Food Truck Festival - Review

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Written by Brian

Category: News

Yesterday marked the first ever Food Truck Festival held in the Capital Region.

There were 14 food trucks participating, and thousands of people came out in the beautiful weather.

Attendance we so good, there were lines of up to 2 hours just to place an order.

The event got very packed, but was well run.  Next year, hopefully there will be even more vendors to reduce line time, and since tables were in limited supply, I would hope they increase the seats as well.

Click 'more' below to view more pictures from the event.

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Hudson-Berkshire Wine Trail - Mac Attack

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Written by Brian

Category: News

The three of us (and Kent's better half) made a weekend vacation out of the Hudson Berkshire Experience's - Mac Attack wine trail.

The trail consists of 3 wineries (Brookview Station, Hudson-Chatham, and Furnace Brook), 1 brewery (chatham Brewing), and 1 distilliary (Harvest Spirits)

This year, their pasta themed trail event was focused on Macaroni and Cheese dishes.  All 5 participants had creative dishes using their products in the recipe.

All four of us had Furnace Brook as our first or second choice, so I determined them to be the winner from CRFoodies.  I called the trail coordinator, and they have yet to announce the official winner based on ballots, but hope to have a winner by next week

Click 'more' below to view more pictures from the event.

Wines from Hudson-Chatham Winery	Wine tasting at Brookview Station Winery	Passport Booklet and all our votes for Mac and Cheese

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2013 Mac and Cheese Bowl Review

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Written by Brian

Category: News

Today was the 4th annual Mac and Cheese bowl as a fundraiser for the Capital Region Food Bank.  All three foodies went to this event, and we all had our own top favorites.  This was the same venue as last year, and the turn out was incredible.  There were over 40 restaurants participating with their own unique take on the traditional mac and cheese dish.  Participants were asked to rank their top three choices, each of our votes are below.

The event is so popular, I think each time slot has more people than the room it is held in can support, it was a bit tight, even tighter than I remember it being last year.  With the large attendance the room was a little hard to navigate, but there is plenty of time to hit every table, so it is just a mild inconvenience, not a limiting factor.  The bigger issue is standard courtesy from other patrons.  The standard move was to get your sample, and immediately stop and eat it so that no one else could get to the table.  That isn't the organizers fault, but putting some tables in the middle may help alleviate the issue.  Garbage cans were more prevalent this year, and incredibly well maintained, there was never a full one.

At $20 / per person, it is a bargain for all the samples you get, and you get to help out the food bank.

Our Votes:

Brian:  Uncle Marty's (buffalo M&C), Druthers (not sure what it was, but amazing.. possibly fried M&C with bacon), Wolfs 1-11 (Pulled pork M&C)

Josie:  Druthers, Albany Pump Station (Cheeseburger M&C), Wolfs 1-11

Kent: Mariott (Sam Adams and Brisket M&C), Hannaford (M&C Bar - make your own), Slidin' Dirty (M&C with salsa and avocado)

EDIT: Official Results: 

Participant voting: 

1st - Druthers Brewing, with their deep fried triple pork nuggets

2nd - Albany Pump Station, with their pump station burger

3rd - Mazzone Hospitatility, with their 7-hour cherry pepper pork

Best Display - Hannaford

Judges Choice Winner:  Comfort Kitchen, with their butternut squash

Catering.

Bruegger's Turns 30 - Celebrate with Specials Each day of the Month

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Written by Kent

Category: News

Bruegger's Turns 30 Years old on February 7th, and to celebrate, they are offering deals each day of the Month.  

Like them on Facebook to get a free bagel with cream cheese coupon.

Here are this month's Deals:

Slider Slam - Review

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Written by Brian

Category: News

Last night was the 2nd annual Slider Slam as part of 'Wine and Dine for the Arts' an event created to give money to local art establishments (primarily theaters).  I went to the first Slider Slam last year courtesy of a table hopping give away, and I was hooked.  The event featured about 10 different local restaurants serving up a slider of their choosing.  There were also wineries, breweries, a rum company and a whiskey company giving out complimentary drinks.  The sliders were excellent again this year, with my two favorites being Valentes and Biergarten.  (my date's favorites were Valentes and 677 Prime).

And the Bacardi dragon-fruit mojito was great :)

The event is so popular, I feel it has outgrown the room it is in, it is very tight, and incredibly hard to navigate, but there is plenty of time to hit every table, so it is just a mild inconvenience, not a limiting factor.  This year the room was also quite smokey at times, an issue I'm sure they will address for future years.

At $35 / per person, it is a little pricey, but it is good food, lots of drinks, and most importantly, the money goes to a good cause.

(Sorry for the poor quality photos, the smoke really messed with my camera)

Edit: per Times Union, the people's choice winner was Valentes (offical judge winner was Slidin' Dirty)