10 Things We Learned At The 2018 Pebble Beach Food & Wine

The 2018 Pebble Beach Food and Wine has come and gone and we are SO sad. We had so much fun tasting and nibbling on all the food and wine sent from heaven under one giant white tent.  If you are a lover of food, or wine, or both like us, we highly recommend attending. It is seriously so amazing! 

We learned so many new things during the weekend, we wanted to put together a list of 10 things we learned at this year's event.

Here they are:

1. The Year of Foie Gras - We are calling this years event "The Year of Foie Gras" because so many of the chefs under the big tent on Saturday and Sunday were serving up delicious bites of foie gras. Eve has always adored Foie gras but Ivy, on the other hand, tends to steer away from these dishes because of the earthy liver taste. This year Ivy couldnt help but fall in love with Foie gras though. This year's chefs foie gras dishes all had such distinct tastes- some were fresh like Hudson Valley's brown butter foie gras crumble & strawberry...or the English pea panna cotta with spring vegetables, Meyer lemon and foie gras by Chef Blom. Foie gras can be made in so many ways it really can be delightful to all pallets!

Hudson Valley's brown butter crumble & strawberry foie gras

English pea panna cotta with spring vegetables, meyer lemon and foie gras by Chef Blom

2. Eat Your Invasives - Chef Lofaro had one of our favorite dishes of the weekend. Why? Because it was delicious, the presentation was beautiful, and the concept behind it was so awesome. Lafaro had made his dish out of kiawe bean flour and strawberry and guava plants which are all invasive plants in his home state of Hawaii. He decided to use these invasives for good - eating! As he removes the plants from the landscape, he uses it to create this delicious dish. No waste for the bettering of the ecosystem. SO COOL!

Eat Your Invasives! kiawe, walawf, and white bread poke by Chef Lofaro

3. Time For Vegas - We were invited to the Venetian Hotel happy hour on Saturday evening. This event was held at the fire pits at the Inn at Spanish Bay. The happy hour included a few signature cocktails that were tasty and unique and Chef Lorena Garcia was serving up delicious tacos! Ivy has only been to Vegas overnight on her way back from college and Eve has NEVER been! From what The Venetian did with this event, we know where we're headed next! Vegas Baby! We're planning to go to Vegas in the next several months to get the FULL Vegas experience!

4. There really is no substitute for bubbles - This year we were lucky to catch up with our "spirit sommelier" Kim Beto and attend his Sunday Bubbles Seminar, which is similar to the Big Bottle Bubbles seminar we attended in 2016. If you love champagne like us, you MUST attend this seminar. At 10 am on a Sunday you are greeted with a tasting flight of 9 different champagnes/sparkling wines to taste along with your new best friends (the five champagne experts on the panel).  

This year our favorite quotes from the seminar were:

• Magnums are the perfect size for two if only one is drinking.

• Drink Champagne right out of the bottle! "great on buses when you don't have glasses" - Kim Beto

• Sabering party "If you haven't had one you're not living" - Kim Beto

• England is the new "up and coming" producer of sparkling wines. Two of the nine wines we tasted were from Jolly Old England and we were shocked at how delicious they were! We honestly didn't think good wine could come from such a wet, mild climate. Boy, were we wrong!

Us with "spirit sommelier" Kim Beto at Sunday Bubbles

5. Good bread and butter is one of life's greatest simple pleasures - We are always down to eat fresh bread and homemade butter, but it's not something you are expecting to eat at the Pebble Beach Food and Wine. A day full of foie gras and delectable cheeses is more the norm. However, this year we stumbled upon the Kerrygold butter booth and were pleasantly surprised and instantly comforted by the simplicity of quality bread and butter. After hours of trying new wines and rich bites, the bread and butter was a welcomed change! Such a simple food really can be delicious.

6. Lanson Champagne is still our favorite! - We are always looking for new champagnes to try but we honestly still adore Lanson Champagne the most. #sorrynotsorry

8.  Berries by themselves - Driscoll always makes an appearance at the PBFW event. The berries are served as is and are always one of our favorite snacks in between the richer bites chefs prepare. The acidity and sweetness wake up our pallet so they are ready to try the next thing! We also loved the tasty berry popsicles they handed out as we all left the tent. 

9. Sake for wellness sake - This year we sampled TYKU sake which has a variety of flavors. Tyku is a clean alternative to wine because it has lower acidity, no sulfites which sometimes irritate people, and has no tannins. You can literally "unwine" with TYKU. Our favorite flavor was the refreshing cucumber. We think it may be time to explore the world of sake soon. 

10. There really is NOTHING like PBFW - We haven't been able to attend any of the other Food and Wine events around the world but we have been told by many who have that the Pebble Beach Food and Wine is the BEST. And jousting by the location, the chef and winemakers who attend, and our experience, we can't see how anywhere else can compare!

Avacado, mint and cucumber shooter topped with créme fraîche and wild flowers

Bone marrow, butterscotch, panna cotta with blueberry and bacon relish by Chef Jin from Paws Up Resort

It was our Mom's birthday on Sunday we were so happy to be able to spend the day sipping and tasting with her!

