Mintel at The Flavor Experience

The momentum picked up on Tuesday afternoon as we moved into lunch and the afternoon break. Lunch featured a number of soups and salads, but the sun on the patio was pretty hot to get into something like seafood bisque. My favorite lunch option was the “Bistro Grilled Steakhouse Sandwich” – not too cutting-edge, but still satisfying. (OK, yes, and the “Guinness White & Dark Chocolate Cake”… frosted with marscapone whipped cream.) The afternoon break items shared a “blue” theme – all the dishes were blue in color or… purple. (“Purple Up” soda, “Purple Grape Sorbet”, etc.) I’m a sucker for chips and salsa, so I was pleased to see “Blue Corn Chips with Fresh Pico de Gallo” as an option.

Dinner offerings drew inspiration from various trends in dining and ingredients, including:

• The growing connection between the kitchen and bar, expressed through dishes such as “Angry Prawns with Kaffir Lime” (served atop a tall shot glass containing a Kaffir Lime Cabo Wabo tequila shot),
• “Slow food” (an ongoing trends, although not one that I found most interesting during my time at the event) via dishes such as “24 Hour Braised Pork” and a pork tenderloin served in a slowly steeped sauce, and
• The combination of sweet and savory flavors; the “Caramel Corn Cake” was an especially tasty example.