Churchill's "Fork, Cork and Style" food and wine festival

So the press release is out and the CJ and Business First have dutifully reproduced it. The web site is up and running and as best I can tell the event doesn't include any local chefs or restaurants. Did I miss the local section? http://www.forkcorkandstyle.com/
It looks like the whole thing was co-produced with the Food Network and Travel Channel. Disappointing.

So the press release is out and the CJ and Business First have dutifully reproduced it. The web site is up and running and as best I can tell the event doesn't include any local chefs or restaurants. Did I miss the local section? http://www.forkcorkandstyle.com/
It looks like the whole thing was co-produced with the Food Network and Travel Channel. Disappointing.

Not to prejudge...after all this thing might end up having some legs...but I'm personally not "feeling the love" on this one any more than I do for the High School Reunion Band festival Churchill is doing next month. Then again I'm not a "wine guy" so who knows.

[Robin Garr]

So the press release is out and the CJ and Business First have dutifully reproduced it.

Dang! I got the news release, yawned and said, "I'll get to that later." I like to pass along all the local foodie info to you guys (and I even got to go to a free lunch at CD back when they were working this out). But I do try to be selective rather than turning us into a press release mill. Did I do wrong? I can easily go back and find it and post it.

I don't think the issue is the press release. It's that CD is dissin' the locals again.

I don't think the issue is the press release. It's that CD is dissin' the locals again.

Agree

Not defending CD but from the festival website:

Who will be performing? Cooking Demonstrations by: Emeril Lagasse, “Top Chef” finalists (Brian Malarkey, Eli Kirshtein, & Betty Fraser) and local Louisville chefs

Great event with a nice selection of local and regional restaurants. From what I saw, Basa seemed to have the longest lines of the locals and Central BBQ the longest of the regionals. All the food prices were more than fair, with almost everything ringing up for $5 or less. We tried:

BBQ nachos from Central BBQ (10/10)
Perfect. Every component of the dish was good.

Wings from Anchor Bar (8/10)
Great flavor, but cold from not being cooked to order.

Pork tacos w/ chicharrón dust and orange/habanero salsa from Seviche (8/10)
Pork, chicharron dust, and salsa were great, tortillas could have been better.

Custard from Ted Drewes (8/10)
Good, nothing mind blowing

Double Dark Chocolate Brownie from American Brownie Co. (7/10)
I’ve had better brownies out of a box.

The wine tasting would have been an awesome deal for a true wine lover. I'm guessing around 100 different wines from around 35 wineries. After this event, I have decided I don’t like wine and for the most part “wine people”.

The food demos were great, with Jo Jo Doyle being my favorite, Top Chef cast second, and Emeril third.

Overall, a great event that I hope comes back next year.

I went to the event as well, but cheaped it with a Groupon. This meant I didn't do the wine tasting, nor did I get a "VIP" seat at the cooking demonstrations. Speaking of which, I was a bit disappointed with the regular seating. Most of the good seats were reserved for VIP. The problem is the stage wasn't exactly conducive to a large crowd. Tried to go up top but couldn't hear or see well, and the seats on the bottom were well off to the side and didn't offer good views either. Churchill needs to do more with the seating next time.

The cooking demonstration disappointment was made up for by the food. With so many places and such small stomachs, my wife and I decided to focus on places we cannot eat at around here. This ruled out favorites like Basa and Seviche, which along with the BBQ place from Memphis had consistent lines the whole time I was there. Anyway, we got a cheeseburger from the Billy Goat (Chicago), a cheese steak from Tony Luke's (Philly), pizza from Albano's (Chicago), and wings from the Anchor Bar (Buffalo). All of these items were fantastic. I didn't have the same experience with my wings that Justin had. I did feel a bit ill from eating so much "junk food", but it was great to be able to sample some of the best from these cities at one meal.

With the Groupon we only paid 14 bucks a piece to get in and were given one free food item (worth about 4 bucks). Most of the food items were in the 4-8 dollar range, which is fairly reasonable for an event of this sort. Had the cooking demonstrations been better I would have had no trouble spending the full 28 or 29 for general admission. As it was, I am not sure that I would go back if I had to pay full price. Taking the free food item into consideration 25 bucks is a bit much to spend just to be able to buy food from various vendors. This is especially true considering I could go to any of the local places without having to pay admission.

