I love food blogging; I thought you should know. Not only it is so rewarding to try making a new meal most nights, but the people you interact with along the way are pretty amazing. I was given the opportunity to attend a Philly Area Food and Drink Writer Meet-Up over the weekend, hosted by R2L Restaurant and organized by La Phemme Phoodie and Visit Philly/Philly Homegrown. Not only was it a chance to meet some of people behind a bunch of local blogs I read all the time, but we were also given food photography tips from Eric Mencher, who has a good 35 years of food photography know-how.
Upon entering the 37th floor of Two Liberty, we were each handed a glass of champagne, a great start to my afternoon! R2L let us try some of their fantastic hors d’oeuvres: tuna skewers, smoked salmon, truffled flatbread, and my two absolute favorites truffled risotto bites and lobster mac and cheese. Swoon. If you’ve never been to R2L I’d strongly suggest getting there as soon as possible. You stomach will thank you. On top of all of these tasty bites, we were also given sips of two cocktails, their signature R2L-Evation (gin, parfait amour, luxardo, fresh lemon, cherry) and a sidecar (hennessy vs, pallini limoncello, cointreau, fresh lemon), both which were refreshing and so tasty.
After snacking and hearing a bit about Philly Homegrown, Visit Philly, and even a hello from R2L Chef Daniel Stern, we were given a workshop by Eric Mencher which was so helpful. The best part was yet to come though, R2L plated many different meals for us to try to photograph in *gasp* natural sunlight. I was giddy. I live in a tiny condo, with very little natural sunlight. I never get to photograph in natural light! Not to mention, the food was beautifully plated. I was excited to try my hand at photographing these gorgeous plates. We were given the opportunity to photograph the following:
Gingerbread cakes with ginger marshmallows and cassis pate de fruit
Chocolate chip cookies, Chocolate fudge pecan cookies & Gingerbread cakes
Blueberry lemon tarts with lavender marshmallows
Chocolate Eclairs & Huckleberry buttermilk panna cotta with green tea streusel
Huckleberry buttermilk panna cotta with green tea streusel
How’d I do? 🙂
Last but not least, we were allowed to partake in the dessert cart, which we all promptly devoured.
This used to be a chocolate peanut butter cup
Chocolate chip brownies and cinnamon hazelnut blondies
We even left with a nifty goodie bag including a “Who’s Your Farmer?” apron from Philly Homegrown (I desperately needed an apron, thanks!!) and a Visit Philly beer coozie, plus more helpful information on Philly Homegrown.
The event was a huge hit. I left with new knowledge on how to take a nice photograph, I was able to meet some amazing other local food bloggers, I ate myself silly, and left with a true appreciation of (and slightly envy of those who have) natural sunlight in photos.
Thanks again to La Phemme Phoodie, R2L, Visit Philly, and Philly Homegrown for a fantastic and informative day!
