Bear with me for a sec…
I love Top Chef. I religiously watch it and am now dying to go to either 1. The Food and Wine Classic in Aspen or 2. A pop-up restaurant put on by the competing chefs during the Restaurant Wars portion of the season. I am not sure if either will ever happen, but a girl can dream, right?
Ramenfest reminded me of one of the challenges on the show where the chefs are required to prepare and serve a specific type of food for a group of 300 or so people. Typically it is a common dish that they are to put their own spin on. The most interesting, delicious, best-all-around dish as decided by the attendees & judges wins!
At Ramenfest, we were able to try 8 different bowls of Ramen from 8 local, celebrity chefs while wandering around a beautiful old warehouse (The George Doro Fixture Co. in Downtown Jax)! Most were great but a few definitely tasted like it was the first time they had not only cooked but also tried ramen. Okay, I’m kind of kidding but it’s hard not to compare them when you were trying them one after another.
My favorite Ramen came from Chef Rick Laughlin of Salt (at the Amelia Island Ritz Carlton). It was a spicy curry base topped with a poached egg and duck cracklings – HELLA FIRE. I need it again ASAP and this time in a bigger bowl.
By the end of this thing, after a healthy dose of singing karaoke (Rich Girl, Hall & Oates) and dancing to Tomboi, I had tried 6 of the ramen dishes and was completely stuffed. We left the event feeling happily full and completely exhausted.
While it costed a pretty penny to attend, the two things in this world that I can never say “no” to are Ramen & Karaoke. And after this, I am very happy about that.
My first Vicarious event in the books!
MiyaEats 