Wine and Spirits Travel

What’s a gal to do when she has two brunches with Food Network Stars at the same time?  Go to them both, of course. I started out at the tent between Caesars and Bally’s for Paula’s Boardwalk Party.  Despite the huge crowd at the tables and the buffets, Paula Deen (and husband Michael Groover) made everyone feel like they were in her dining room.  There was lots of old-fashioned Southern Cooking, including Pork Chops, Chicken & Rice and an incredible Red Velvet Cake with a German Chocolate-like frosting.  Paula and Michael charmed the crowd, we enjoyed lots of wine and sweet tea – in this case Jeremiah Weed Sweet Tea .  It was a delicious and comfortable setting, but I had an entirely different type of brunch to get to. It was back to One Atlantic, the banquet spot over The Pier Shops at Caesars with incredible views of the ocean, for Alex Guarnaschelli’s Farm-to-Table Brunch.  The tables were set formally and included a selection of wine glasses for the paired meal.  Ale

Is there anything better than a party overlooking the ocean with a top Food Network chef?  The answer is yes – three of them.  That’s how many I made it to on the last night of the Atlantic City Food and Wine Festival. It’s probably hard to believe I was still standing (and I wasn’t completely… more later) after my marathon day of events , but there were some incredible parties to attend and I wasn’t about to let my readers down.  I grabbed some caffeine, threw on my party dress , touched up the makeup and headed to party one with my companion, photographer and daughter, Sam. We didn’t have far to go for the first party as it was right where we were staying, Harrah’s .  It gave me yet another opportunity to enjoy The Pool, this time for Conde Nast Traveler’s Taste The World: Grapes & Global Tapas.  The setting was tropical and the wine list huge.  As was the case with all of the events at the Food & Wine Festival, there was a little of everything, including Marumoto's