This years' big eat, hosted by eat denver was everything a foodie was looking for... dozens of the top restaurants in town serving up delicious small plates to sample all night, along with drinks and entertainment to keep the energy going. I was introduced to some new restaurants that I had previously never heard of and also got to taste some places I have yet to visit. The evening was a success and I cannot wait to attend again next year.
Big eat was held in the galleria of denver center of performing arts. The evening was one of the warmest we have had this summer but that did not stop the hundreds of guests who filled the space with a mission to taste and sip their way through over 40+ booths. The galleria's open-air space had a heavenly scent all night as restaurants produced beautiful and tasty dishes for guests to enjoy. Sadly a couple of the restaurants I was looking forward to trying most, beatrice + woodsley and beast + bottle, were bombarded as the doors opened, leaving only crumbs on their tablecloths 30 minutes into the event.
However, there were plenty of delicious dishes that left a lasting impression on me and my palette. Bubu served up a refreshing cold-rice noodle dish with grilled shrimp, crispy shallots and asian herbs that blew me away. The dish was my favorite of the evening and had a great balance of flavors and texture. D bar did not disappoint with their light and airy cream puffs; there were 3 renditions to try and my fav was the strawberries n' cream as it was not overly sugary. Another standout was panzano's hand-rolled agnolotti; I cannot remember the filling but it was some type of protein and topped with micro-greens and a light gastrique that was heavenly. Ryan loved tag's hamachi crudo with coconut, slivers of kumquat and pickled cherries and also indulged in a few of jax's freshly shucked oysters (so jealous!). Sugarmill also impressed us with their meyer lemon chiffon cake with blueberry compote; the presentation was gorgeous and the flavors were even better.
As a non-drinker at this event, I was of course so happy to see one of my favorite local business, happy leaf kombucha was in attendance; they were pouring 2 different types of kombucha but the standout for me was the hibiscus, lemon + ginger version. Teatulia also had a booth on-site but their non-alcoholic samplings were gone within 30-45 minutes which was quite disappointing as it was hot and there were no other virgin beverage options available. My suggestion to big eat would be to offer water stations or non-alcoholic options at all of the cocktail bars on site because it was quite the walk to happy leaf every time I wanted to quench my thirst in the 90+ heat.
Overall big eat did it again, producing a wonderful event that was well-attended and executed fairly well. The food of course was the standout, as it should be, and left me filled to the brim upon leaving. I hope all who attended had as much fun as I did and those who could not make it, add it to your 'must attend' list for 2016. It was awesome to participate in this event on behalf of eat denver and I am grateful for the opportunity to work with them 2 years in a row now. Check out more of the fun at big eat's facebook page, here.
To see last year's big eat post, click here.
Disclosure: This post was sponsored by denver eat, however, all opinions expressed here are my own. Thank you for supporting the sponsors who allow me to continue creating new content for South on Broadway!
