Pepper Sauce. We cannot wait to cook up some recipes with the sauces!

Baker's Southern Tradition Peanuts



Baker's Southern Tradition Peanuts

"Top Chef," season six contestant Chef Ron Duprat sells a variety of hot sauces and we enjoyed tasting them and bought Chef Ron Duprat's Gourmet Hot Sauces Pineapple Curry, Papaya Scotch Bonnet and Peppa Sauce.

Peanut Butter & Co

Peanut Butter & Co

I was happy to meet Orchid Paulmeier from season seven of "The Next Food Network Star," and owner of One Hot Mama's American Grill, Hilton Head, SC and her line of sauces and BBQ rub. There was always a long line here to meet her and try her sauces. Orchid was a sweetheart and let me take a pic of her. I bought One Hot Mama's Original Recipe Backyard BBQ Rub Down, One Hot Asian Sauce and Perfect 10 Sauce.
 

Brownies Squared



Heavenly Dips

We really liked the hot sauce varieties at the Hank Sauce table and Allen tried a bunch of samples and bought Hank Sauce Camouflage Hot Sauce which is sweet, tangy, and zesty. This sauce had a hidden heat that creeps up on you but is not overwhelming.


Rex And Allen



The Story of Rex



Rex-Goliath Wine

We are big fans of Baker's Southern Tradition Peanuts and it is our third year in a row buying their products. Allen bought Lightly Salted Southern Blister Fried Peanuts and Devilishly Hot Ghost Pepper Peanuts (yikes). I bought Milk Chocolate Covered Peanuts, Dark Chocolate Covered Peanuts, White Delights White Chocolate Covered Peanuts and ChocoScotch Covered Peanuts. The Baker family run a peanut farm in North Carolina and they make the best peanuts we have ever tried. They ship so you can order from their fine selections online. See link at the end!


Duck Cooking From Maple Leaf Farms

Speaking of peanuts, we love peanut butter and sampled many of the selections available from Peanut Butter & Co. We bought White Chocolate Wonderful, The Heat Is On and Dark Chocolate Dreams.


Allen Loved The Lobster Bisque From Fin, Tropicana

I loved the brownie I tasted from Brownies Squared in Mays Landing, NJ. I bought some Coconut Macaroons, Fudge and a Brownie Pop.


The Melting Pot - Yummy!

I am a fan of 2 Chicks With Chocolate from meeting them last year and had to get my chocolate fix. I bought a box and got to choose 25 different chocolates to indulge in. I also got 2 bars - Dark Chocolate Coco Loco Bar! and Solid Dark Chocolate.

2 Chicks With Chocolate

2 Chicks With Chocolate



2 Chicks With Chocolate

I am crazy about Coconut and we tried samples of Coco Life Coconut Water. I prefer the one without the pulp. Yum!


Coco Life



Pecan Jacks

The Melting Pot A Fondue Restaurant in Atlantic City was a favorite table. The sample plate had melted chocolate to dip cake, rice crispy, chocolate and coconut marshmallows and brownie bites.


Lovely Salad From Harrah's



Gourmet Blends Barrel Aged Balsamics & Oils

Maple Leaf Farms were selling Duck and the lady I spoke to was cooking duck when I was there and it smelled so good. They were giving out samples but when I was there they ran out and were cooking more duck. 

Bally's

  

Bally's Beautiful Ice Sculpture

Heavenly Dips offered many samples of all natural dips. Allen tasted a few of the dips and thought they were yummy!
 

Master Organic Farms, Grand Master D. Straga. These Chefs Posed For Me :)

  

Nanking Asian Fusion, Bally's

These are links for some of the vendors we visited. We encourage you to support them!

