Experience: 2nd Annual Gluten Free Cooking Spree, San Francisco

I figured by the time I actually made it to the gluten free cooking spree that the "iron chef" portion of the evening was done with, but I was mistaken. I was thrown into an apron and introduced myself to Chef Chandon Clendard who is the executive chef at the Pacific Catch Fresh Fish Grill, 9th Ave location in San Francisco. He had prepared a fabulous salmon and mushroom dish for all the guests to try. Our team was one of 10 that offered small dinner plates to all the guests to try, and near the end of the evening each team plated their meals and presented them to the panel of judges. That really was the only part of it that resembled an iron chef competition. I basically helped plate and distribute the food, although I would have loved to actually chop something.

After my duties to the team were done, I, like everyone else, pretty much grazed, from vendor to vendor. In a way it was sort of like a food crawl; pay a flat rate, and eat a lot of food. There was a cheese and cracker spread, shrimp, and tri-tip....desserts oh my. The things that stand out in my mind was the salmon made by my team, the souffles from Three Sense Gourmet, (soon to be reviewed on GFree TV), the Clam Chowder from Kettle Cuisine, The Red Velvet Cake from Miglets Bakery, The Apple Tart from Crave Bakery (soon to be reviewed on GFree TV), the rice from StoreHouse Foods, and the draft cider from WoodChuck.

It was sort of hard to hear any of the announcements they made over the PA system, so I didn't really hear much of what was said. Regardless, I got to meet a lot of awesome gluten free companies, and eat a lot of great gourmet gluten free food with my husband and my best friend. And when we left, we got to see an awesome view of the bridge and the city from a perspective angle we had never experienced.

So overall, was the event worth the $50 entry, most definitely.

Do I think I'll attend next year? Yes, if the bay bridge is open, (but would prefer it on the weekend; like a 5-9pm kind of mix and mingle. Even without being late, I felt the event was a little short, and you had to rush to get to everything)

Did I have fun? You bet.