My first food event that I attended for 2012 and I'm glad it's all about Filipino food. There was a lot of Lechon, Calamansi, Longganisa and Pork BBQ. There's definitely a lot of food and my $20 food coupons were all worth it. Actually I would've been satisfied with fewer coupons since there's a lot of food. UFC was giving out free tastes of Lechon, Filipino spaghetti, Paksiw and Lumpias. There was also a sampling of Pili nuts which I'm excited about. Based from the people behind it, it would be sold at Whole foods and Trader Joes this year!
Secret ingredient: Pili nut
What I like about this event is that it showcases the different Filipino culinary enthusiasts whether they are amateurs or professionals. There was a cook off between the newbies and the pros. It's a multi-course cooking competition that kinda reminded me of Iron Chef where the secret ingredient is Filipino Food. Winners were: Arlene Nunez for the amateurs and Albert Rivera for the Pros.
There was also tastings from different Filipino restaurants, food trucks, food vendors, etc. The only thing I didn't like is the limited space. It was really packed inside and it's hard to move around, get your food and eat. I'm glad though that there's such events like these that highlights the Filipino cuisine and let the Bay Area people taste and enjoy it.
Food vendors
Cutting up the calamansi bars (Filipino version of the lemon bars)
The 2nd Annual Kulinarya event was held at the Carnelian by the Bay which is conveniently located at the Ferry Building in San Francisco. There was a Pili nut presentation at the beginning of the event. Restaurants like Intramuros, Tastebuds, Dampa and Patio Filipino were there to sample their dishes. Food coupons were sold for $5 each or $20 for 5. I have to say, the most flavorful dish I had was Naked chorizo's longganisa tacos. It's "Bacolod" style longganisa without the casing topped with tomato salsa fresca, queso fresco, cilantro dressing and jalapenos. It was really good! Tastebud's lechon wraps were okay too but I wish they put something to cut through the fat because it was just minced lechon on a tortilla with a garlic hoisin sauce. I feel like it's missing something.
Here are the photos of some of the food from the event!
I fully support events like these and I wish that there would be more events that showcase the Filipino food around the bay area. I think filipino food has a lot to offer and it shouldn't be just about the lechon or fried pork bellies or the lumpias and adobo. It's a diverse fusion cuisine that needs more exploration. Looking forward to more exciting Filipino food this year.
Besides the monthly antique fair in Alameda, I'm thrilled whenever food trucks come to the island. This is the first food truck and wine event at the Rock Wall Winery and all I can say is that it rocks. We went just to grab dinner not expecting anything. On the way to the winery is part of the experience. It's in the middle of nowhere. It's close to the naval base so you'll see huge ships around plus the winery has spectacular views of the San Francisco skyline. As we enter this huge 40,000 sg ft. plane hangar converted into a winery we heard music playing. We were surrounded by wine barrels. There were couches, tables and chairs. It's a huge lounge area and in front of you were the food trucks.
Lounge area
Not your normal plastic table and chairs
Love the setting
Emapandas. I think Red Ribbon is better. It's a bit overpriced for me too.
Flavored shaved ice
Pretty good funnel cake
Not a food truck but a food bus. There's seating inside too.
There's a handful of food vendors. There's the traditional $1.50/taco truck, a Cuban sandwich truck, emapanadas, shaved ice, hot dogs, funnel cakes and of course a selection of wines to pair with your food. What really got me excited was the Bacon Bacon truck. I didn't expect to see this truck at the event. There's a lot of buzz about this truck since It's SF's first Bacon truck. I checked the menu and everything has bacon in it.This is definitely where our dinner will be coming from.
SF's 1st.
Even the menu smells like bacon
We got the Pork belly sandwich and the double patty burger with bacon. It was pretty good. I liked the pork belly better because it has different flavor combination. The only thing we didn't like was the 1 hour wait time to get our food. 20 minutes to get our order and another 40 to get it. It's probably because they're new and they didn't expect that much people. It could also be that there only competition I think was the Le Truc food truck. There's nothing really exciting about the menu from the other food trucks so I'm guessing everyone's tummy were telling them to get some bacon.
1 hour to get your bacon fix
Burger with 2 patties, bacon and caramelized onions
Pork Belly with egg, caper aioli and arugula
This was a pretty cool event. Wine, food trucks, music and the view were the perfect combination for this great event and I'm happy it's here in my neighborhood.
Finally! Food trucks are coming to the East Bay, Oakland to be exact. I follow a handful of food trucks in Facebook but it looks like they are always in Emeryville. Cupkates is the only one that goes to Oakland pretty often but I can only have enough cupcakes in a week. Fivetenburger usually swings by at night time close to bars which doesn't really work for me. Off the Grid just started to serve Berkeley on Wednesday nights which is pretty amazing. One thing is for sure, You can pretty much get your food truck fix any day of the week. With all the food trucks popping up pretty quick, I wonder how quick this hype would last. How many food trucks can the Bay Area really handle? For now, my goal is to make the most out of this. Enjoy what these talented people have created and taste the different flavors each truck has to offer.
Bites on Broadway is Oakland's answer to Off the Grid. It's a Friday night street food event along 45th and Broadway in Oakland. I got excited when I heard about this event mainly because I live in Alameda and it's close to where I work. Second is because I love to check out what these new food trucks have to offer. It's no Off the Grid. They don't serve wine and alcohol at the moment and there's no live music yet. It's pretty much a laid back, get your food and sit on the grass kind of thing. Vendors include: 51st state, Fist of Flour, Cholita Linda, Sue's Sassy Pies, El Taco bike, Nick's Wheely Good Breakfast, etc.
51st state Brunswick stew just sounds so goood!
I heard about 51st state and their Brunswick stew but unfortunately they were sold out that time. Cholita Linda is pretty much everywhere. They are at the Jack London and Downtown Oakland Farmer's markets. They serve Baja fish tacos and Carnitas(Slow Roasted Pork) Tacos which is pretty good. Sassy Pies was letting people try their pies and it's not bad.They have the Chicken Pot Pie with bacon on a sage cream which is amazing.
Cholita Linda's menu
Trio of Tacos
Salted Caramel Apple Pie
Cheddar biscuit sandwich with bacon, arugula and aioli from Nick's Wheely Good Breakfast
I can't wait to see how this weekly event unfolds and to try more exciting dishes out of these mobile food vendors.
