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| - This is for the 2014 event. Full disclosure - my friend hooked me up with tix, so I didn't pay for this event. Event started at 7pm sharp and we were near the front lining up about 15 min early. Things started out disorganized due to the box office failing to stamp people's hands when they picked up tickets from the box office. The old lady in front of me was about to flip out when they said we had to go downstairs and get back in line. Thanks to her for pitching a fit because they just ended up giving people their wristbands anyway.
The event is spread out among the Palazzo's various pools - some booths were pretty hidden, and space was cramped at times. I kept waiting for some drunky to accidentally (or intentionally) push another drunky into the pool, but it didn't happen in the 2hrs I was there. It really was the perfect venue since most of their walls had ledges that served as tables and seats. The timing was also awesome - started a little before sunset and the weather couldn't have been more perfect.
I only had a few drinks - there were some pretty unique cocktails like a li hing mui one w vodka and spicy mango margarita. The drunk, pushing and slow moving crowd was getting on my nerves after the 2nd person spilled sh*t on me so I decided to stay soberish before I started getting belligerent. Alcohol was everywhere with just 1 place with beer, but lots of cocktails and wine to choose from. You could easily just drink your money's worth here in 3hrs if you wanted to.
Now for the food! It felt like a big chunk of the booths were Venetian restaurants. Understandable since they were hosting, but I'm surprised at the lack of variety - 3 of their restaurants had nearly identical looking dishes with different proteins. And Buddy V's serving grilled Italian sausage w peppers was lame. They have the name brand already, but they could maybe try to impress people by actually cooking something.
There was a ton of food and I was surprised how ridiculously big most of the portions were, I really shouldn't complain about that, but I only want an easy to eat bite or 2. If I like it, I can always get more, but since the majority was pretty mediocre, I ended up throwing away a shameful amount of food (as did most others). Being one of the first ones in may have also been a bad move. Our first hot dishes like Hubert Keller's sliders, meatloaf slider and clam chowder were all cold from sitting out - kind of makes me reconsider paying extra for VIP entry at similar events.
So yeah majority of food was mediocre, with only a couple of things really standing out. My favorite was the Maine lobster tail w corn custard from chef Dave Middleton at the newly opened DW Brasserie (Daniel Boulud). Everywhere else lost a lot in taste and presentation just because of the bulk prep and rush. At the DW Brasserie table, every serving I saw was beautiful with perfectly cooked lobster, and delicious creamy corn custard topped with the sweetest corn I've ever had in my life. Their booth was surprisingly slow since it was in kind of a hidden spot, but more for me - I had 5 or 6 servings spread over 3 visits. I just kept coming back. They also had wrapped blueberry mini pound cakes that I had yet to try. DW was already on my list, but now I'm more motivated to go after this event. And the chef is super hot.
I know a lot of people were there because they got the $60 tickets off groupon. It's definitely worth that, but I'd hesitate at the $105 for full price general admission. But I'm a little snobby and I'm more about quality than quantity. Unfortunately the quality just wasn't there, but you definitely won't leave hungry. It's a convenient opportunity to try some new places, although several restaurants that I know are great disappointed me with their offerings. So I'm not sure that I can say the event represents what they're capable of.
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