Dinner with Tyler Florence!

Last night's dinner with Tyler Florence was simply amazing!  Wish-Bone sponsored the event and there was plenty of good company; other bloggers, PR staff, magazine staff/editors, etc. all joined us for the evening.  The dinner was at the Rustico Cooking School in NYC - the perfect location for such an event!  Live music filled the room while the aroma of good food teased and tempted us.  Hor d'oeuvres and wine were circulated by the Rustico staff while we had the chance to mingle and network amongst everyone.  The man of the night, Tyler Florence, was so impressive; comfortably hanging out and talking with all of us. He looked you in the eye, seemed genuinely interested in what you had to say, and didn't rush you away.  I am also excited that he gave us some tips on tweaking our pasta salad (which never seems to turn our right).  There was even a professional photographer capturing the evening (I cannot wait to see how the pictures turned out!)

By far the best (and main) event was when we all crowded around the stainless steel tables and Tyler showed us how to make 3 different salad recipes.  He was candid, helpful (answering any questions we would holler out), and had quite the sense of humor, cracking jokes along the way.  The smell of each dish was so delicious and mouth watering that my stomach kept loudly growling in anticipation!  Tyler showed us showed us how to make Arugula, Roasted Cherry Tomatoes, and  Bocconcini Salad, Grilled Tuna, Arugula, Fennel, Black-Eyed Peas and Tomatoe Salad, and Grilled Italian Chicken Salad with Romain Spears and Red Peppers.  Each one was easy to prepare and tasted phenomenal!

Afterward there was an open session where we could experiment in the kitchen and ask any questions that we wanted.  Finally, it was time to be served some of each of the 3 salads Tyler had prepared.  At the conclusion of dinner I walked over to thank him for a delicious dinner, for teaching us how to make such simple (yet amazing) dishes, and to express how shocked I was that the salads were so good that I had eaten foods I normally wouldn't touch.  Yes, they were that good.

The night ended with photos with Tyler, another round of food (a pasta and mozzarella dish and to finish, biscotti and a decadent chocolate dessert), and more mingling.  We finally said goodbye and were given very generous goodie bags (that contained Italian and Balsamic Wish-Bone salad dressing, salad tongs, salad keepers, and Tyler's cookbook, "Stirring the Pot"). 

Truly an amazing night!  A huge thank you to Wish-Bone for the event!  Also a big thanks to Tyler Florence, who has inspired us both in the kitchen and with our business!

We are still in NYC, but as soon as we are home I will upload pictures, videos, and the recipes to share with you all!