Chile Olive Oil inspired Dinner #chilefresh

This is what Food Bloggers do when we get together

What is better than sitting Around the Family Table with friends enjoying good food and good wine?   What if all these friends just so happen to enjoy new culinary experiences as much as you do?  One is more excited than the next as course after course is brought out and paired perfectly with wine.  There is drooling, there are lots and lots of pictures, there are tweets, instagrams are flying, our friends on Facebook are oooing and ahhing and just in case any one of us missed any little detail, we can go back and repin each other on our Pinterest Board.

On this special evening, the family table was not in my kitchen and I was not the chef.  This evening was hosted at Flamestone Grill and the menu was executed perfectly by Executive Chef Eric Lackey.  The menu was carefully developed around Chile Olive Oil and attention to detail was evident.  The fruity flavor of the Chile Olive Oil was the star of each course.  It is so true that the family table can be anywhere.  Although not family by blood, the guests at this event had so much in common.  Our love for good food was obvious.  All you had to do was listen to the ummmm’s all night long.  The evening was a food lovers dream come true as Chef Eric showed us how versatile olive oil can be. I can still close my eyes and taste the Anchovy Aioli, the tapenade, the Goat cheese with a procini and white truffle cappallacci Ravioli…ummmm.

Let me stop before I go too far.  Did I mention that many of the guest were Food Bloggers?  Yes, this was truly a Foodie dream come true.  Everyone left tremendously impressed by the chile olive oil.  I could tell you all about the menu and show you lots of pics here but I could never do it the justice that these talented food bloggers gave this evening. So hop on over to their blogs about this amazing menu inspired by Chile Olive Oil .  You will be glad you did.  They described this evening with so much detail and so much better than I ever could.  Some were so inspired, they went home and developed their own recipes. I will tell you that there is no one that I would rather break bread and olive oil with than this group.  It is so true that the family could be anywhere… as long as there is good food, good company and good olive oil!

Every time I looked over at Karen Baglin from My view from here all I could see was her lips pursed together and the sound of ummmm.  She left the event saying to Chef Eric “please add the aioli, tapenade and whipped goat cheese to your menu … maybe as an appetizer that comes with bread and crudités?”

I was so honored to have Cheri from The Watering Mouth drive all the way from Sarasota to attend this fabulous event.  Cheri is one of our #SundaySupper contributors so any chance for us to get together makes for a great evening.  Cheri’s energy could light up a room and I loved seeing the big smile on her face all night.  Cheri shared, “there is a special feeling in the air when you get a bunch of us foodies together in one room – not to mention the Twitter, Facebook and Instagram storm that takes place immediately upon our arrival.”

I loved meeting Katie from She likes Ruffles and He likes Truffles for the first time.  As soon as the first appetizer was unveiled, I knew I had met a foodie friend for life.  She studied the food and savored every bite.  Here is her take  “Chef Eric created the tapenade with a traditional molcajete and presented it on Chilean extra virgin olive oil rubbed crostinis. Oh boy – I could have had many more of these treats: Chef Eric informed us that he uses sundried tomatoes in his tapenade, and you could really tell. The olives were still a star, but the balance of salty olives and sweet sundried tomatoes was absolutely perfect. Dear Flamestone Grill: put this tapenade on the regular menu! Wink wink, nudge nudge…”

Megan from I Run For Wine  took the words right out of my mouth when she said… “I thought I was in foodie heaven. Then this happened. Portabella and Goat cheese with a procini and white truffle cappallacci Raviolis, pan crisped in the EVOO. Everyone in the room was freaking out over this dish.”  Seriously, every time we thought this was the best dish, Chef brought out another … that we thought was the best dish!

Lane blogs at Supper for a Steal, and is also a #SundaySupper contributor.  Although we chat every day, we had not met in person.   I loved meeting her in person and loved that she was as inspired by the menu as I was…  “this next starter that really blew me away.  The trio of heirloom yellow tomato caprese salad, fresh tomato tart, and olive tapenade with CEVOO rubbed crostini was delightful. The tapenade was out of this world. Seriously give me a spoon and a jar of this and I am set! Chef Eric made the tapenade in a molcajete, which they use in the restaurant to make the tableside guacamole. He shared some insight as to how had made the tapenade since everyone was raving about it. I will be attempting it at home soon.”

I think Kerry from Yum and Yummer  summed up the evening perfectly “It was a lot of really serious, really good food.”  He ran home an developed his own recipe for Anchovy Aioli that he shared on his blog.  I can’t wait to try his recipe.  Something tells me that it will be out of this world.

Jodi aka Tampa Wine Woman  said, ” I was absolutely impressed with Chef Eric’s incorporation of the ‘not-so secret ingredient of Extra Virgin Olive Oil from Chile.  Wait just one second though, hold the phone, what have we here . . . an Olive Oil Dessert (actually three of them).  Shut the front door!”  Jodi was so inspired, she ran home after the event and made her own Lemon Olive Oil Cake. I love it!

Tracy blogs at My other City by the Bay  and I loved her take on the evening ~ By this point, I was asking myself why it had taken me so long to get to Flamestone Grill. I was so impressed with everything thus far and really enjoyed learning so much about Chilean Olive Oil. Our third entrée was a duo of a Portabella and Goat Cheese with a Porcini and White Truffle Cappallacci alongside a Goat Cheese and Arugula Stuffed Piadina. If you are not familiar, Cappallacciis a form of ravioli. As an Italian girl, this “knockeda my socks offa.”

I completely enjoyed sitting next to the ultimate Tampa Foodie Guru, Michele Northrup from Intensity Academy, the Social Media Diva, Kim Randall and Carlos from Carlos Eats.  Michele gave the event the ultimate compliment, “The BEST Tampa Food Event EVER.”  Thanks to Kim, the evening was captured in Storify.  Check out all our tweets and pics.

The next morning, I found myself wishing I had some of the pretzel bread and aioli to go with my coffee, I know weird, what can I say…It’s a Portuguese thing.  As I sipped my coffee over twitter,  Jeff Houck, Food Write for Tampa Bay Tribune and TBO.com,  made my morning with his tweet  “@familyfoodie Can I just say that you are a warm, amazing, gracious hostess? The #ChileFresh event was the start of big things.” Love that man!

Pam Settle, Editor-in-Chief, Tampa Bay Good Living was so impressed by The Chile Olive Oil that she said it was one of the best tasting Olive Oils she has tasted.  She could have enjoyed it with bread alone and been completely content.

Elizabeth Dougherty, host of Food Nation Radio, enjoyed The Chile Olive Oil inspired dinner so much that she will be interviewing them for a feature on her radio show.

Loved getting together with members of the #SundaySupper Group

It is so true that food brings people together and the family table can be anywhere!  It’s all about the memories that are made! If we don’t have you drooling yet, just follow our Flamestone Grill Chile Olive Oil Pinterest Board.

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