Chef Diane Henderiks: www.dianehenderiks.com/
Hot Wings On The Run: www.hotwingsontherun.com
Chef Ron Duprat:  http://www.chefronduprat.com/
Orchid, One Hot Mama's American Grill, Hilton Head, SC:  http://onehotmamas.com/
Hank Sauce: http://www.hanksauce.com/
Bakers' Southern Tradition Peanuts: http://www.bakerspeanuts.com/
Peanut Butter & Co: http://ilovepeanutbutter.com/
Brownies Squared Bake Shop:  http://www.browniessquared.com/#/
Coco Life: http://www.coconut-life.com/
The Melting Pot A Fondue Restaurant: http://www.meltingpot.com/atlantic-city/welcome
Maple Leaf Farms: http://www.mapleleaffarms.com/11
Heavenly Dips: http://www.heavenlydips.com/
Gourmet Blends Barrel Aged Balsamics 7 Oils: www.city2shoregourmet.com

-Sophia and Allen/Two Frys

Atlantic City Food And Wine Festival - A Taste Of Caesars

Saturday, July 28, 2012

Atlantic City Food And Wine Festival A Taste of Caesars -  Harrah's Resort


Roberts Irvine and Paula Deen



Entering Harrah's Resort to go to A Taste Of Caesars!

It is great to visit Atlantic City to attend some of the events at the Atlantic City Food And Wine  Festival, and even better when you are invited to a VIP event not open to the public. On Saturday, July 28, 2012 Allen and I went to A Taste of Caesars at Harrah's Resort from 7:00 - 10:00PM in the Third Floor Ballrooms. This event put together by Caesars Entertainment was a three hour dining experience featuring chefs from across the country with celebrity chefs Robert Irvine and Paula Deen as hosts. The point of the event was to showcase tastes and flavors from Atlantic City to Las Vegas and everywhere in between from some of Caesars Entertainment restaurants.


Our lovely table No. 72



Seafood Salad

The seating was assigned and Allen and I dined with 10 other guests. Robert Irvine was energetic and as handsome as ever and did a fantastic job engaging the crowd throughout the evening. Paula Deen was charming and the audience loved her and she posed for pictures with many fans until security put an end to that. I managed to get a few pictures of Paula Deen and Robert Irvine but they moved around so quickly all over the room so getting a great photo was difficult.

Salad



Paula Deen's Crab Cake

Unfortunately, a menu was not available so we do not have official names of the dishes served. We were unable to get names of the chefs demoing from the various Caesars Entertainment restaurants. When you arrived to your table there was a lovely basket filled with different types of breads and a seafood salad to pass around family style. Some of the dishes were served this way which was kinda cool. Our servers Cliff and Margaret gave our table top notch service and we thank them for doing a great job.


A Chef With Robert Irvine



Allen Having A Great Time

As a course was served, a chef would demo the food. At one point, Robert Irvine helped servers and brought food directly to some tables at the far left of the ballroom so they could taste what was cooking onstage and not feel left out. While chefs did their demos, hosts Paula and/or Robert would entertain patrons and speak to the chefs onstage. Paula Deen was host for about an hour and Robert Irvine spent most of the evening with the chefs and guests. Even Robert Irvine's wife and wrestler Gail Kim, went onstage for a few minutes as Paula announced their recent wedding to all.


Meatball



Robert Irvine Having A Taste Of What The Chef Prepared 

I thought the order in which the food was served was spot on and by the end of the night felt satisfied and happy from the food. The first course was a seafood salad followed by romaine salad with finely chopped walnuts, thinly sliced red onions, caesar dressing, cheese and crispy buttered bread. My favorite food of the night was Paula Deen's Crab Cake.


Scallop With Lobster Salad



Steak, Polenta, Roasted Tomato and Veggies

I loved the meatball with the marinara sauce (not gravy, sorry Philly chef), and it had a great taste and was not over seasoned. The next bite was a scallop over a lobster salad and it was fresh tasting and nicely seasoned. The main course was a melt in your mouth steak with crusted polenta, roasted tomato and veggies. The main course was satisfying and Allen and I loved every dish we ate.


Dessert



Coffee with Dessert, Yum!

The pastry chef from Las Vegas did a demo of the gorgeous dessert. On the left side of the dish, was a fruit based dessert that was refreshing and airy. The chocolate dessert featured hazelnut and chocolate layers, raspberry sauce, fresh raspberries in between, and topped with fine chocolate and edible gold. This chocolate dessert was rich, creamy, and the hazelnut and chocolate complimented the raspberry sauce. The fresh raspberries offered a pop of fresh flavor with each bite and the chocolate with edible gold was a nice touch and the perfect way to end the dinner.


