What. A. Day!
The first-ever Georgetown Food, Beer & Wine Festival was held Saturday, May 21, 2022, and it'll go down in history as surpassing people's expectations. The event saw a massive crowd draw with people buying tokens up to 30 minutes left in the event. The crowd was massive and did not let up.
A few reasons for that were the preparation of food for the duration of the festival and the beer/wine amount was enough to satisfy the thirsty folks looking for an adult beverage.
Plus, the sectioning of the streets allowed for a controlled environment while providing ease of access to the restaurant tents and beer garden.
With all that being said, the people came with smiles and left with bigger smiles. They knew they were part of something special. They knew that for years of asking for something resembling a Harborwalk Festival, they got it.
About 14 restaurants came to serve people their best tastings. The first thing I noticed when walking up and down the street before it officially began was the huge amount of effort going into the tent design and food creations. You could tell they were excited to be offering their best impression first!
Judging began around 12 p.m. City of Georgetown Mayor Carol Jayroe, International Culinary Institute of Myrtle Beach Chef Geoff Blount and yours truly were the three celebrity judges given the ultra hard task in tasting these culinary offerings. No, really it was hard, at first.
The first few tents were so eager to impress, they were giving us full offerings. We had to tell the rest to sample-size it because if not, we'd be full before turning the corner for the next row of tents. This effort made us proud, however, of the fact they took it seriously. Not to just wow us, but to wow the people paying for their tastings with tokens they bought. It was a great respect for value in return for an exchange of hard-earned money in this current economy.
At then end of the day, there had to be winners. Well, they all were. They toughed it out until 6 p.m. They started prepping around 8 a.m. Kicked it off at 11 a.m. It was a long day, but a successful one.
Best Taste went to Root. Their Peruvian Pork Wing with Mashed Sweet Potato and Shrimp & Grit Croquette with Sausage left an everlasting impression on our palates. That meat on the bone pulled right off with no effort. The other offering was nice and warm, flavorful and the crunch was just right.
Best Decorated Tent(s) went to SoCo Grille and SoCo Grille ChopHouse. Their effort in decorating was incomparable and the visuals represented their passion. We were greeted as we walked up and shown the tent(s). They made us aware of it and that's what counted.
And finally, after difficult deliberations at Indigo Mercantile, we decided that the Best Overall would go to South End Bistro. The elegance of flavor and presentation from each tent made it difficult. The top choices were only separated by a point. It came down to seasoning and taste. The Brasstown Beef grass-fed slider, Fondue Mac & Cheese and Beignets were a meal in itself. All-round representation of what best overall should encompass.
Below is the video of the winners being announced.
Here's a gallery of some of the hometown friends I got to see and catch up with. Miss these folks. And, some fun photos, too. I enjoyed this so much, and wish for it to become annual.
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