Would you believe this photo was taken with an iPhone?
Camera phone photography was just one of the topics of this year’s Food Blog South conference, held in Birmingham, Alabama on Saturday, January 28. The programming focused on Internet communication for culinary professionals. As PR professionals, the subject matter was very beneficial to us, as we learned how to showcase our clients in the best light and be a great resource for bloggers.
Highlights of Food Blog South 2012:
Southern Living editor Jennifer Cole’s opening remarks. “When Southerners cook a mess of greens, we want to eat them with a mess of people.”
Learning how to discreetly and effectively capture images of food in a restaurant setting with limited equipment and a camera phone. “The best camera in the world is the one you have with you.” – Colleen Duffey, Studio b.
A hands-on food styling seminar led by Jennifer Davick and Marian Cooper Cairns. The resulting image, taken by iPhone, is above.
Learning the tricks of the trade for providing accurate recipes to the media – led by Virginia Willis, this seminar was informative and entertaining.
Beer tasting with Ale Sharpton and Good People Brewing Company. Interesting topic to consider: While wine has “blind spots,” beer can be paired with any food-even asparagus!
Topics on branding with Hélène Dujardin and Lisa Ekus.
The keynote address by Kat Kinsman on CNN Eatocracy.
All in all, an immensely valuable event!
One of Louisville’s most exciting restaurants is Seviche, where chef Anthony Lamas is constantly reinventing his Nuevo Latino cuisine…so what’s in store for 2012?
Seviche rang in 2012 with a New Year’s Day brunch that featured one of Chef Lamas’ new endeavors, house made pickles and preserves. The Bloody Mary Bar included such garnishes as jalapeno pickles, pickled green tomatoes and heirloom baby carrots from the jars that now decorate the dining room.
Chef Lamas is also excited to bring seafood sausage to Louisville! Featuring premium ingredients like Loch Duart salmon, the sausages will showcase a variety of sustainable seafood, as Lamas was honored with the Seafood Ambassador award at the Monterey Bay Aquarium in 2011.
The restaurant’s new smoker has inspired several new smoked dishes, including offal, as chef Lamas is procuring and breaking down whole heritage animals from local farms.
Chef Lamas is building on his active national food festival appearance schedule to add two new events in 2012: The Charleston Wine and Food Festival and the Atlanta Food and Wine Festival.
Stop in to Seviche to enjoy all the new flavors they have to offer!
www.sevicherestaurant.com
Have you ever been stumped about what to give a friend or co-worker for the holidays? Are you tired of perusing the wine racks for yet another hostess gift? There’s a little “foodie” in everyone, so read on for can’t-miss gift ideas!
Louisville Stoneware has been making ceramics the good old-fashioned way for almost 200 years, and the naturally green products are microwave, oven and dishwasher safe. You can choose from servingware, bakeware, ornaments and decorative items, including the festive jockey nutracker! All items are painted by hand, making them heirloom-quality keepsakes.
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Speaking of hand painted, check out the masterpieces at Ghyslain Chocolatier! They are almost too pretty to eat, but who could resist? Certified in French pastry, chocolate décor, candy making, blown/pulled sugar and bread making, chef Ghyslain Maurais has served as the head chef for the Canadian Delegations in New York and London. His career includes experience as both a pastry and executive chef in first class restaurants and hotels.
Finally, for an authentic gourmet treat, try Oliva Bella olive oils and balsamic vinegars! Sourced directly from Italian families that Oliva Bella owner Lea Ann Vessels personally knows, these beautifully packaged elixirs make wonderful hotess gifts and are certainly welcome alternatives to the ubiquitous bottle of wine.
Happy holidays!
In January, part of the Estes PR team will head to Birmingham to attend the Food Blog South conference. It’s no secret that blogging has changed the way the public distributes and receives information, and this event features some of the premier blogging experts in the food industry.
http://foodblogsouth.com/agenda/
Southern food is hot right now, and for good reason. With the economy being what it is, people are always looking to stretch their dollars, and Southern cooks are the original experts on that. Southern recipes are soulful, seasonal and culturally significant when you trace the origins of the ingredients and techniques. We are looking forward to a great learning experience that we can leverage to garner more attention for our clients!
You don’t have to scoop out the pumpkin guts, carve the design and then throw the whole thing away when it starts to wilt-this Jack O’Lantern from Louisville Stoneware is made to last beautifully, year after year! Just add a candle and you are ready for Halloween.
