Outer Banks Taste Of The Beach Grande Finale - The EXPO. Part 2.

This year's Taste of the Beach

featured "celebrity guest chef appearances by Ed Brantley & Heba Salama from "The Biggest Loser." I don't know about you, and I'm sure Ed and Heba are lovely people, but this news didn't make me want to run out and buy tickets to any event whatsoever. That said, because we were greeted by this: and this:

at the door, I decided I would liberally pepper their pictures throughout this post because that's just how I roll. And yes, you're entirely welcome. It is my pleasure. Obxsunshn, an organizer of this event, commented on my last post:

Obxsunshn said...

... Sorry that the Biggest Loser posters seemed offensive. I hope that the rest of your journey through the Expo was a good one!

March 15, 2010 2:21 PM

Obxsunshn, I had a lovely time and I wasn't offended.

Au Contraire, mon ami. In fact, I live for stuff like this. It just doesn't getter much better.

I also received an email from my friend Zadig in Nashville who had a wonderful idea. Zadig suggested they should have used Coney Island cut out head holes so the attendees could have their pictures taken. Excellent suggestion, Zadig. I thank you. Now if only I can get the Taste of the Beach Powers That Be on board with this idea, maybe they could save these life-sized posters for next year. One can only hope. Now, off to the EXPO. I started at the first booth and ate my way through Pamlico Jack's. I actually had a plan this year. Mr. Hawthorne suggested I first shoot a picture of the display, then video the chef's description of their offerings. Excellent idea, Mr. Hawthorne. I was all set on doing that, since in past years it really was difficult shooting and writing down everything. And I ended up giving up with the writing. So, there was my plan. I walked into Pamlico Jack's and shot my first OMG picture of a Loser and damn if my battery didn't go dead. I thought I had a full charge, but nooooooo. Of course, my spare battery had a full charge, but then I had to go to Plan B, since I didn't think I'd be able to video all that on my one little battery. So, I whipped out my pen and pad and went back to the original plan which hasn't really worked for me before. I made it work this time and I think I got it all down pretty well. Now that I think about it, the audio on my camera probably wouldn't have picked up the chefs' descriptions because of all the noise in the room.

First booth is Red Sky Cafe.

They offered a salad of mixed greens with cilantro lime shrimp and a fat free ginger dressing and charred Ahi tuna on a seaweed salad with ginger. I passed on this. Not particularly fond of seaweed. And this was the very first booth so I was waiting for something to blow my skirts up. Oh, Sweet Bejeebus.

I didn't know Guy Douchebag Fee-yetti was going to be here!

He's freakin' everywhere. Tool.

Next booth was The Pit Boardrider's Grill. If my notes serve me correctly, these are Jerk Chicken Three Cheese Enchiladas with Pineapple Mango salsa and a citrus sour cream. I'm not into a cuisine, mon, whose most famous dish is dubbed "jerk." Plus, didn't want chicken. I passed on this too.

Next booth was Mako Mike's, offering a salmon wrapped scallop with Asian coleslaw. I tried this. Didn't like it. Scallops are delicate. Don't mess with 'em. The salmon overpowered. Of course I may be a bit biased here. Try as I might, I still don't like salmon. Who knows? Maybe one of these years after trying for so long, I will develop a taste for salmon. That happened with cilantro and bleu cheese. After twenty some years of trying a taste of Mr. Hawthorne's bleu cheese dressing on salads every time we went to restaurants (I am nothing if not persistent.) and despising the foul taste, one day, it happened. Same with cilantro. There are two firm camps out there. Those who like cilantro. And those who HATE cilantro. Cilantro is a very complicated, polarizing herb. There is no middle ground for liking cilantro. If someone asks you, "Do you like cilantro," you either answer Yes or No. You don't say, "It's all right." "Research," i.e., Google, shows that there is a genetic disposition for liking cilantro. Well, I guess that makes me a mutant.

Magnolia Grill. These little rolls are Kimmelweck Rolls and looked pretty darn good. They have a sprinkling of caraway and sea salt and I might just have to make some. I didn't try this either since I'm not here to eat bread. They were served sliced 1/2 rounds with BBQ. And I'm not here to eat BBQ either.

Sugar Creek Restaurant.

Sugar Creek served up shrimp and grits. Didn't try it.

Garlic herbed chips with a crab dip.

I tried the chips with crab dip. Nothing special. More dip than crab. Bland.

These are their Crab Bisque Shooters with Scallions. I liked this. Good crab flavor. Nice creamy texture. The scallions really accented the bisque. Very nice. Next, I stopped at Lucky Twelve Tavern's station.

Sauteed shrimp in a Texas BBQ sauce - no vinegar, but a reduction of tomato paste, brown sugar, Lea & Perrins and Soy Sauce. I love it when shrimp are cooked perfectly. These were succulent and oceany and the sauce enhanced the shrimp. Too many times I've tasted heavy handed sauces where the seafood was overwhelmed and lost. This was a very nice balance of shrimp and sauce. The shrimp were served on a nice cool bed of Bleu Cheese coleslaw which perfectly complimented the seafood. And can I just tell you how glad I am that I like Bleu cheese? So far this was my favorite dish.

BJ, Jim, and Mark of Lucky Twelve Tavern. Stay tuned for more of The Outer Banks Taste Of The Beach EXPO.