Allen And Me Outside Harrah's Ballrooms

A Taste of Caesars was a lot of fun and the food was exceptional. Having Paula Deen and Robert Irvine as the surprise hosts was a treat. We enjoyed this three hour event and cannot wait for next year.

-Sophia and Allen/Two Frys

Atlantic City Food And Wine Festival - Bizarre Brunch With Andrew Zimmern

Saturday, July 28, 2012

Atlantic City Food And Wine Festival Bizarre Brunch With Andrew Zimmern - Atlantic Grill, Caesars

Allen and Sophia with Andrew Zimmern

The Bizarre Brunch With Andrew Zimmern on Saturday, July 28, 2012 from 10:00AM - 12:00PM was a great event with a vast variety of brunch foods, both bizarre and normal. Many thanks to my wonderful Mom for funding this event for Sophia and I. The Atlantic Grill went out in full force and really showed their food chops with versatile cooking skills, both domestic and international.

Bizarre Brunch With Andrew Zimmern Banner

The Sushi Bar was beautiful and chefs rolled over seven different kinds of sushi as you served yourself. The brunch was buffet style and there were many choices of brunch foods, salads, cheeses, meats and desserts. It was an event very worthy of the ticket price as it was a unique and fun dining experience.

One of the Sushi being served

Allen really loved the sushi and fresh ground wasabi and had some wonderful raw oysters on the half shell. The oysters were very large oysters too. The shrimp was cooked and peeled with tail on and were so fresh and juicy. The shrimp was complimented with a spicy yet tomato-ish fresh cocktail sauce that was very nice. Some of the sushi was rolled in fish roe (eggs) and had a great gourmet taste, very rich and fishy.

Shrimp, Crab Legs and Oysters galore!



Bizarre Bites Menu

Soon after the event began, Andrew Zimmern spoke and welcomed everyone to the brunch. Zimmern mentioned he would be coming around the tables but did not make it to our area. Luckily, we met up with Andrew in the upper tier of the Atlantic Grill. He was real cool and posed for pictures with us and also signed each of our Bizarre Bites menu cards. We told Andrew we are big fans of his show Bizarre Foods America and it was great to finally meet him in person. He did not have a pen so someone in front of me on the line went and grabbed one and after he signed our menu cards, I was the one who brought the pen back to the Atlantic Grill employee.

Shoo Fly French Toast with Crickets

All the chefs we spoke to at the Atlantic Grill were friendly and helpful about the details of the menu items being served. We were very happy with the way the chefs answered some of our questions about the foods available to devour.

Shoo Fly French Toast with Crickets

Sophia did not touch the Shoo Fly French Toast with Crickets but I found them to be very tasty and ate them without even putting maple syrup on them. At one point, I ate crickets individually and also enjoyed a bunch at a time by rolling them in the french toast. I did feel some buggy/leggy texture as I chewed, but it all went down well with a huge gulp of ice water. Sophia was just busy taking pictures of the crickets on the french toast.

Wok Fried "Bicho de Tacuara" (Bamboo Worms) Lettuce Wraps

Allen about to try Bamboo Worms for the first time ever!

The Wok Fried "Bicho de Tacuara" (Bamboo Worms) Lettuce Wraps were really good and the worms did not have much taste so I enjoyed them with the rest of the ingredients served.  I would eat crickets and bamboo worms anytime. I have eaten escargot before (snails), but the worms and crickets were a new experience for me. Sophia did not eat the bamboo worms but was intrigued taking pictures as I ate them.

24 hr. Braised Cow Tongue, Green Papaya, Thai Basil, Roasted Peanuts

The 24 hr. Braised Cow Tongue, Green Papaya, Thai Basil, Roasted Peanuts cold salad was very nice and I really liked the strong smokey flavor of this finely chopped delicacy. We spoke to the chef responsible for chopping the fresh beef tongue in the early AM hours. The chef told Allen the garnish/marinade was made by a female chef that specializes in sauces at Caesars, Atlantic Grill. This cold tongue salad was a hit with the crowd. The beef tongue was a hot item as it was being served by guests alot.

