Well-rounded foodie friends are hard to find. I mean there are foodie friends that will go out and eat at new restaurants with you, but aren't interested in the little dive joints. There are foodie friends who are just interested in going to the places with the best wine lists but who could care less what food is being served. There are the foodie's that shop only at the farmers markets and might be vegetarian or vegan. There are foodie friends who just love to cook or bake, but could care less about eating out. There are foodie friends that can grow a vegetable garden like no one's business or grill BBQ so good you will wonder why they aren't in competitions. There are foodie friends that follow trends in food or know all the important Chefs across the country. Finally, there are foodie friends that just like to read food magazines or cookbooks, but do very little cooking on their own.
Then there are Foodie friends that eat, breathe, sleep and talk about it just like you do. You no longer feel like you are the only person in the universe with this condition. You have found and have identified your OTHER in food. Amanda Frederickson is that foodie friend to me. (See her in photo above, taken at the March Test Kitchen event by the ultra-talented Chris Pavlacka, photographer from Lawrence.)
When we met a year ago in March, it was at a Share Our Strength event at The American. A food event that helps feed the hungry nationwide. We ended up having the most magical night talking to all the Chefs, and going out to drink with all of them afterwards. In the wee hours of the night, we looked at each other and could not believe our luck. We had broken through the unknown world of food and Chefs in Kansas City, and we had done it at exactly the same time. We had done it together.
When I started Test Kitchen, my underground supperclub, it was a stressful time. A time, in which I was laser focused on trying to launch my baby to the world. It was a venture that I had 100% support from my family by Eatie (hubby) and Tastie (son), my mother-in-law Anna, my Mom (BABZzzz), my Dad and Mynette and my brothers. And Amanda was the foodie friend, who sat up late nights and listened to all my worries and concerns. The one when I thought things couldn't be done, assured me they could be and ultimately the friend that help me get the names on my Test Kitchen list by telling everyone she met in food about my venture and how to get on the list. (Click here to become a member of the Test Kitchen, and get on the list.)
Although I cannot repay her for her help in money, I can by showing my ultimate support and total excitement of her newest venture. It is my supreme pleasure to introduce to you to Amanda's new labor of love, her baby: Gourmet Nomads. Gourmet Nomads is a group of foodies who travel together to places of interest on the food scene in the US and across the globe. Never was there a foodie, that I would trust more to put together foodie trips than Miss Amanda. She not only has impeccable taste, but she demands only the best in terms of her experiences around food and wine and now in travel.
And having planned many, many foodie trips for myself and advised others on where to eat in drink in places they might travel to, I can assure you, finding all of the right foodie hot-spots to hit in any town is a challenge. It takes time, research and lots of looking before agendas worthy of your time and money can be assembled. Amanda has taken the guesswork out of foodie travel with her short excursions. She travels to the places she recommends before-hand to make sure that it meets her high standard and would be something of interest to others like her. She has the professional contacts from her restaurant PR contacts and her social media skills to really negotiate the best rates and most unique packages for even the most discerning traveler. You will do things on Gourmet Nomads trips that are unavailable to the public and get behind the scenes to really get a sense of what life is like in a particular destination.
I am very excited about her latest trip which will be happening July 17-20, 2009 to Sonoma, CA. It's called Eating Sonoma - Ground to Grapes. As someone who is going to try out for Murphy-Goode's Wine Country Lifestyle Correspondent position , I recently just came back from traveling through wine country and Sonoma. I can tell you first hand, a trip to wine country, is one of the neatest and most fun trips a foodie can take. I had only briefly stopped through wine country in the past, but having the chance to really stay and explore the rolling hillsides heavy with grape vines, olive oil tastings, local cheese producers, farmers markets and dined at some of the hottest restaurants, as well as educating myself about the many wineries in the area . . .a trip to Sonoma this summer is something I would happily suggest to everyone.
If you are in the process now of planning a couples getaway weekend or even a trip with another couple or two, please check out Gourmet Nomads for their trip July 17-20, 2009 called Eating Sonoma - Ground to Grapes for more details. This will be a fun and easy way to travel like a real foodie, with others who are real foodies like you.
You are a foodie, aren't you?
Great and, to me, comical post because I've look at food from both sides now. And, lovely tip off to Amanda. I hope she sails with her new venture. Keep up the great work!
Posted by: Cookie | May 22, 2009 at 09:53 AM