outside lands

Top 5 Eats at Outside Lands 2016

August 19, 2016August 16, 2016Leave a comment

As you know from my previous post, I was lucky enough to attend Outside Lands again this Summer to discover more of the amazing food the festival has to offer! Year after year, the restaurant lineup only gets better. With the addition of Ground Lands, Cocktail Magic, and a private dining event by Trestle, Another Planet Entertainment isn’t messing around! Yesterday I shared just a taste of what the weekend had to offer, but I saved my top 5 picks for below. If you don’t buy a pass for next year’s festival just based on this #FoodPorn below, you’re crazy! In no particular order:

#1. Chicken Skin Sandwich from Rove Kitchen

This sandwich was the perfect ratio of fried chicken skin, pickles, and slaw. This was definitely one of the more popular dishes at the festival. You couldn’t walk to a stage without seeing a few pass by in the hungry hands of festival-goers.

2. Heritage Pork Chorizo Sausage and Curtido Sauerkraut Melt from The Farmer’s Wife

I know that this list is supposed to feature my top five food picks with no particular hierarchy, but this sandwich was the best thing we ate at the festival. The portion size was generous, the ingredients were fresh and tasted amazing together, and the chorizo was perfectly cooked, and not at all greasy – which is a common gripe I usually have with the meat.

3. Cheeseburger from The Bacon Bacon Truck

Bacon Bacon always has a hit on their hands. Since they burst on the scene a few years ago, this truck has been at the top of SF’s event list ever since. After having their burrito last year, I knew I needed this cheeseburger in my life. Do you see the gap between the patties? There’s a brick of bacon right in the middle, and it is glorious! The cheese not only covered the entire burger, but was dripping off of the sides of the top patty, need I say more? My only regret was no getting chocolate covered bacon for dessert.

4. Lamb Poutine Sloppy Joe from Azalina’s

This was the dark horse of our choices this year. We didn’t know what to expect when we ordered it, but damn it was good. The lamb had a great flavor, and was in no way overcooked or gamey. I think this was originally supposed to be a simple lamb sandwich, but they added the ‘sloppy joe’ to make sure you knew the wonderful mess that you were getting yourself into.

5. Breakfast Sandwich from Precita Park Cafe

If you know me, you know that breakfast sandwiches are my weakness. While my dining companion wouldn’t agree in the slightest that this is one of my top five picks, I have to do it. The bacon, egg, and cheese combo on fresh bread just gets me. It gets me every damn time.

If you attended Outside Lands this year, or in the past, COMMENT below with your favorite eats from the festival. There might be a chance I haven’t tried it yet, and would love to add it to my list for next year!

Outside Lands 2015

August 30, 2015August 30, 2015Leave a comment

Outside Lands is a music, food, and arts festival, and it just so happens to be in my favorite city – San Francisco! I was lucky enough to be invited to the 3-day festival in San Francisco to cover the gourmet food and beverages offered at the event! Read on for my favorites!

For the past couple of years, Outside Lands has incorporated the most amazing ‘LANDS’ to the festival.

Wine Lands was filled with old friends and newcomers, but the payment method was much more smooth this year, since it was incorporated into everyone’s pre-registered wristbands. My favorites were from Hobo Wine Company, Ghost Pines, The Prisoner Wine Company, and Union Wine Co..

We happen to mosey through Beer Lands on National Beer Day and found some favorites: Ace Cider, Anchor Brewing, Golden Road, Sierra Nevada, and Stone Brewing Co..

As for the food, the selection was the best it has ever been! Here are some of my favorites:

Chimichurri Fries from 4505 Meats

Porchetta Taco from La Urbana

Chicken Arepa from Pica Pica

Fry Bread Taco from Precita Park Cafe

Poke Platter from Pacific Catch

THE BEST PORK BELLY BURGER EVER from Big Chef Tom’s Belly Burgers

Okonomiyaki Japanese Pizza from Namu Street Food

Are you drooling yet? Now, on to the music! The first day was filled with an eclectic mix of some new artists that I have been wanting to see live and old favorites, including Leon Bridges, The Drums, Glass Animals, Iration, George Ezra, Lake Street Drive, Chet Faker, and Mumford & Sons. The second day started out with a BANG with Misterwives, then Mac DeMarco, Cold War Kids, Milky Chance, Billy Idol, Tame Impala, and The Black Keys. I’m bummed that we didn’t try to venture from one stage to another to catch Kendrick Lamar’s set (which I heard was amazing!), but The Black Keys put on THE SICKEST SHOW. They made a fan out of me. The third day was definitely my favorite, and not just because it was my birthday! We started out the day with St. Paul and the Broken Bones, James Bay, Hot Chip, Slightly Stoopid, Axwell & Ingrosso, Sam Smith, and of course, SIR ELTON JOHN. He put on the most amazing 2 hour show, and I could not have asked for a better birthday!

