I was lucky enough to attend the Charleston Food + Wine festival yesterday in Marion Square, in the heart of  historic downtown Charleston.  70 degree temperatures and the promise (and delivery) of great Food and Wine brought everyone out for a fantastic afternoon.  Highlights were food and wine samplings in TWO tents this year.  Not overcrowded, no lines, so much good food to sample that by the time I left the tents I was actually turning down samples I was so full.  The fabulous wine selections were sampled with a free souvenir wine glass that every guest received upon entering the ten.  Other highlights were cooking demos from local and nationally acclaimed chefs.  Lots of fun was not to be missed in the competition tent where competitive cook-off's were going on throughout the afternoon, with the audience judging the chef's with cheers and red and yellow paddles raised in the air for their favorites.  The great thing about this festival is that even though there is plenty of emphasis on local lowcountry fare, other food influences abound also, for those who can only handle so much shrimp and grits.   Suzanne Goin, chef and owner of the acclaimed Lucquest restaurant in California, traveled to the festival for the first time.  She had cooked with chef Mike Lata of FIG at one of the restaurant dine-arounds on Friday night and was selling and signing her new cookbook at the village on Saturday. 

"This is wonderful...it's so intimate and friendly", she said.  "I've been to bigger festivals where there are too many people, too loud".  Gale Gands, Chicago dessert guru and star of her own FoodTV show Sweet Dreams was in attendance as well.  She's hoping to come back again next year, to escape the cold weather and enjoy the city that appears to be the nation's best kept secret.  One festival goer summed it up nicely "This is Charleston's moment.  It's drawn attention to something that's been up til now our local secret".