Saturday I was lucky enough to get a ticket to attend the Philadelphia Bloggers Meet up run by Wendy at La Phemme Phoodie and Visit Philly at Daniel Stern’s restaurant R2L! I was surprised and excited to learn that the event had sold out, and when I was sent our tasting menu, I couldn’t wait to attend!
Our meetup included a stellar tasting menu, and a food photography seminar afterwards, we were treated to a gift bag by Visit Philly as well as drinks and desserts to go along with all of the wonderfully prepared dishes we got to sample.
When ever food bloggers get together to eat it’s an event, and when you get a group of 50 together it becomes one big party! I was lucky enough to meet some of my online friends in person for the first time at the event, Kita from Pass the Sushi ; Betty Ann from Asian in America ; Casey from Tastestopping ‘; Brian from Burgers, Bridges & Beer ; Melissa from Yum Marks the Spot; as well as some friends I already had the pleasure of meeting, Emily form Cleanliness is next to Godliness ; Robin from South Jersey Locavore ; and of course Wendy! There was so much to do that I just didn’t have time to spend getting to know all of the other bloggers, many of which I know from there blogs, that will have to wait for our next event! So get crackin’ Wendy!
Here was our tasting menu: Steak tartare, potato chip + beef butter; Lobster mac + cheese; Truffled Flatbread ; Smoked Salmon, mustard cream cheese, pretzel chips ; Crisp risotto, truffle soy ; Tuna skewers, au poivre ; and these incredible chicken cheesesteaks! We were served two of their trade mark drinks, R2L-EVATION | gin, parfait amour, luxardo, fresh lemon, cherry ; SIDECAR | hennessy vs, pallini limoncello, cointreau, fresh lemon ; and of course a welcome glass of champagne! To say we ate like royalty would not have been an exaggeration, many thanks to Chef Stern and the staff of R2L for the wonderful food and great service!
Roasted Rabbit with fresh and pickled squash, eggplant, yellow steuben gravy and basil
Smoked Salmon Brunch Pizza
Steak Tartare
Lobster Mac and Cheese
Sushi Sampler
Doughnut Ice Cream Sandwich
Variations of Chocolate
And of Course the Dessert Cart!
I hope you enjoyed my virtual tour of our food bloggers meet up, we had a great time doing what food bloggers do best, Eat, Drink, Take lots of Pictures and of course be Merry!
Have a great week my friends!
We couldn’t have asked for better lighting! Great shots Chef – I haven’t even had a chance to peek at the ones I took yet. >.< Such a busy weekend.
these photos are incredible Chef….what a marvelous time, what amazing food…..
Sounds like an awesome event. The food looks incredible and that lobster mac n cheese is making me hungry tonight!
What’s on top of the blueberry tart? It looks like lavender tofu (!) and almonds or maybe lemon zest. The photo could use a caption, I think.
Your pictures are absolutely gorgeous! Thank you for the link. It was wonderful meeting you!
wow. absolutely gorgeous pictures dennis. great to finally meet you!
ps. it’s brian, hehe.
Thanks Brian, I don’t why I thought you told me Ben. That’s what happens when you get old!
I am so jealous! It looks like you all tried some amazing food! I can imagine everyone snapping photos at will before even touching the food.
Ah yes, the mutual understanding of food bloggers! I’ve always wanted to try steak tartare so that photo is my favorite for sure.
Wow wow wow…all these deliciousness !!! I can see you are having a swell time at the meet-up..good food and the getting to know one another
And your food pictures are so good…that I am drooling just looking at them and thinking how I wish I was there too 
Tq Chef …for this great write out on the meet-up,
Regards,
Elin
Wow this makes me so jealous. Great opportunity to learn, eat and get to know great people. So glad you shared this with us. Have a great week Chef Dennis.
Looks like a lot of fun and that Lobster Mac & Cheese? YUMMY!
Yumm-O! The Dessert cart is right up my alley. I wish I could have come. Sounds like a very fun event.
That looks so wonderful (and delicious!). I just started blogging, but this seems like a great community, and I’d love to participate in similar events one day..
I think it’s special to get to meet the people behind the words and photos. Someone put a lot of work into those delicious lookind dishes. Looks like a good time was had.
It was great meeting you! Your photography is beautiful.
Thank you Caroline, the pleasure was mine! if I can ever be of any help please let me know!
Dennis! Your pictures came out beautifully! It was so good to see you at this great event
Wow, your photos are gorgeous ! It was great to meet you in person and so much fun to meet all the rest, too. What a great time we all had. The long ride was worth it for me. Thanks for sharing these delicious pictures, Chef Dennis!
We had a Food Bloggers event in St Louis this past weekend as well. I had hoped to go but had too much going on. It looks like everyone had a great time. Maybe next year I’ll make it to ours. Who created all those luscious desserts?
It was great meeting you–I was definitely honored to be in the presence of such a talented group of people. Awesome photos!
Thank you Iris! The pleasure was mine! it was a great event!
Sounds like a blast. I think we should plan one here on Maui…do you think people would come?!
you know I would love to come to one in Maui, a great excuse to see the islands!
That must have been a really enjoyable event. The food looks amazing, too–I guess it’s only fitting to be served delicious dishes at a food blogger meet-up!
Sounds like fun.
Wow, your pictures are amazing! Everything looks delicious! Looks like a great meetup!
Looks like awesome event..love all the photos!!!
What a great opportunity! I am SO happy for you! The food (and photos) look positively delicious!
The food looks great, and the pictures look even better.
My pictures are getting better, but I can see I have a ways to go!
WOW!! Look at all that food! Your pictures are great. The doughnut and the lobster mac stole my heart…YUM
Oh this looks like so much fun! Wow, it’s so cool to not only meet so many other bloggers, but also get such wonderful lessons and delicious food to taste! Look at those cameras! My goodness…my goodness, I need to get a real camera ASAP. haha. I’d be laughed out of there with my little pocket point and shoot. Perhaps Santa will help me out.
Great post and thanks for sharing. Enjoy your week!
Wow! Such beautiful photos…everything looks delicious. Plus it seems like it was an awesome event!
What a fun event and looks like you all were treated to a feast! Love all the photos. Thanks for sharing them.
Chef Dennis,
What a beautiful website! I’ll be checking it out often.
Why thank you! I’m so glad you could stop by!
Looks like so much fun! Hope we have something like this in D.C. soon.
Oh my goodness! That chocolate plate looks like heaven. You must have gained at least 5 pounds!
what an awesome event. Im sure it was a blast having all like minded people together. I just moved here in STL and I wonder if there’s anything like it here. The last time I attended something similar to this was when I was still living in SD. hmmm Im so jealous.
Btw Chef, I know I’m not the first one to say it but yes, your photos are stunning.
Have a great day!
Mallou