Last night BFM Director Lori Taylor and I attended Foodpurtunity in Seattle, "a networking event for food journalists, Public relation professionals, restaurateurs, farmers, companies and all food passionate people." It was a tough job, but someone had to do it. Tom Douglas' Palace Kitchen Ballroom was packed with such folk, all trying to elbow each other out of the way (politely) to get at the delicious samples. Personal favorites included the short-rib-and-kim-chee sliders from Mistral Kitchen and the gluten-free crostini with cheese, arugula and balsamic reduction from Wheatless in Seattle. Oh, and let's not forget the molten chocolate cakes from hot cakes confections, indulgent treats that will be available at our Thursday market. Pure indulgence.
Many of the treats featured ingredients from BFM farmers and vendors. Lori and I came upon Fishing Vessel St. Jude tuna and Willie Greens produce and Foraged and Found nettles. One Spanish tortilla featured potatoes from our own Olsen Farms, and both Marilyn's Nut Butters and Fosse Farms were there sampling products.
If the food was front and center, the networking was close behind. Large screens scrolled through tweets from attendees, and the evening wound up with a rigorous "speed-networking" event where I had to face off with twenty other bloggers, chefs, reviewers, sommeliers, etc. and see if we were going to make beautiful meals together. I think a whopping two of them had ever been to our lovely market, but hopefully my thirty seconds of arm-twisting will get more of them to cross the bridge.
Thanks for checking in with the blog. You might or might not be thrilled to know you can now become a fan of the Bellevue Farmers Market on Facebook or follow me (@CNDudley) on Twitter. Bon appetit, and let's network!
