{"id":2208,"date":"2012-08-31T09:24:56","date_gmt":"2012-08-31T16:24:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/captionid=attachment_2214align=alignrightwidth=240"},"modified":"2012-08-31T09:24:56","modified_gmt":"2012-08-31T16:24:56","slug":"a-gourmet-mac-cheese-festivalreally","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.threeadventure.com\/hootnannie\/2012\/08\/31\/a-gourmet-mac-cheese-festivalreally\/","title":{"rendered":"A Gourmet Mac & Cheese Festival\u2026Really?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yes my friends, I would not tease you with such a splendid thought. That\u2019s like telling someone that there\u2019s bacon for breakfast but when you sit down to eat breakfast\u2026there\u2019s no bacon. So we have to throw out a big HELL YEAH to the first\u00a0Gourmet Mac & Cheese Festival<\/a>\u00a0and the geniuses that thought of it! And where else could you possibly have a mac & cheese festival other than paradise? That\u2019s right, it was right here in Paso Robles.\"\"<\/p>\n

Mac & Cheese Could Rule the World!<\/h3>\n

I need to send a shout out to the crazy\u00a0Cork Dorks\u00a0<\/a>and 92.5\u00a0The Krush<\/a>\u00a0for getting us into the event, but more on them in an article next week. The amazingness of a mac & cheese festival certainly deserves our full attention\u2026doesn\u2019t it?!?!<\/p>\n

This event, which was put on by\u00a0American General Media<\/a>\u00a0(owner of 92.5 The Krush), went to benefit\u00a0Zoo to You<\/a>, an amazing local animal rescue and mobile zoo. These folks absolutely rock and I STRONGLY encourage you to check out their website and if you\u2019re in Paso Robles you HAVE to go check them out. It\u2019s another one of those \u201cthings to see\u201d in this awesome city we live in! As you\u2019ll see in the slideshow below, there was quite a diverse group of animals there (a camel, birds, alligator, etc.), evidently they like mac & cheese too!!<\/p>\n

This first year event was held at\u00a0Le Vigne Winery<\/a>\u00a0(they have an absolutely gorgeous outside event area, again, check the photos) and had 20 participating wineries, one brewery (Tap It Brewery<\/a>), and about 21 restaurants and caterers making the mac & cheese. There\u2019s probably no need to tell you that Annie, who was celebrating her 32nd<\/sup>\u00a0week of pregnancy on the day of this event, was in HEAVEN!! I\u2019m sure Little Browne was too\u2026just sayin\u2019.<\/p>\n

We didn\u2019t get to all the mac & cheese samples but we tried some with bacon in it, there was a chili mac & cheese, one with lobster in it, and a fancy shmancy one with popcorn and other dustings of loveliness in it. The People\u2019s Choice award went to\u00a0Fenomenal<\/a>\u00a0(a restaurant in downtown Paso Robles) and the radio station gave an award, The Cork Dorks Choice, and they chose\u00a0Marisol\u00a0<\/a>at The Cliff\u2019s Resort (they also got 2nd<\/sup>\u00a0place in the People\u2019s Choice).<\/p>\n

I am continually surprised at the quality of events that our area puts on. This is yet another event that did \u201ccrazy good\u201d considering it was their first year. The weather was awesome, there was live music (two bands), the wine was flowing, the mac & cheese was Fenomenal (Get it? They won first place. Haha), a sold out crowd of great people, and it was all for a fantastic cause!<\/p>\n

Did you go? What did I miss? And if you didn\u2019t go, you better hope they put it on again next year so you can!!<\/p>\n