Texas Hill Country Wine and Food Festival

Sunday Fair- An Eclectic Urban Celebration of Food and Wine

I bought tickets for the Sunday Fair almost as soon as they were released. This event looked like so much fun and a perfect place to try bites from restaurants and chefs as well as wine and spirits from many wineries. I thought it would be a perfect afternoon for Jim and I but I didn't realize that Jim was going to be out of town that same weekend :( After some failed plans with friends to meet up at the festival, I ended up going alone. Before you feel all sad for me, don't... I had a wonderful time. I met people, talked to vendors and strangers, took photos and ate and drank more calories more than I should have. A delightful afternoon!

Samples from Izzoz's tacos. Normally I love Izzoz's tacos, but the sample I had was pretty bland. It had all the right components to have a party in my mouth, but it just fizzled :( Zagunda's tacos had more flavor but the flavor of the meat was slightly overpowered by the slaw on top. I thought Takoba had the best flavored taco. A really great combination of pork, corn tortilla, and salsa.

I had a chance to eat something outside of my comfort zone and I chickened out. I was in line at Trace when I heard they are serving rabbit pate. some people were excited, others were not. I was in the not excited line but then I saw that they also had a dessert. I wish I was excited about the pate, but I just don't think it's for me. Maybe one day, but for now I'll eat my calories in other ways :)

This chocolate cup was from Trace and it was DELICIOUS.

So smooth and wasn't over powering

I have been wanting to try Chameleon for a few weeks now. I saw their booth a few times at SXSW but each time I was on my way into a venue that wouldn't let me take in outside drinks. The sample I had was a perfect little pick me up. I bought a bottle to take home with me :)

The lone picture of me...... Hi

I totally forgot about the Cooking demo's going on inside. I headed in and caught the end of the demo with Chef Matt Lightner. He was cooking a duck breast. I only stayed a few minutes then went back to the booths.

I took many wine pictures and tried many samples yesterday and this might be my favorite wine that I tried. There were many Pinot Noirs to sample (actually many flavors of wines) and they were good but this Brouilly had a delightful flavor.

The venue was at the Mexican American Cultural Center. This was my first time visiting, and it a simply beautiful venue. In the description they mentioned that they are off of the banks of Lady Bird Lake, but I missed due to being wrapped up in all of the fabulous booths :)

The shrimp and grits was the first thing that I tried. HOLY YUM! The shrimp were cooked perfectly and the grits tasted great. I need to find out what they seasoned them with (or what they added to them) Not only were there food, wine and trinket booths, there was also an area for liquor and beer. I didn't partake because I wanted to stick with wine. But there were some tasty looking beverages out there!

Whole Foods was serving a Short Rib Slider and a Vegetable ceveche. The slider was excellent, but didn't photograph well... perhaps that is because it took me .21 seconds to finish it :) The veggie cevechie was okay, not my favorite but it was very pretty

Chef De La Vega of the El Naranjo trailer fame showed us how to make refried beans long with (I believe) pork tacos. She was not afraid to let us know that using lard while making the beans will make them a lot better than just oil. :)

I failed to get the bands name and I can't find them on the website, but these guys were high energy and pretty good!

Strawberry Balsamic Black Pepper preserve... They gave samples of this over goat cheese and it was delicious. There was a nice sweet strawberry flavor with a black pepper bite.

This festival provided me with a fantastic afternoon of food, drinks and fun. I was slightly worried about the amount of people there, but the lines moved quickly. It didn't really feel like it was to crowded since I wasn't bumping into people or getting stuck in a crowd , which was nice.

I can't wait for next year!!!