Aug 20: Savour Stratford Perth County Culinary Festival 2012 kickoff at the Drake

The Date and Time:  Monday, August 20, 2012    7PM to 10 PM

The Event: Savour Stratford Perth County Culinary Festival 2012 Kickoff.

The Venue: The Drake

The Target Audience: regulars and the food and wine press

The Availability/Catalogue: we were sampling all manner of food and drink, all available in Ontario. The dates for the Festival, in Stratford, are Sept 21 through 23. Check out www.savourstratford.com

for more details.

The Quote/Background: This was an introduction to what was new at this year's Festival. It features five top Canadian award-winning chefs from coast-to-coast, a section for BBQ-Blues Music-and Brews, a sort of southern fried affair with country rock music. There are thirty tastings and talks, ranging from apartment farming to fermenting.

The Drinks we sampled: I passed on the three cocktails, sorry.

 

**** BEST -- Four Stars (91+ in Quality/Price Rating terms):

-Chateau des Charmes Rose Cuvee d'Andree 2011 VQA, $11.95

-Mill Street Organic Beer

-Mill Street Lemon Tea Beer

 

 

***1/2 BETTER -- Three and a Half Stars (88 – 90 in Quality/Price Rating terms):

-Chateau des Charmes Aligote 2010 VQA, $13.55

-Chateau des Charmes Pinot Noir 2008 VQA, $14.55

 

The Food: Monforte, located in Stratford, showed three cheeses – Toscano (dry hard sheep), Piacere (creamy with herbs), and Chimay (runny), augmented by their sesame seed crackers and preserves. Rene's Bistro featured heavy lollipop dough balls and raspberries. Mercer Hall nosh menu included pastrami slider on brioche, lardo wrapped pickled veggies, and a beef tartare with tenderloin, shallot, ancho chile, and sous-vide egg yolk, on a house made potato chip. All the food was yummy, except maybe the dough balls.

The Downside: I had just returned from a long day at Vineland Estate in Niagara.

The Upside: a chance to connect with the Siren Group doing the PR and Ivy Knight who takes command of the drake every Monday night with her 86'd.

The Contact Person: renee@thesirengroup.com and info@savourstratford.com

The Event's Marketing Effectiveness and Execution (numerical grade): 89.

Chimo!  www.deantudor.com