Event Eats with Katrina Whaley

A welcome to Event Eats and a review of June’s treats

Anyone who has met me at an MPI event knows I love food. But I’m also allergic to a common ingredient that turns up in sauces, salads, even cheeses—vinegar.

I’m starting this series to highlight both the wonderful food we get to try at our chapter and global events and the difficulties of navigating the buffet with food allergies.

June brought us not only our chapter’s Annual Awards Recognition Ceremony but the global World Education Conference in San Francisco, California, and our educational half-day event NEXT: Reimagined. With so much to taste, I forgot to take as many pictures as I would have liked. You’ll have to rely on my descriptions this month to fill your appetite.

My first MPI event of the month was our Annual Awards Recognition Ceremony on June 16 at Walden. This was my first MPI event with a plated dinner since last year’s WEC in Las Vegas, Nevada. Plated dinners can be easier to handle with food allergies because generally there is an allergen-free version of the meal set aside, and I can simply hand over my card to receive it, unlike stations where I have to ask several people to find out what’s in the marinade. This time, when I explained my allergy to the server, he said that there was no vinegar in the entrée I chose and that dressing would be served on the side. The salad wasn’t too bad sans dressing, which is always a plus. The real treat was my entrée. I chose the beef prime rib, which had that slightly sweet sauce. The sweet-savory beef was offset perfectly with bitter greens that served the role of horseradish in the dish. Dessert was difficult to find at first because it was being served from a small food cart, but because most attendees seemed to have filled up on the passed appetizers and dinner, I only had to wait for one person in front of me before getting my Dipsy ice cream. Unfortunately for my vegan colleague, that seemed to be the only option for dessert. Dispy served miniature ice cream on a stick with chocolate dip and toppings. I went for vanilla ice cream dipped in chocolate and nuts and topped with sprinkles and raspberry syrup. It was a great size for a networking event—something I could eat quickly without worrying about the ice cream dripping. A lover of lightly sweetened desserts would have loved it as even with the sprinkles and syrup, it wasn’t overwhelming.

Just four days later, I was on a flight to San Francisco. While it wasn’t poured by MPI, I’m continually impressed by the Carmanet Cabernet Sauvignon Southwest Airlines serves on its flights, and with a glass cheaper than any airport bar, I like to order it on long flights.

The food at Moscone Center was uneven. The snack breaks didn’t have as many options as previous years although they were usually healthy with plant-based proteins and vegetables. I don’t remember the food stations from our opening night celebration at Oracle Stadium, probably because over 10 local wineries had set up a wine tasting. I was partial to Brooks Notes’ red blend.

Lunch the next day consisted only of salad shakers, which worried me until I saw that each item was laid out separately, and I could make a salad without dressing. There were plenty of protein options, including beans, chicken, eggs, and tofu. I tried a little of each along with tomatoes to keep it from ending up dry. The result was a pretty tasty salad!

I skipped the President’s Dinner for an outing to Fisherman’s Wharf with other members of our chapter but stayed at Moscone for the Riviera Maya preview lunch the next day. That’s where I had the most trouble with my allergies. The menu specified that sauces would be on the side, but when I handed over my allergy card, I was informed that someone had made a last-minute decision to put dressing on all of the salads. That’s common enough that I accepted it. The big issue now was that no one could determine which entrée, if any, I could eat. The first server took my card to the kitchen. Then a second server came out but said he couldn’t get me a special meal unless he had my card… which the first server had taken. Another server placed the vegetarian entrée in front of me but didn’t know if it contained vinegar. I was finally able to get my card back and give it to the second server who had learned in the meantime that the vegetarian entrée did not contain vinegar, but the other entrée did. That was a win since that dish was already sitting in front of me slowly getting cold. He apologized by bringing everyone at my table a glass of Coke, and I felt the usual embarrassment at having such a fuss made. The vegetarian entrée was edible. The beans were undercooked and dry despite the broth they were in, and the bitter greens in this dish seemed to be the only seasoning. I heard that the meat entrée wasn’t any better. Still, I ate everything on the plate and hope it was just a fluke of the kitchen preparing something unfamiliar rather than a preview of next year’s food.

Rendezvous had food stations throughout, each themed to a different cuisine of San Francisco. At the Chinatown station, the vegetable gao were stellar while the Latin Zone station had chicken taquitos served with salsa verde that was just spicy enough not to require a drink for washing it down.

After a cancelled flight, a last-minute switch to United, and two days to sleep everything off, I was back on Monday morning for NEXT: Reimagined at Convene. This was my first time at their Monroe Street location, but it had all of the usual amenities—convertible meeting spaces, free snacks, and lots of caffeine choices. I chose the iced coffee this time, and they had a selection of different milks and creamers to add to it, including several non-dairy options. I made the mistake of grabbing McDonald’s on the way in, so I didn’t get to try the pastries, which looked delicious.

For lunch, we had several salad choices and sandwich choices. Unfortunately, the salads were pre-dressed, so I had to skip them, but one of the sandwiches had a safe aioli. The bread was good, as were the greens, although the main event of the sandwich—mushroom—was hidden under the other flavors. Full of iced coffee and buttery bread, I left my last MPI event of my busiest month since the beginning of 2020.