Epic Battle:)

So after work on Friday....we headed down the shore towards the glistening lights of Atlantic City!  No, not for Carmine's or the slot machines...but instead for................

The Atlantic City Food & Wine Festival!!!

Wohoooooooooo!  We were PSYCHED!!!  And we got even more excited as signs were around...

...At Every...

...turn!!

Even Caesar and his buddies got in on the action:)

And since it was a GORGEOUS, cool, no-humidity day/night, we took a stroll along the boardwalk...

...and beach to work up an appetite! :)

And we know THAT didn't take too long:) 

Then we were heading to our main event!!!  Guy Fieri's Cheesesteak Battle!  Where WE got to pick the winner!!

Once we handed in our tickets we were given our little ballot with our "voting" buttons to drop in the box of our favorite cheesesteak!  An iimportant decision that we did NOT take lightly! ;) hahahaha...

We headed into the ballroom along with the OTHER 798 cheesesteak enthusiasts...:)

And we were introduced to our host himself, Mr. Guy Fieri!!!  He is just so enthusastic & energetic, you gotta love this guy:)  He would fit right in with my crazy family:)

We also were treated to a smattering of other 'star' sightings mingling in the room, including Robert Irvine (Dinner, Impossible) & Anne Burrell (Secrets of a Restaurant Chef) and even Serena & Artie from this season of "The Next Food Network Star!!"  But alas, no Neely or Paula Deen sightings!  Rats! :)

But anyway...let's get back to the MAIN star of the show:  The Cheesesteaks!   First up, we had Ocean City's own:

Who had a simple steak, but with an AMAZING topping of roasted green peppers!  Yow!

Chink's Steaks from Philadelphia was next on our list...

And not only did they bring some delicious steaks...

But they busted out the BIG GUNS and brought some East Coaster Favorites: Tasty Cakes! :)

As fabulous as both of those steaks were, my vote went to Rick's Steaks...

Whose Grandfather, PAT Olivieri (you know..THE Pat's!  And if you don't: Go get acquainted:) is said to have INVENTED the cheesesteak.  That's some lineage, no?

And with their lineage, they brought a KILLER blue cheese AND bacon cheesesteak!  It was love at FIRST BITE!! :)  I thought they had it in the bag!  This was knock-your-socks-off good!

Buttttttt, they were edged out by the Grande Prize Winner (And Scott's vote!):

No one was MORE enthusiastic than Atlantic City local, Tony Boloney, so I was happy to see him take the big prize!

...with his 10-spice steak with fried onions, jack cheese, tomato, lettuce & his secret weapon: Chipotle Ranch sauce!!  (Plus, I think Scott gave him bonus points for handing him nearly HALF of a cheesesteak:) hhhahahaha...  this was cheesesteak with a KICK!

And not ONLY did we have the 4 competing cheesesteaks to try...we also had a offerings from other casinos to sample!  Talk about a night reserved exclusively for Bethenny's "Taste Everything, Eat Nothing" theory!  I sampled 2 or 3 bites of everything and called it a day;)   

First, from Bally's we had:

Cheesesteaks wrapped up in delicate wonton wrappers with a little spicy cumin kick?  Yes, please! :)

Showboat offered THEIR own Parmesan cheesesteak with jalapeno bread...

Wrapped in newspaper printed wax paper:)  Nice touch!

...And in true Caesar's fashion...they also offered a Caesar salad bar with all the fixins!

And after all that savory goodness...it was time for THE DESSERTS....

Ohhhh...the desserts!  And here all I thought I was going to get was a custard from the Boardwalk (not that I would have complained about THAT either;) hahahahhahaha....

I sampled a square of chocolate cake & a square of tiramisu...and a vanilla creme puff...cause I LOVE me some creme puffs! :) hahahahahhaha....

Scott had a hazelnut mousse cake, carrot cake & chocolate cake square....

And as if THAT wasn't enough, we were also treated to these AMAZING AND GORGEOUS truffles from "2 Chicks with Chocolate"!!

Scott opted for a Peanut Butter and Hazelnut, while I went with Chocolate Mousse and of course, Coconut.  These were EXTRAORDINARY!!  And a PERFECT way to end the night:)

We left full & happy:)  Guy's event was certainly one to remember!!

And after all that:  we've been in 'detox mode' ever since;) hahahahhahahaha...I'll fill you in with more tomorrow!  For now, enjoy the rest of your weekend...and if your in the area:  Go grab a "cheese wit!" :)