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The Taste of Buffalo is one of my favorite events in Buffalo every year…a great time…great food…and great value. This year, it was something entirely different. It was a mission. It was…a quest.
The biggest question asked on Saturday, “Who are you, and how the hell did you get to be a food judge?!?!?”
Yes, I got a chance to be a food judge at the Taste of Buffalo. It is probably the single greatest perk, to ever come with my job. Nearly 60 tents of food…gorgeous weather…and a friend that eats more than anyone I know. I invited my friend Paul to accompany me to the Taste, basically because he’s the closest thing I have to a professional eater in my group of friends. Paul can eat…and the proof will be in the proverbial pudding a bit further down in this post.
The day starts off at the Hampton Inn. We check in, get a judge badge, and hit the strip. You start to feel like Charlie, heading into the Chocolate Factory. There are a few moments where you realize JUST what you’re getting into. You see, I have this little orange card, that says I can eat what I want…as many as I want…free.
You’re assigned to judge a few restaurants specifically…so we got those 6 out of the way, to make sure we had fulfilled our duties. That was done at about…1145
The judge badge is good until 3. You have the option of scoring “bonus restaurants”. Yeah...immediately, every other booth became a “bonus restaurant”.
Round two…a Sangria Wine Slushy…few more wings. Sangria…and then…another Sangria. If I were to give you my assessment today, it’d be that Buffalo tastes like Sangria wine - It did on Saturday at least.
After 4 hours…and countless wings, sandwiches, a Junkyard Dog, some more Sangria Wine, Bavarian Cheese Cake…yeah…and dozens of other stops… went home and collapsed. I ate a lot. Nothing compared to Paul though. Here it is…the running tally we kept throughout the day.
THE LIST
This is what Paul ate:
Stuffed Pepper Soup
Texas Beans
Steak Hoagi
Glazed Jack Daniels Chicken Fingers
Brownie Sin Sundae
A Waffle Cone
Shrimp Skewers
Chocolate Mousse Tart
3 Wings
Cannoli
Blackened Chicken Pasta
Bavarian Crème Cake
Slice of White Pizza
Sirloin Sandwich
Chopped Seafood Salad
Fried Calamari
Junkyard Dog
Peanut Butter Cookie
Creamsicle Cupcake
Chocolate Chip Cookie
Battered Shrimp in Pina Colada Sauce
3 Grape Slushees
Tangerine/Vanilla Twist Ice Cream Cone.
If you know Paul Crowley, Jr. of South Buffalo...congratulate him. It was a Herculian effort. |
