Wednesday, February 22, 2012

The Wine and Jazz Festival Was Also About Showcasing the Food of Punta Gorda

The sheer ambiance of the day in the sun by the river with a breeze blowing through the palms and mystical sounds of a tenor sax wafting through the air as one sips tastes of various wines might alone have made it well worth the price of admission, but then there was the food bringing it over the top.  The Punta Gorda Wine and Jazz Festival in addition to delivering an outstanding afternoon of jazz and wine,   presented an opportunity to taste some of the best of what Punta Gorda and surrounds has to offer.  Hendricks, one of our favorite local spots, for instance, served up magnificent upmarket sliders, while Opus, one of Punta Gorda's newer upscale spots gave festival goers a taste of filet mignon with apple slaw and a wondrous sauce.   Beef o Bradys offered wings as did Village Fish Market -- which were quite good.  


The Charlotte Yacht club dished out what could have been a meal in itself -- a tasty shortrib in a rich brown sauce accompanied by mashed potatoes.  



And the Culinary Arts College at Manatee Technical Institute just went on and on with a cornucopia of  epicurian delights including chucks of roast duck in a luscious sweet and sour sauce,  mini lamp chops, shrimp and steak cooked on granite, trays heaped with cheeses, and chocolate and chocolate and chocolate.



Wine choices ran the gamut ..... and pours were generous at most booths..


And, of course, there was chocolate... from the Swiss Chocolate Store, and many others



You might want to put this on your calendar for next year... I have a suspicion tickets are going to be hard to come by..

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