Speaking of which, I was a bit disappointed with the regular seating. Most of the good seats were reserved for VIP. The problem is the stage wasn't exactly conducive to a large crowd.

The seats directly in front of the stage were general admission, although in the sun, they were super close. Front row for all the cooking demos, including Emeril. I agree the stage should have been set up differently, maybe in the infield, where there is plenty of room.

Well, curses to me for being one of them there "wine people". My husband and I have been to many wine regions all over the world and it's a passion. On the other hand, I'm not a meat eater so I found the food rather disappointing. I do eat some seafood so thoroughly enjoyed the mussels from Basa, though it would have been nice to have a slice of bread to soak up the delicious broth. I don't believe, besides pizza, there was one vegetarian item offered.

The wine tasting was superb, and thankfully not oversold or too crowded. The room with International selections was a bit too crowded- they could have put a few in the adjoining hall to help with that. However, the domestic wines room was large and spacious, with access to the track via sliding doors. They offered Panera bread and ice water as well. It would have been nice to have a selection of cheese or a light appetizer. However, the wines were very, very good. Many in the $60-150 range. Some just blew me away. There were a couple of winery people, most were employees of Southern Wine and Spirits and they knew their products. Best, if you particularly liked a style of wine, they would direct you to another table to try another selection. There were many industry people there- restaurant owners, bar managers, etc. I didn't see Robin Garr, however. They showed races on overhead TVs as well as the cooking demos that were going on below. We enjoyed talking wine and food with many enthusiasts. It was interesting to watch people- some of the take on "style" was pretty interesting. All in all it was a most enjoyable day. I wasn't crazy about the music I heard, but it made no difference. I definitely got my money's worth. I hope this becomes an annual event.

a funny ps

My husband invited two friends and accidentally called it "Fork, Cork and Screw" LOL!

We went with several friends and really enjoyed ourselves. I would have liked the opportunity to purchase a few tasting ticket for the wines, but aside from that I thought it was a nice event. The Top Chef folks were great (I literally bumped into Eli outside of the Albano's booth) and I am always up for some Emeril. I have to say my surprise favorite dishes were the french toast offerings from Meridan. We tried the orange marmalade/Grand Marnier and the bacon/Gorgonzola - both were delicious and we thought the servings were more than fair for $4 each. Seviche was nice, although we were not fans of the tostada for the shrimp dish. Never did make it to Basa, as the line was always huge. Hubby gave a big thumbs up to the pork sliders from Memphis. All 3 offerings from Cake Flour were divine. He said the pizza was alright, but not great.

A few things we would like to see for next year:
More variety of music - that band was fine, but felt repetitious after a while
more offerings from out of town restaurants
The event was billed as Fork Cork & Style - how about a fashion show or some booths from some of the great funky shops all over Louisville?
The opportunity to purchase individual tickets for the wines - I would have LOVED to buy a glass of my beloved Jordan, but with my GA ticket all I could seem to find was a $6 ?!?!? glass of Sutter (thanks, but no) or a $12 "premium" nondescipt wine. Also, unless I missed something, the only beer for purchase was the usual nasty suspects at $5 a can.
Better seating for the cooking demonstrations

All in all, we had a lovely time and I was glad to be able to bring our 10 month old and let her enjoy the beautiful day with us. I hope they work out some kinks and that this event becomes a staple.

A few things we would like to see for next year:
More variety of music - that band was fine, but felt repetitious after a while

Good call

Also, unless I missed something, the only beer for purchase was the usual nasty suspects at $5 a can.

I didn't see anything other then Bud products. A BBC, NABC, Brownings, and/or Cumberland tent would have been fantastic.

Great Event

We had a fantastic time at the event and saw lots of familiar faces from the community. I'd like to thank Churchill for the opportunity and for their extremely helpful staff. It was a first-year event and I thought they were remarkably organized and willing to learn from the experience.
I sampled food and drink from most of the booths and overall was impressed, but the local restaurants were definitly standouts. We put alot of work into the event and I feel as if it was very successful. It was a great day and I look forward to participating in the years to come.
Thanks to everyone who stopped by our booth!