This handcrafted piece is available for $48 at the Louisville Stoneware showroom, 731 Brent Street, Louisville, Ky. To order the Jack O’Lantern, call 1-800-626-1800 and speak with a showroom representative about shipping.
Anthony Lamas thanks fans, family and friends after his win
Seviche is proud to announce that chef/owner Anthony Lamas won the title of Extreme Chef on the Food Network show’s season finale. Lamas was a contestant on the “Wild Wedding Cook Off” episode, which aired on Thursday, August 11. His fellow contestants were Adam Long, executive chef at Big Daddy’s Burger Bar (Charlotte, N.C.) and Jill Davie, corporate executive chef at Sunkist (Los Angeles). Judges are Simon Majumdar, judge on Next Iron Chef and Spike Mendelsohn, celebrity chef and author.
On “Wild Wedding Cook Off,” it’s a special day for a bride and groom as three chefs must compete to create the perfect wedding meal in a luxurious Los Angeles high-rise hotel. Starting off with surprises, host Marsh Mokhtari informs the competitors that they must prepare the meal a day in advance and hands them $99 to purchase all the ingredients they need for a catered meal at the 99-cent store two miles away. After returning and climbing dozens of flights of stairs, the chefs must prepare an appetizer for wedding guests in 20 minutes
and make the meal following the age-old wedding saying “something borrowed, something blue, something old, something new,” using an ingredient considered lucky in countries around the world. After one elimination, the remaining two chefs must swim across the pool, gather ingredients in the cabana and make the perfect bite in 20 minutes using caviar, avocado, figs and almonds.
Louisville First Responders in line for lunch.
On Thursday, July 28 Morton’s The Steakhouse Louisville prepared and served more than 250 complimentary “on-the-go” style lunches to the city’s public safety workers, which include Louisville Metro police officers, firefighters and emergency medical service workers. The boxed lunches featuring a steak sandwich, bag of chips, fresh apple, chocolate chip cookie and soft drink were delivered to workers who either walked or pulled up in front of the restaurant. In attendance were police chief Robert White, captain Salvador Melendez with Louisville Fire and Rescue and special advisor Tommy Clark from Mayor Greg Fischer’s office.
Music Theatre Louisville also donated 150 tickets to see BIG: The Musical at the Bomhard Theater in the Kentucky Center of Arts on Thursday, Aug. 4. The tickets were distributed on a first-come basis with the lunches.
He’s in Southern Living, Esquire and will make an appearance on Extreme Chefs on Food Network in August, but chef Anthony Lamas is still finding time to connect with his local Louisville fans.
On Saturday, July 30, the chef/owner of Seviche will bring his award-winning Nuevo Latino cuisine to the St. Matthews Farmers Market as the guest chef at Pigalle Crepes. The market creperie owned by Brian and Dana McMahan is featuring an all-star guest chef lineup this summer that includes Kathy Cary of Lilly’s and Bobby Benjamin of The Oakroom. Lamas will be creating a signature crepe based on what is fresh and delicious at the market that day. Dallas McGarity of Theater Square Marketplace launched the guest chef series on June 25 with a Garey Farms raspberry and Sapori d’Italia goat cheese crepe.
”Chefs can bring a ‘secret’ ingredient’ that reflects their style of cuisine, or use any of our staples, including Fiedler Farm ham and bacon, Kenny’s Farmhouse cheese, or Duncan Farm eggs,” says Brian McMahan. “But the idea is that they create something that features the best of the market and demonstrates their own personal style. Chef Anthony will definitely kick things up a notch when he introduces his flavor profiles to the crepes. We can’t wait to see what he comes up with!”
Pigalle Crepes, open Saturdays from 8 a.m. to noon at the St Matthews Farmers Market, features freshly-made traditional French crepes as well as a rotating menu based on what’s in season at the market. For more information, visit http://www.facebook.com/PigalleCrepes.
Just his month, the Washington Post did a story about pimento cheese that praised its versatility and nostalgic appeal. They referred to the snack as “a staple of the Southern cook’s repertoire of nibbles, lagniappes and cocktail-hour spreadables.”
At the new Midwood Smokehouse in Charlotte, North Carolina, they are taking full advantage of pimento cheese’s moment, offering a grilled pimento cheese sandwich and pimento cheese fries featuring a generous helping of chopped barbecue meat. Now that’s what we call a worthy indulgence!