Kona kampachi tartar with shallots, chives, avacado puree, radish, lemon aioli and honey crumble.

Marinated salt spring mussels

Food & Wine Event Tips & Attire

Over the years, some of our favorite food memories together have been at Food and Wine festivals around California and the world. For one price, you get to experience a multitude of different flavors and sample amazing wines from around the world. Our favorite event hands down have always been the Pebble Beach Food & Wine in our hometown (see more HERE, HERE, and HERE). We always start the day with a game plan and want to share with you some tips for you to keep in mind as you prepare to attend all of this year's Food and Wine events. 

xoxo Ivy & Eve

• Make sure you are FULLY hydrated before the event and drink water between each taste. 

• Eat something before the event! Otherwise the alcohol will affect you sooner!

• Make sure you have your designated driver/transportation home figured out before you get to the event. We all want to be responsible imbibers!!!

• Wear darker colors, or patterned clothes. During these types of events, you are walking and standing in tight quarters so spills are very common (at least for clumsy people like us!), Wearing patterned or dark colors will hide spills so you can keep looking flawless. #goals

• Comfy, chic, closed toe shoes are best for such events since there are lots of people and the possibility of being stomped on is high. We recommend wearing shoes you are comfortable in since these events are hours long and you'll be standing/walking around the the whole time.  

• A small yet roomy bag to carry all your personal items (camera, tickets, business cards collected from vendors, etc.). We love using cross body bags because they leave both hands free for carrying our wine glass and small bites. :)

• Wear layers that can be easily carried (you'll need both hands for food/drinks). The weather in Pebble Beach can go from chilly 50's to sunny 75 in a matter on minutes, so layering up is always a good idea. That being said, make sure whatever layers you wear can be either tied around your shoulders/waist or stuffed in your bag.

• Long lasting lip color/no lip color (greasy foods and lots of wine will make it rub off easily). We recommend Lipsense (our favorite brand!) but if you don't have time to get some...our second favorite is Maybelline Super Stay 24 Color. 

• Start with bubbles! Sparkling wine excites your palate and gets you ready for what is to come!

• Go from light to dark wines. Since you wont be guided through the hundreds of wines this guide comes in handy: White before Red, Dry before Sweet. 

• Use the 5 S's - See, Swirl, Smell, Sip,  Savor!

• Bring your sense of adventure! At all food & wine events, we highly recommend keeping away from your favorites and trying something new that you never thought you would like! Last time, we tried Chef Todd Fischer's Bacon Chocolate Covered Chicharrones which Eve was actually addicted to for weeks (we asked the Chef Todd for several take-home bags!!).

Bubbles and Bites: Pebble Beach Food and Wine 2016

For the past nine years, Pebble Beach plays host to over 100 top chefs and 250 wineries at the Pebble Beach Food and Wine, making it the West Coast’s premier food and wine event. Over four days, there are countless events such as cooking demos, wine tastings, and dinning events. We had the good fortune of getting tickets for Sunday’s top two events, The Big Bottle Bubbles champagne seminar, and the Lexus Grand Tasting. 

We started off at the Inn at Spanish Bay for our Big Bottle Bubbles seminar at the early hour of 10:00 AM. Held in the Grand Ballroom at the Inn, we arrived stylishly late (some confusion about the location on our part) and sat down to a beautiful spread of nine champagnes to taste! We quickly knew we were with hundreds of like minded folk when the host of the seminar opened the talk with saying that 10:00 AM is a perfectly acceptable time to be drinking nine glasses of champagne because: 

“Champagne is breakfast in a glass.” - Kim Beto

All of the champagnes we tasted were from magnum bottles, which is 1.5 liters (equivalent to 2 regular 750ml bottles). This size is preferred for aging by many winemakers and sommeliers. This seminar was super fun and we learned so much that we will be doing a longer post on all the great info we got from our sommelier hosts. So stay tuned! We also found our new favorite champagne, Lanson, which happens to be one of the oldest champagne houses. More on this also to come!

After the seminar, we headed straight to the Lexus Grand Tasting.  We met our wonderful parents at the door, and began our 3 hour culinary adventure! With over 300 wines to sample and 30 top west coast chefs’ bites to try, we made a game plan to stick with bubbles and sample as many bites as possible. Limiting ourselves to one type of wine helped us to not ruin our palate by switching from reds to whites constantly. Plus, we love bubbles (obviously).  If we go back next year, we will definitely go for both days! It was impossible to try everything in the 3 hours. Next year is the 10th anniversary and we are sure it will be an event not to be missed!

Here are a few fun facts we learned at the events:

• Over 1 ton of butter was purchased for this 4 day event.

• One sommelier suggests drinking champagne with In-N-Out burgers. 

• Chocolate covered chicharrones are now our favorite bar snack thanks to Tarpy's chef Todd Fisher.

Be sure to check out our outfit details over on the Style page up now here!

xxx Ivy & Eve