Outside Lands Day Three

August 17, 2014Leave a comment

Day 3 of Outside Lands can be summed up in two words: trucks and lands. We ate from so many food trucks and frequented Wine Lands, Beer Lands, Cheese Lands, and Choco Lands the entire day.

There were so many food trucks to choose from, but we narrowed it down to Bacon Bacon, Del Popolo, Senor Sisig, The Rib Whip, and The Fabulous Frickle Brothers.

Last year, Those Fabulous Frickle Brothers paired up with their festival neighbor, Bacon Bacon, to add their Fabulous Fried Pickles to Bacon Bacon’s Bacon Burger. It was a match made in heaven. Unfortunately, their location didn’t allow that to happen this year, but it inspired me to try something besides their amazing pickles. We went the dessert route and tried their Fabulous Fried Apples with a Vanilla Coconut sauce on top. The breading created a nice sweet and savory mashup with cinnamon and sugar sweet apples. I’m not a huge fan of coconut, but they added the perfect amount to the vanilla sauce on top.

The Rib Whip was serving Pulled Pork BBQ Bowls and while there was a bit too much lettuce for my liking, the meat was cooked perfectly.

The California Sisig Burrito, from Senor Sisig, has to be one of the best California burritos I have ever had. The french fries were crispy, not soggy, and the sour cream wasn’t overwhelming. They use pork shoulder as their main meat, and I must say that it is absolutely decadent. This award-winning truck has also been featured on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives.

Del Popolo had the longest line at Outside Lands for the duration of the festival. I mean, how can you not when you’re serving whole wood-fired Margherita Pizzas? The crust was cooked to a dark brown crisp with generous chunks of mozzarella to balance out the sauce. Their setup is pretty cool too; go to their website and take a look at more pictures of their truck, you’ll be glad you did.

I have a soft spot for all things bacon, so I was definitely looking forward to what the Bacon Bacon truck had to offer. Their BBQ Pork Sandwich and Chocolate Covered Bacon definitely fulfilled my porky cravings.

Now, onto the lands. Choco Lands was one of my favorite lands because I have a pretty big sweet tooth. In addition to Humphrey Slocombe’s special edition flavor, Kara’s Cupcakes, Sharona’s Chocolate Shop, and more were serving up delicious chocolate treats! Cheese Lands consisted of platters full of assorted cheeses and charcuterie from Long Meadow Ranch. Bacon Land was serving up $10 bacon flights.

Wine Lands is an expansive tent full of different wineries and packed to the brim with people. I have had most of the options at previous tastings or events, so it was nice to see some familiar names including, Ghost Pines, Hess Collection, J.Lohr, Menage A Trois, and Roth Estate. The tent also featured Summer of Riesling which included a full crash course on different styles of Riesling and fun temporary tattoos.

Beer Lands was more of an open area, in comparison to Wine Lands. Featuring over 30 different breweries, Beer Lands had something for everyone. Similar to Wine Lands, I have had many of these beers before, so I already knew what I was getting myself into. Overall, I think the lineup was a good one with selections from Ace Cider, Drake’s Brewing, Firestone Walker Brewing Co., Golden Road Brewing, Lost Coast Brewery, Magnolia Brewing Company, Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., and Stone Brewing Co..

Another addition to this year’s festival was the Gastro Magic stage. Each day, the stage featured different acclaimed chefs and gourmet restaurants, and paired them with a comedian or DJ to create a unique multi-sensory culinary experience. There were too many shows to see, so refer to the Gastro Magic page for a more specific description of each show.

As for the last day of music, we enjoyed Paolo Nutini, Jenny Lewis, Spoon, Ben Howard, The Flaming Lips, Ray LaMontagne, and The Killers. The Killers put on the best show of the day and the best show of the festival. I have never been a huge fan of theirs, but seeing them live definitely changed my mind.