As part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker Program, my wife and I attended Carrabba’s Tastemaker Event in Plano, Texas, on Saturday. The entire event was a fantastic experience for us! When we received the initial invite from Foodbuzz to attended this event, we were both excited for the opportunity to meet some new people and sample some, hopefully good, Italian cuisine. We were not disappointed. The people we met were immensely interesting, talented, and fun, and the food and atmosphere were amazingly wonderful.

During the event, we learned a lot of inside information about Carrabba’s, from all about how they prepare meals to their service protocol. My wife and I both have worked in a large-chain restaurant (which is where we met), and, we, therefore, try and avoid any chain restaurants as much as possible, preferring freshly prepared meals and not those that come from premixed bags poured into pans and just warmed up for serving. It was refreshing to discover that most all of Carrabba’s dishes were made from scratch, including the pasta, which we were told had a two-hour shelf life. After two hours, the pasta is no longer permitted to be served to the public, and a new homemade batch is prepared, keeping each pasta dish always at the peak of freshness and flavor.

When we arrived at the event, we were met at the door by a pleasant host and Josh Goldschmidt, the proprietor of this location. Both greeted us with a handshake and offered us beverages. Being in unsure waters if we could drink-drink or just enjoy tea and water, I asked for a glass of water. (I quickly learned a little bit later that we were welcome to drink-drink, too!) We were seated with several fellow food bloggers, with whom we were quickly exchanging friendly introductions and respective blog information. Let me tell ya, what a great way to meet people with the same passion about food as yourself. Our new friends were all delightful and loved to talk about food. We all certainly did not run out of topics to discuss!

Josh explained to us that we would be observing a cooking demonstration and then be served lunch. We were escorted over to the cooks’ station, where we were introduced to the gentleman who would guide us through the steps to prepare the Carraba’s pesto sauce.

Now, you blog regulars know me and how I enjoy a great adult beverage with any meal. I mean, come on! Good food and good drinks just go hand-in-hand. It was during the pesto demonstration that Josh made my. . . uh, OUR. . . day and asked the magic question, “May I get anyone some Blackberry Sangria?” I thought about that for about 30 seconds (there was a pause in the demonstration, because my wife and I and the other food bloggers lost our concentration at the mere mention of that yummy-sounding Blackberry Sangria). Let me tell you, coming from my bartender background and the love of a good drink, I do not say this lightly. . . if you get the chance to eat at a Carrabba’s near you, absolutely do not pass up on the chance to get their Blackberry Sangria. Hands down, this is the best sangria my wife and I have ever had!

I am not going to lie, I, shamelessly, asked (okay, BEGGED) Josh several times for this recipe. It was light and fruity, yet not as thick and heavy as are some wine-fruit juices blends. It was also not too overpowered with the use of super-sweet syrups and sugars. It was a perfect blend of all elements in a high-quality sangria, and I would put it up against any ordinary sangria recipe out there, including my own. Josh never gave in to divulge the recipe but laughed and joked about it with us all afternoon. Trust me, though, this is a must-have if you go to Carraba’s.

After the interesting and informative pesto demonstration, we were led to our table, neatly set up with personalized menus, showing each of us were we were to sit. The staff continued to fill our glasses with wine and sangria as we perused menu selections. They started us of with a delicious Bruschetta Con Pesto, which is a grilled bread topped with fresh pesto, tomatoes, basil, and Ricotta Salata cheese. It was served warm and had that great crunch with every bite. It was perfectly and expertly prepared.

Two servers proceeded to take our orders, as all the food bloggers continued to get to know each other and share information on what we do and hope to do with our blogs. It as truly fascinating to experience all the different ethnicities and the styles of cooking that were represented at this table. To me, the most amusing common denominator was the overwhelming, consistent distaste for chain-style restaurants. We all laughed and joked that had it not been for this event, we probably would not have tried Carrabba’s on our own, due to our assumption that it was just your average chain restaurant. However, we all agreed that not visiting one of the Carraba’s restaurants would have proved to have been a bigger mistake.

Our next course consisted of  a salad or soup of our choice. Me, not being the soup kind of guy, and my wife thinking it was too hot for soup, we both jumped into the cool, fresh salads. She chose the Mediterranean and I had the Caesar salad. Both were good salads and tasted so refreshing on a hot Texas summer afternoon. (Soups offered were a Sicilian Chicken, Minestrone, or Sausage/Lentil.)

From there came the main course, which we had three to chose from. I selected Tag Pic Pac, a pasta dish served with shrimp, crushed tomatoes, garlic, basil and olive oil. My wife, the pasta lover in the family, enjoyed the Rigatoni Campagnolo, which included pasta smothered in a fennel sausage and pepper sauce and topped with a nice goat cheese. Both dinners where delightful, and choosing two separate dishes allowed us to sample each others’ meal. (You know you always want to know if the person you’re dining with got the better dish than you! You KNOW you do!)

Tag Pic Pac with Shrimp

Fresh angelhair pasta tossed with crushed tomatoes, garlic, basil, and extra virgin olive oil, topped with garlic shrimp

Rigatoni Campagnolo

Large tubular pasta tossed withe Italian fennel sausage, roasted red bell peppers and pomodoro, topped with a medallion of Caprino goat cheese

All in all, this was spectacular event with some fascinating people and extraordinary food. We all discussed getting together for another Foodbuzz event. My wife and I both look forward to that. We would like to thank Foodbuzz and Carraba’s for collaborating and hosting this event. Also please check out the other food bloggers’ that sites that attended this Foodbuzz Carraba’s event. They were a  were an entertaining group, and I am sure that their blogs are just the same.

Just Food Snobs

My Simple Food

Dinner and Conversation

Cookie Loves Eating

Sweet N Spicy Comforts

Also check out Carraba’s Facebook Page and website

One last thank you to Josh Goldschimdt and his team at Carrabba’s Italian Grill. Thank you for the superb hospitality and delectable food.

The Manly Housewife