Date - Wasatch International Food Festival

Last weekend, we went to the Wasatch International Food Festival.  It was the very first one and they did a pretty decent job.  We bought VIP tickets for $25 and it covered both days but we ended up only going on Saturday.  The VIP tickets also came with a stainless steel cup which Som plans on using for a shaker.  Also included were VIP tastings and a drink coupon.

We walked around to the different food vendors and were a little disappointed that more food vendors weren't offering smaller portions or weren't advertising it very well.  We ended up just getting two larger plates and made it our lunch.  Som ordered the Duck Confit Poutine from Poutine Your Mouth and Sothea ordered Kalua Pork from Hawaiian Vilovilo.

Kalua Pork from Hawaiian Vilovilo

Duck Confit Poutine from Poutine Your Mouth

Both were delicious.  The pork was cooked perfectly and what was great was they brought all their cooking supplies with them and we got to see it cooked.  They were still making chicken when we got there and it wasn't ready yet.  It looked and smelled so delicious that we bought some and took it home at the end of the night.

They offered a few different tastings in the VIP area.  We went to two.  The Mountain West Cider Tasting and the Sake Tasting.

Mountain West Cider is located on 425 North 400 West, here in Salt Lake.  They source local ingredients which is awesome.  Go Utah!  We sampled the 7 Mile Cider which is light and great for a hot day or a BBQ.  We also tried the Ruby Cider which we agreed was our favorite of the two.  It has a little bit more umph to it.  They have a new one coming out called the Labyrinth that sounds super interesting.  We'll have to definitely stop by and try that later.

We also tried the sake tasting hosted by Naked Fish.  The last one pictured, we had tried before and the first one taste like the sake that they normally served at Japanese restaurants.  But that middle one, that was new to us and we loved it.  We took a closer up picture of the bottle so we could go find it at the liquor store!

Also, we heard that they are going to try to bring some fun sake and Japanese beer tastings to Naked Fish.  Hopefully they do.  We'd be the first ones there!

We also went to a couple food demonstrations.  One was on making sushi rice hosted by Naked Fish. He gave us a lot of good tips. We haven't made sushi at home in awhile but we'll have to host a sushi making night now.  Who's in?

There was also a food demonstration by Viet Pham.  He had some great tips on making fried chicken and he even gave out samples. We were in the front row so we snagged them first.  It was crispy on the outside and still moist in the inside.

Viet will be opening a restaruant called Pretty Bird in December.  It'll be behind the new Eccles Theater on Regent Street.  The restaurant will be serving fried chicken.  Completely different from his Forage days. Can't wait to try it!

Overall it was super fun and we learned a lot but holy eff was it hot!