Got back from our trip last night. Spent a good deal of time at Food and Wine. It was our first time at the festival, and I really enjoyed it. Will definitely go back again.
Here's my assessment of the food I tried:
Active Eats: Roasted Verlasso salmon (very good), cucumber and lemon-lime hard sparkling water (very good, and actually packed a punch, unlike some other alcohol offerings I could name).
Coastal Eats: Baked shrimp scampi dip (very good; brought extra bread (had a baguette from France in my bag) which was good as they do not give you nearly enough bread), seared scallops (OK, scallops not really my thing but someone offered me a few bits and I wasn't about to say no).
Chocolate Studio: Liquid nitro chocolate-almond truffle (very good! plus who can resist the chance to try something prepared in such an unusual way?).
Cheese Studio: Cheese trio (quite good if a bit small; very pleasantly surprised by the strawberry macaron with pepper cheese, as I was skeptical about this).
Australia: Bush berry shrimp (very good; shrimp nicely cooked and sauce had just a bit of heat to it), Lamington (good though I'm not a coconut fan; however, I'd heard this cake mentioned in a book set in Australia and felt I should try it).
Patagonia: Beef empanada (tasty but not amazing).
Hawaii: Spam Hash (very good and something different, really enjoyed it), pineapple wine (refreshing!), and grilled tuna tatami (only got one bite of someone else's but I liked it a lot).
China: Roasted duck bun (a bit disappointing but I want to try it again and see if I just got a "meh" one. Liked the texture of the bun.)
Africa: Jam Jar Sweet Shiraz (liked this a lot. I like sweet wines and it's so hard to find a good sweet red. Definitely getting a bottle at BevMo.)
Italy: Frozen margarita with limoncello and tequila (tasted nice but had absolutely no punch to it).
Morocco: Mimosa royale (possibly my favorite beverage of the festival, light and refreshing).
Belgium: Waffle with chocolate ganache and whipped cream (om nom nom nom).
Brazil: cheese bread (delicious! and the cookbook has the recipe), crispy pork belly (the only flat-out disappointment; it was not nearly crispy enough, and the fat part was just an inedible blob).
France: warm goat cheese pudding (delicious!), croissant aux escargot (really good, snails were not too chewy), and passion fruit martini slush (second-favorite beverage).
Ireland: irish cheddar and stout dip (tasted good even though it's not visually appealing, but I've made cheddar and stout fondue and there's no way to make it nice looking. Have extra bread helped).
Scotland: Potato pancake with smoked salmon (very good. Pancake was crispy and paired very well with generous amount of smoked salmon and the sour cream).
Canada: cheddar cheese soup (delicious as always, soup had lots of bacon in it), filet mignon (tender and with excellent flavor), apple ice wine (always love this but the serving was tiny!).
Also got Dole Whips at Refreshment Post, because it was hot out.
Didn't see any of the fabled roving drunkards at the festival, but I was having mobility issues thanks to spraining my foot badly a few weeks back, and I was too busy watching where I was going to do much people watching.