Crispy Lambs Liver, Lamb Pork and Beans

Sophia and I both loved the Crispy Lambs Liver, Lamb Pork and Beans and it looked like General Tso's Chicken with big beans. This dish had a really robust liver taste and were served as fried nuggets. The spices in the sauce and beans were tasty and it was great to eat offal. Allen is looking into doing some Offal dishes at home and maybe working them into the Two Frys stir-fry as well. It is not everyday you get to eat some guts that are normally not used in everyday cooking.

Spare Ribs, Pork Meatball, Frog Legs, Chicken Feet

I wonder if this Frog Leg will taste like chicken?

Say hello to my little friend, pollo loco - Chicken Feet!

Allen liked the eggs benedict with the thick richness of duck eggs, sunny side up on an english muffin, and cheese.

Crazy cool rat surrounded by crackers, cookies and desserts

Every table got a platter consisting of Chicken Feet, Spare Ribs, Pork Meatball, and Fried Frog Legs. The chicken feet had a sweet asain style sauce and had good flavor, but the consistency was a bit too chewy. Maybe fried would have been a better choice. The fried frog legs were a favorite and we both agreed they tasted just like chicken! Allen ate the one pork meatball on a stick and loved the rich flavor. We loved the spare ribs that just melted in our mouths and had a great taste from all the spices. The ribs were so moist and juicy.

Some of the lovely desserts

The desserts were beautifully displayed and there were two chocolate fountains, white and milk chocolate. There were lots of fruits arranged to dip into the chocolate fountains and desserts galore to satisfy any sweet tooth. Both the bizzare and regular brunch foods were exceptional, and the chefs and cooks did an incredible job at this brunch. This was a great event the Atlantic Grill did, and Andrew Zimmern was a great host and very personable.

White Chocolate Fountain

Chocolate Fountain

-Allen and Sophia/Two Frys

Atlantic City Food And Wine Festival - Define "Cheese-Steak"

Friday, July 27, 2012

Atlantic City Food And Wine Festival  Define "Cheese-Steak" - Showboat

Andrew Zimmern's Beef Tongue Cheesesteak

People Enjoying Cheesesteaks!

The Define "Cheese-Steak" was a really fun outdoor event at the Main Lot at Showboat. The event was huge and had both indoor in tent seating (open air) and outside seating. The event was hosted by Andrew Zimmern and featured a set up of three huge tents with a stage. The band that performed several sets was Rockabilly band, Full Blown Cherry. I listen to Rockabilly as it is my fave style of music so I was thrilled so see this rockin' band from Pennsylvania. 

Full Blown Cherry

Full Blown Cherry

There were alot of cheesesteak stations all grilling fresh onsite. There were also a few great salad stations and I really enjoyed a yummy spicy cucumber salad and coleslaw. There were over 15 stations of cheesesteaks, salads and beverages.

A chef serving the yummy salads

Lots of Salads To Choose From

Andrew Zimmern

At the Andrew Zimmern table, chefs made a real show stopper - thinly sliced beef tongue cheesesteak sandwiches. I really enjoyed this cheesesteak and the beef tongue had a bacon taste and had crispy edges.


Sammy D's Cheesesteak Dumplings



Sammy D's Cheesesteak Dumplings

I also tasted one of the best bites of the evening at Sammy D's table, Cheesesteak Dumplings. I ate a few of them and they were garnished with chopped hot peppers and the sauce was in an "S" shape to represent the name Sammy D's which is located at Harrah's Resort. This was a wild table to hang at and eat. I had so much fun here and loved these dumplings. I was happy to meet Sammy D and speak with him for a few minutes.


Scarduzio's Cheesesteaks

The table from Scarduzio's from Showboat had some great tasting cheesesteaks and I enjoyed watching all the chefs grill and make the sandwiches for awhile. The staff was very nice and I took some pictures of the chefs.

HBH Cheesesteak



HBH Plating Cheesesteaks

I had a chance to eat a cheesesteak sample which I thoroughly enjoyed from HBH Gourmet Sandwiches & Smoked Meats from Brooklyn, NY.


Cheesesteaks

I had some great samples of cheesesteaks from the stations at this event. I tasted about 10 of them. There was an MC from 100.7 WZXL Southern Jersey's Rock Station which we listen to when we are in town. Since the event was outdoors it was really hot but thankfully when the sun went down, there was a nice breeze and it was much more comfortable. I highly recommend this event and will be attending next year.

-Allen/Two Frys