Having been a fan of Graham Elliot from MasterChef and Junior MasterChef, it was great fun to get a chance to talk with the affable TV star and get photographed with him.
But let me back up a bit. The occasion was the Greenwich Wine & Food Festival in early October, which attracted a steady stream of visitors throughout the day.
Guests, my daughter and I among them, checked in at the entrance to the festival,
got directed to the appropriate tables,
and then headed inside.
Our initial destination was the CTBites tent,
where we found fellow food blogger Amy Kundrat
photographed later with her husband Ryan,
and other old friends like Prasad Chirnomula of the Thali restaurants and Oaxaca Kitchen.
Elliot was being interviewed,
drawing quite a crowd of fans and well-wishers.
Here are some colorful friends, fellow food bloggers seizing the opportunity to be photographed with Elliot.
My daughter and I visited some of the other side tents with activities going on, including a cooking demonstration tent
at which “Singing Chef” Neil Fuentes was being assisted by Billy DiCrosta.
There we found our dear friend, major babe and top restaurant publicist Linda Kavanagh.
We also checked out the mixology tent.
Throughout the afternoon, we detected nefarious goings-on using these paramilitary contraptions, but no one else seemed alarmed.
After seeing pretty much everything there was to see outside the main tent,
and picking up a complimentary goblet that I would use for sampling wines,
we headed inside the main tent, where we found even more free loot.
From here out, I will let the pictures tell the story of our wanderings in the main tent. If you know anything about the Connecticut dining scene, you should spot some familiar faces, including Elliot, who reportedly will be opening a restaurant on nearby Greenwich Avenue, shown here with his lovely wife.
And if you were there, you might even spot yourself!
Having made out like Vikings, my daughter and I called it a day. On the way out, we passed the blogger tent
where the chef from Douro in Greenwich was being interviewed.
On a bench outside the festival, we wolfed down the last of our ill-gotten gains,
hoping we’d be invited back the next year.