New to Feast this year was Smoked! 26 chefs from around the country joined together to close the festival with an event dedicated to smoked foods. Throw in wine, cocktails, and a warm evening with a view of the Fremont Bridge, and you have a winning combination.
I’ve been to Feast three times now, and have seen events morph as the festival matures. Smoked, however, doesn’t need to change a thing; on the first try, they hit it out of the park. The layout was perfect, there was plenty of room to move, lines weren’t very long, and tended to move quickly. Every single person I chatted with said that this was their favorite event. If you go to one event next year, this should be it.
The selection of chefs was terrific. I like to pick a favorite when I go to these things, but with a few exceptions, every booth put out terrific food.
Here is a random slideshow of things that caught my eye:
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Ben Bettinger, Laurelhurst Market (Portland, OR), Kyra Bussanich, Kyra’s Bake Shop (Lake Oswego, OR), Beau Carr, RingSide Steakhouse (Portland, OR), Maylin Chavez and Melissa Mayer, Olympia Oyster Bar (Portland, OR), Jose Chesa, Ataula (Portland, OR), Matt Christianson, Urban Farmer Restaurant (Portland, OR), Chris Cosentino, Cockscomb (San Francisco, CA), Greg Denton And Gabrielle Quiñónez Denton, OX Restaurant (Portland, OR), Elizabeth Falkner, Falk Yeah Productions (Brooklyn, NY), Tommy Habetz And Nick Wood, Bunk Sandwiches (Portland, OR), Vivian Howard, Chef & the Farmer (Kinston, NC), Paul Kahan, The Publican (Chicago, IL), Gavin Kaysen, Spoon and Stable (Minneapolis, MN), Scott Ketterman, Crown Paella (Portland, OR), Tyler Malek, Salt & Straw (Portland, OR), Tony Maws, Craigie on Main (Cambridge, MA), Nong Poonsukwattana, Nong’s Khao Man Gai (Portland, OR), Andy Ricker, Pok Pok (Portland, OR), Allen Routt, The Painted Lady (Newberg, OR), Adam Sappington, The Country Cat (Portland, OR), Chris Shepherd, Underbelly (Houston, TX), John Tesar, Knife at The Highland Dallas (Dallas, TX), Justin Woodward, Castagna Restaurant (Portland, OR)
John Beauchamp says
I’ve been to 8 events over 3 years and this was by far the best run event so far. The last couple of years the events with stations were generally very slow, long lines that moved at a snails pace, but that was not the case at Smoked. the lines were quick, the food was amazing and the space was not only the perfect size for the crowd, but a wonderful aesthetic. Well done Feast.