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Roberto and I were fortunate enough to spend the last weekend with 250 other food bloggers at the Foodbuzz Food Bloggers Festival in San Francisco, CA. This was our first trip to California, so we were very excited to visit San Francisco and for all the events of the weekend! Needless to say we had a great time, in great company. I have been blogging since 2006, and in that time have had a few opportunities to spend time with other bloggers. Putting faces to the names we see and hear so much through blogging and getting to meet in person people we have “known” for years in the blogosphere is a really awesome experience. These last few weeks, I have had a chance to meet many bloggers, both through the conference, and also through our travels in New England. I will try to do my best to re-live those experiences through words.

This weekend was a real meeting of the minds of food bloggers. I will attest again, for the record, that food bloggers really are the nicest people in the world.

Hanging out with food bloggers has a certain comfort level to it, because you already know up front that you have a common ground (and a high level of obsession)! So having the privilege to get to know the people behind the blogs you love, and learn more about them and their lives, beyond the food blogging aspects, is an enriching and wonderful experience. I am very thankful to everyone at Foodbuzz for the great job they did putting this together for us. Giving us the opportunity to meet other bloggers, and feeding us amazing food along the way!

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(Me with a delicious Autumn Apple Martini, with Mari from Secrets of a Kitchen Wizard, with Vanessa from Italy in SF and with Kat from A Good Appetite).

The weekend was kicked off on the rooftop of the Hotel Vitale with a meet and greet happy hour. We enjoyed cocktails from Skyy Spirits, sparkling wines, beers and sparkling juices, including a special and delicious Autumn Apple Martini which was inspired by Melissa York of Cheese Wine and Cheddar. This gave us all the opportunity to meet and greet everyone.

After happy hour we headed over to the Ferry Building and were treated to an amazing Street Food extravaganza featuring the best of the best of San Francisco ‘s street food fare. I did my best to try at least a bite of everything.

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I think the unanimous favorite of the evening was the Porchetta Sandwich with greens and caramelized onions from Roli Roti . Porchetta is a Roman specialty, and my resident Roman claims it is the best he ever had. So you can imagine how good it was.

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I also really enjoyed the Potato and Chorizo tacos from Tacolicious. Their sauces are to die for – if you can take the heat! If not, their Green Goddess herbal sauce, will cool things off. The tacos were so good, I had to go back for seconds!

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I also admit to going back for seconds at Straus Family Creamery, the booth right next to Mission Mini’s Cupcakes (this one is the Pumpkin with Dulce de Leche icing!) They served us organic coffee and vanilla bean ice cream. It was creamy and delicious! Just the way ice cream should be.

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Another delicious treat was the vegan, raw cheesecake from Alive! . Honestly the best cheesecake I have ever had – see my face! The expression says it all!

But this was only the tip of the iceberg when it came to the offerings. We also really enjoyed fresh shucked oysters from Hog Island Oyster Co. To wash it all down, beer from Thirsty Bear and cocktails from Skyy Vodka- my favorite was called the Blood & Sand – equal parts of The Glenrothes Select Reserve (Speyside single malt Scotch), fresh orange juice, Cinzano sweet vermouth and cherry liquer. The drink was garnished with delicious cherries from Italy. There were also fresh chichharones (spicy pork rinds) that were perfect with the wheat beer from Thirsty Bear.

Also in the offerings were – wood fired pizzas, meat pies, roasted beet salads and more. It was a fantastic way to experience some classic San Francisco treats and meet all the wonderful vendors who create this delicious food and feed the people of San Francisco!

That night we really enjoyed hanging out and getting to know the folks from Foodbuzz, meeting my buddy Kat from A Good Appetite, Val and Giz of BloggerAid Changing the Face of Famine , Vanessa from Italy in SF , Mari from Secrets of a Kitchen Wizard , Jen from FoodBat and Donna from Cooking with Donna (anyone have her blog URL?).

It was also great spending time with our Florida friends, Peter and Christey from FotoCuisine.

Please stay tuned for more pictures and stories from the weekend!