Great American Food and Music Fest Recap

Ella Lawrence — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 14:00:00 EST

Long lines at the Great American Food and Music Fest. (c) Pamela Palma

With everyone yakking about sustainability, organics and local ingredients nowadays, especially in the San Francisco area, the sight of Bay Area residents (who notoriously champion these ideals) noshing on bagels flown in from New York City and BBQ trucked from Texas was an odd one.

At the Great American Food and Music Fest on Saturday more than 10,000 people turned out to a massive ampitheater overlooking the Santa Cruz mountains to tuck into food and music. Though the stage at the Shoreline will host Coldplay, No Doubt and Phish later this summer, on Saturday the fans that turned out in droves were mostly the hungry kind (hungrier than they expected, due to a technological meltdown involving electronic wristbands, very long lines and occasionally soldout food -- for which co-curator Ed Levine has profusely apologized).

But the day had its bright spots, among them glimpses of celebrity chefs and TV stars like Bobby Flay, Guy Fieri and Aida Mollenkamp demonstrating recipes for modern American cuisine. For price tags ranging from $35 to more than $500, festival-goers were able to see their heroes live and -- when the crowds didn't prove too daunting -- eat some serious food.

Brisket, more pix and Aida after the jump!

Continue reading Great American Food and Music Fest Recap

Read | Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Slashfood

Great American Food and Music Fest Recap