Liverpool Food and Drink Festival...

Hello everyone, I hope that you are all well. This is a little bit of a 'Throwback Thursday' post as I have so much content stacked up for Coco Cami at present. Some weeks ago I went along to the Liverpool Food & Drink Festival and I had such a good time. I wanted to share some of the highlights of it with all of you because it was such a super event and being in a field surrounded by delicious food and drinks is definitely my idea of a good time!
It was a surprisingly hot day on the Saturday, so I wore a simple sheer black top and pencil skirt (yep, I know, I wore black yet again...!) we arrived just before lunchtime and there was already a real buzz at the festival, which was spread over a huge area of the park. I collected my press pass and off we went to find as much delicious food as possible!

 I was so impressed with the trouble everyone had gone to staging the event, there were fun areas to relax in complete with hay bales and blankets! I spotted a smoker full of delicious smoked kippers and then my first stop was at the Amalia restaurant stand where  I had a quick chat and sampled a portion of risotto which was full of flavour.

 The Amalia restaurant team hard at work 

 Risotto from Amalia Liverpool 

Since it was such a hot day I decided that a couple of beers were in order, so I headed to the Kingfisher truck which was so eye-caching and the guys there were super friendly. I had a chat to them before I went to find a little spot where I could relax and enjoy the refreshing beer in the sunshine.

 The guys from Kingfisher beer were so nice!

I had the chance to catch up with Jasmine and Melissa Hemsley , also known as Hemsley + Hemsley, who I recently interviewed for Exclusive Magazine where I work as Food and Drink Editor. They are brilliant chefs and food writers and they are so kind and friendly. Their book The Art Of Eating Well is amazing and they have a new book coming out next year which I cannot wait for! Interviewing them was a real privilege and one of the highlights of my career so far! 

Me with my recent interviewees, the talented chefs and food writers Jasmine and Melissa Hemsley who are so lovely. 

Restaurants and bars from across the city and beyond had set up stalls to show off their food and drinks at the festival, and there were demonstrations from talented chefs such as Paul Askew of The Art School and Jasmine and Melissa Hemsley. Alongside the demonstrations and stalls, there were fun events such as cocktail competitions and also the chance to sample more food than even I could manage (and that is saying something!) what can I say...I just love food! I spied this stall of amazing pastries, wow!

Amazing artisan French patisserie from The French Corner

After all of this wandering we had worked up quite an appetite. My partner Tim had an amazing gourmet hot dog from the company Meet Frank who serve up fab hot dogs and hand cut fries. The options they have on offer are all so mouthwatering, such as The New Yorker and The Polish. He tried the Classic Frank, which was a gourmet version of a classic hot dog, with mustard, ketchup and crispy onions. Yum! 

 The Classic Frank

I was in the mood for something a little more fiery, I love spicy food and curry is one of my favorite things to eat. Mowgli in Liverpool serves Indian street food style dishes and they do hands-down some of the best Indian food I have ever tasted. Mowgli now also have a restaurant in Manchester too, so check them out if you have not dined with them already. Rest assured that you will fall in love with their sublime Street Chat, Tiffin Boxes and Lassi! 

 Goodies from Mowgli! We got a chickpea curry and a chicken one, both of which were amazing and perfectly spiced with plenty of flavour. They went so well with the Kingfisher beer too, you can never go wrong with a good curry and beer, it is one of my favorite combinations! 

Stunning curries from Mowgli

Of course you cannot go to a food festival and only have a couple of dishes, so we also decided it would be in order to try a wood fired pizza from Little Furnace. I am sure from my constant obsession with ordering pizza, most readers have gathered it is a favourite food of mine. I especially love wood fired pizza because I find that it has a much more authentic Italian taste than many other pizzas. Cooking it in a wood fired oven gives it that slight charring and incredible flavour which I find irresistible! 

Perfect pizza from Little Furnace

All of the food we tried was just amazing and you can tell that I was full from the fact that I managed to resist desserts such as churros, waffles and artisan cakes. Alas even I have a limit! 

 Little Espresso Co

We enjoyed the live music at the festival too! We had a great time at the Liverpool Food and Drink Festival and I cannot wait to visit it again next time! What do you all think, have you ever been to a food festival and which of these foods appeals to you? As always I cannot wait to hear your thoughts and thank you so much for reading this post!

Until next time,

Camille 

xo