Oh my... what is there to do during the most festive time of year? Why not have a food and drink adventure in San Diego? For the fourth year in a row, we ventured to Hillcrest for Taste 'N' Tinis on December 8th, 2016 between 4-9pm. Event ticket and martini glass in hand, away we went! Not long after, we were out and about for Toast of Gaslamp on December 10th, 2016 between 1-5pm. Suffice to say, it was a fun weekend! Highlights for each event are below!
Taste 'N' Tinis
One thing we noticed this year is that each location had a huge cooler pre-filled with the drink of the night. This kept the drinks flowing quickly so there was hardly any wait! Also, some locations added ice after pouring to keep the drinks refreshingly cool!
Santa would love this kind of 'milk' and cookies... a little something to keep you toasty warm for the night!
This summer I was able to attend Foodie Fest Encinitas which celebrated sustainability and had demos, tastings, music, art, and a chef competition. The preview event was earlier that month with a few different samples so I was able to try a wide variety of items! I'll run through some of my favorites first and move on from there.
Local Tap House had these fantastic deviled eggs which were dressed up with edible flowers during the event!
Dessert from Bistro West was pretty amazing at the preview. The panna cotta was quite delicious, with their bread pudding a close second. For the actual event, there was marinaded ahi mixed with a seaweed salad in a cute little cone.
We spent a lovely but hot afternoon enjoying Latin food, wine and spirits at the 3rd annual Latin Food Fest Grande Tasting in San Diego. This event was held on August 15 between 11-3pm and for one price gave all-inclusive access to over 50 restaurants/businesses. Our experience with last year's Latin Food Fest San Diego as well as this year's Latin Food Fest Los Angeles meant we were no strangers to this tasting event! The event was held at the Broadway Pier, a heavy tourist area next to US mid-way and other San Diego sightseeing places. A parking lot with $16 all day parking was across the street from the main entrance.
This post is divided into the following sections: 1) Food, 2) Drinks, and 3) Awesome People. There were several celebrity chef sightings plus a mini interview!
Food:
We came hungry and feasted our eyes on all the delectable samples awaiting us... then our mouths carried forward the mission to eat from every booth!
Cafe Sevilla's seafood paella and patata bravas were both beautiful and enjoyable.
At West Coast Tavern, we found chicken sopas - very nice and crispy on the outer shell with shredded chicken inside.
It's Taste 'N' Tinis recap time! I love this event because it has the kind of booze I enjoy most AND the price is right. Seriously, $20 is way too good to pass up! Even if you buy last minute, it's only $25 on the day of! I lucked out and used points to redeem free tickets from a local tv station website. It was meant to be!
The event was held Thursday December 11 between 5 and 10 pm, an extra hour longer than previous years. More time to sober up or booze up? That's your choice! We also got these cute little martini glasses for sampling!
