Yikes, what a weekend! I think I'm still recovering from all the caffeine and amazing food that I put in my body last Sunday. My friends over at The 88 invited me to join them and illy coffee at SF Chefs this weekend and of course I couldn't say no. The morning started out with the Ethiopian Coffee Ceremony with chef Marcus Samuelsson before moving on into the tent at Union Square. Illy actually had their own tent at the event where endless amounts of coffee were being prepared by bearded baristas (is that a requirement or something?) and hosted chef interviews throughout the day. While I was there I got to try a variety of illy's MonoArabica coffee in various forms: latte, drip, espresso shot, you name it. I probably ended up consuming every single drink they offered (including the canned iced coffees) throughout the day, which would probably explain why I couldn't fall asleep until 3am later that night.
I also got to hang out with two master Instagram wizards (Bill + Daniel) who were covering the event with me. While watching those two and Harry I was amazed at how much care and attention went into taking and editing Instagram photos. Time to upgrade my dinky photos? I'd still feel inadequate anyway.
The highlight of my day was definitely meeting Marcus Samuelsson and getting to follow him around throughout the day without looking like a creepy stalker (I blame my obsession with Top Chef Masters). I was definitely a little starstruck as I watched him interview people like Drew Nieporent and Martin Yan (anyone remember Yan Can Cook?) and attended his cooking demo on the main stage. I can't wait until the weekend to crack open my copy of his book Yes, Chef.
Finally, last but not least: the food. What else is there to say? Too many things to photograph. Too many things to say. I'll just leave these three photos here and let your imaginations run wild.
