Feed Me Lee

Amazing!  That’s how I described my Saturday afternoon to my wife and friends who asked how the “Philly food blogger thing” went.  The food, the restaurant and the people were all highlights to an eventful afternoon.  Being new to blogging  I had no idea there was such a community (and I stress community as opposed to a group of random people with some common interests) out there.

After attending my first food event, the Philly food swap in September I was eager for another.  At the food swap I met some great bloggers I’d been following for a while now and got a glimpse at the great food community that Philly has.  Fast forward a month and Wendy of La Phemme Phoodie posted about a Philly food and drink writers meetup she was organizing in conjunction with Philly Homegrown.  I knew immediately that I had to attend.

The event was held at R2L restaurant, the beautiful restaurant on the 37th floor of Liberty Two building in center city.  Immediately upon walking in guests were greeted with a glass of champagne and a view that is unmatched by any other restaurant in Philly.  If you haven’t been to R2L it is the perfect anniversary restaurant with stunning decor, magnificent views and from what we tasted some delicious food under the direction of Chef Daniel Stern.  Later in the day Chef Stern graciously thanked everyone for attending as well as for keeping the conversation about food going.

Silverware Sculpture In the Middle of the Restaurant

View of William Penn from R2L

As we stood and congregated around the bar (where else would we position ourselves) a cast of attentive, charismatic staff brought around delicious appetizers and drinks for our sampling.  Some of my favorites included:

Lobster Mac & Cheese

Deep fried risotto over truffle aioli

Once we were satiated we journeyed to the left side of the restaurant where Eric Mencher led a tutorial on food photography (highlighted with a few interesting stories from his 35 years of expertise, which we were sworn to secrecy).  Eric discussed the difference in camera quality, the importance of light in photography and the best ways to use an artistic eye in searching for angles and depth of field.  Eric’s two main takeaways were to shoot in RAW format so you can edit your pictures and to use Lightroom to fine tune your pictures.  Despite my amateur status in photography a few of my photography buff friends had already drilled these two photography commandments into my head.

Putting our Photography Lesson to Practice (Me in the Red Phillies T)

Photo courtesy of A Culinary Journey with Chef Dennis

At the end of the photography lesson we were given the opportunity to photograph some of the amazing food chef Stern and his crew had prepared for us.  Throughout the remainder of the day we took photo’s, got tips from Eric, sampled the food and chatted with the fellow foodies.  Below are some of my favorite pictures and dishes.

Lobster Mac & Cheese

Smoked Salmon Brunch pizza

blueberry lemon tarts with lavender marshmallows

pumpkin cupcakes

I don't remember what this was, but it looked delicious

By the end of the day I had some delicious food, learned a bit on food photography, found a great restaurant to frequent and most importantly met a great group of people.   I had learned that this was the third such event, which made me regret being so late to the mix.  Although others attendees had been to the previous 2 events, I did not once feel like an outsider despite being the new guy.  Everyone I spoke with felt like a friend that I had known for years.  Sarcastic, funny, occasionally foul mouthed people who like me simply share of love of eating, cooking and all things food related.  This goes back to my previous statement of the Philly food scene really being a community of passionate people; one which I am now happy to call myself a part of.

Share/Bookmark