Hey friends! I hope you’re having a lovely day filled with delicious food. As for me? I’m still full from an event I went to last night: Iron Fork!
Iron Fork is the Riverfront Times annual food extravaganza. It’s huge – 40 hand picked restaurants are in attendance, and there are cocktails, a chef competition, and more. It’s sold out the past two years. If you’re a foodie, you are at this event. Period.
The Riverfront Times (RFT) was nice enough to give me a pair of tickets, so I invited one of my best friends (and fellow foodie) to join me. Marjorie was more than happy to oblige.
We weren’t the only ones at the event – I knew this was going to be something epic when I saw the number of people in line:
Holy schmoly! I was afraid that this event was going to be too crowded, but it ended up not being an issue; the event took place at Union Station, and it was spread out in two huge ballrooms.
It was so awesome to see that so many of my favorite restaurants were in attendance – like I said, there were 40! I knew my belly couldn’t handle all 40 (even though I tried), but I was able to hit up some amazing spots. Less jabber, more pictures, right? Okay. Here we go!
Three Kings Public House had their Poblano and White Bean Chicken Chili:
Onesto Pizza & Trattoria had their Signature Meatball:
Mission Taco had their House Made Chorizo Taco with Grilled Pineapple Salsa, Pickled Jalapeno, and Cilantro-Line crema:
Strange Donuts had Strawberry Jalapeno Donut Bites:
Seoul Taco had Seasonal Kimchi Stew: Spicy Aged Kimchi with Pork Belly & Tofu Garnished With Scallions
The Scottish Arms had Duck Confit Bruschetta with Chopped Figs, Blue Cheese, Toasted Almonds, and Port Reduction:
Pie Oh My had Apple Green Chili Pie with Pecan Crumble:
I had BBQ Nachos with Pulled Rib and Pork and Smoked Jalapenos topped with Cheese Sauce from The Shaved Duck:
Sister Cities Cajun & BBQ had Seafood Gumbo, which was definitely my favorite dish of the night!
Scape American Bistro had Shrimp and Grits with Andouille Sausage:
The Restaurant at The Cheshire Inn had Chilled Yellow Tail with Strawberry Rhubarb Chile Gelee:
Quincy Street Bistro had Grilled Peasant Bread with Baked Ricotta Cheese Con Latte, Charred Onion Pesto, and Marcona Almonds:
Salume Beddu had Spincione, Sicilian Style Foccacia, and Salami:
Layla had their Devil’s Advocate Burger – a pork burger with bacon, sumac onions, melted swiss cheese, green chartreuse pickles, and beer caraway mustard on a pretzel bun:
222 Artisan Bakery had two things: their Bacon Cheddar Croissants:
and their Carrot Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Icing and Candied Pecans:
Grove East Provisions had their Chicken Noodle Soup:
Kakao Chocolate had Smores Marshmallow Sundaes:
And then of course, there was plenty of alcohol to sample:
And every attendee received three drink tickets for beer or wine. I only used one drink ticket, because look at this generous pour:
Wowza! That’s a lot of wine – just how I like it 😉
Rocket Fizz also had a booth set up:
And they provided bacon soda for the chef’s competition!
Yes – bacon. soda. It’s a thing. And the chefs that were in the competition had to create a dish that used the soda.
I didn’t stick around to see what the creation were (or who won), but it looked awesome!
All in all, Iron Fork was an incredible event; I was able to sample food from a lot of restaurants, and I barely even scratched the surface! Next year my goal will be to make it to every single booth. My body will be ready!
I would highly recommend this event; it’s a great opportunity to sample delicious creations from restaurants all throughout the St. Louis area! I had a blast.
See you next week!
