Savour Food & Wine Show

Lucky me, a couple of weeks ago, I was invited to attend the Seventh Annual Savour Food & Wine Show, showcasing the diversity of Nova Scotia's food and wine industry. SFWS is actually the culmination of a month long party orchestrated by the Restaurant Association of Nova Scotia, better known as RANS, a non-profit organization established in 1947 to promote the food and beverage sector of the hospitality industry. And they do a great job all year round. (You can check out their calendar for upcoming events)

It's taken me two weeks just to digest it (pardon the pun) and try to figure out how to write about it...not so much to make you jealous if you've missed it, but rather to book your calendar ahead for next year's event. The photo at the top (Chefs from Trendz, over in Dartmouth) just a taste of what's in store for everyone once the doors open.

I must mention that the clever people at RANS work hard to organize February's Dine Out Nova Scotia, to help us endure the longest month of the year...and yes, I know that actually it's the shortest, but it certainly feels longer. They entice us all to come out of hibernation and savour some very tasty menus at local restaurants, who in turn, show off their best creations with a prix fixe meal - 3-5 course meals (depending on the restaurant) of very interesting fare.

And if that didn't get you out of the house, there was Decadence Chocolate, Wine, Cheese event that sold out in seconds, and Rare & Fine Wine Tasting. But the real show stopper was,is, and always will be, the big finale...

...the Savour Food & Wine Show, showcasing more than 60 fantastic restaurants and beverage producers and suppliers. What can I say...it was over-the-top two and a half hours of live entertainment, (lots of ) sips of wine, spirits (I had an awesome cocktail at Mosaic) and beer.

Let me just say, that if I were to organize a do...wedding, anniversary...whatever, I'd stick to appetizers and bite size tasty morsels - the more the better. And that's exactly what SFWS is all about - Two and a half hours of tasting and sipping. It was all a delicious blur and I thought I'd share some of the tasty treats with you. Not the best photos, but it was hard to juggle, crowd, plate full of goodies and a glass of the perfect wine to pair it with.

Here's a little photo sample of my adventure... and I apologize in advance for the ones I've neglected to mention.
Greeted by 44 North's version of poutine...Duck Poutine, with duck fries, duck confit,local curds
Vodka bottle weren't the only things on ice (I couldn't get a good photo), forget shaken or stirred martinis and cosmos - imagine your drink poured through an ice sculpture funnel - awesome way to start the night.
Some live entertainment to add even more zip to the evening
and of course there was a crowd - more than 600 people showed up, but have no fear...a little sip of a tasty cocktail from Mosaic Social Dining Lounge...
...and then, the doors open and the chefs et al are ready for you....
Chef's at Le Caveau and their trio of house cured charcuterie sandwiches and...
their deconstructed lamb pastilla.
Chef Dennis Johnston and the crew from fid
with a simple and so delicious crumpet with smoked salmon
The NSCC - Nova Scotia Culinary College's Junior team (which went off to win the NS Cullinary Championship - I'll be visiting with them and their awesome coach Chef Sean Kettley right after Spring Break) and a jaw dropping Smoked Salmon, carrot bomb, melon caviar, & pappadum crack
Opa Greek Taverna chefs and their whole roasted lamb
A very intriguing - and delicious - Cajun escargot fritter from Onyx
Saege Bistro & Scanway (every Halifax bride wants a Scanway cake) went with the Olympics theme
Savoury Tiger Prawn and cucumber bobsleds
and sweet their Taste of Victory
Dirty Nelly's Oysters fresh from the ocean - I can still taste them on my tongue.
And no SFWS would be complete without Hamachi's fantastic sushi (They've won for best cold food year after year) This photo below represents all of their restaurants.
My apologies to all the other awesome restaurants and beverage stations that I never got a chance to photograph. The rest of the evening is quite a blur still. But I can't wait for next year and there were certainly lots of restaurants I'm glad I was introduced to.