Who Rocked The Taco? | AFWFest 2017

As an homage to the taco Gods, some genius decided to host a taco showdown during the Austin Food + Wine Festival. Rock Your Taco Showdown brought out the best of both savory and sweet, as local and celebrity chefs churned out their own unique variations of the classic “taco.”

Rock Your Taco | Austin Food + Wine Fest
Matt Bolus – The 404 Kitchen

Nothing beats a good taco. Especially a fancy taco that consist of more than just beef, tomatoes, shredded lettuce & cheese. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not knocking those tacos, but they aren’t nearly as complex, as a few of the tacos I tried at Austin Food + Wine Fest’s “Rock Your Taco.” Celeb chefs like Amanda Freitag, Huge Acheson and Ming Tsai served deliciously creative tacos. With Chef Freitag’s taco being one of the only vegan friendly options.

Upon arrival to the venue I immediately noticed people holding big yellow signs with red text that listed each tacos ingredients. As someone who doesn’t eat certain things, it was nice to know what to expect before waiting in line. Not only did this assist me, but it made the lines move faster. Guests didn’t have to ask the chef (or server) what was in the taco, though some still did. From an events standpoint that was a brilliant idea!

Matt Bolus, Executive Chef of The 404 Kitchen in Nashville, TN, had the best savory taco! A trifecta of all my favorite things: avocado, banana and scallops. The combination was totally out of the box.  The scallops were executed nicely and the mashup between banana and avocado, was like nothing I’d ever experienced.

Due to my huge sweet tooth, when I heard that Jodi Elliot of Bribery Bakery was a participant, I looked for her first! She did not disappoint. Jodi served crunchy cinnamon tostadas topped with passion fruit, lime and pineapple. The combination of flavors made my mouth pucker and my left eye squint (in a good way!). The lime juice and passion fruit brought the cinnamon and sugar to life. I ate 22 of these little taco chips and am not ashamed!

These chefs came to do work, and I enjoyed of every bite! Congrats to Jodi, Matt and all the Rock Your Taco Contestants! Check out the photo gallery for more!

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.