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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Mac & Cheese Festival in CdA crowns winners

Amid heavy snowfall, the sold-out Coeur d’Alene Mac & Cheese Festival and Beer Tasting crowned two winners in the annual comfort food competition. Congratulations to Westwood Brewing Co. for bringing home the Golden Noodle, as awarded by a panel of judges, and the Black Diamond Catering for grabbing the People’s Choice Award.

Westwood Brewing created a surf and turf mac and cheese, which was served at Angel Gallery and gone about halfway during the festival from 12-5 p.m. The Black Diamond Catering served up a smoked mac and cheese cone at Into the Woods.

The unanimous choice by yours truly, niece Anya Harmon, 12, and nephew Shawn Harmon, 8, was Sweet Lou’s Restaurant and Taphouse’s bacon mac served inside All Things Irish. The two Sweet Lou’s reps serving mac and cheese and beer were by far the friendliest and best customer service of the Saturday afternoon.

Take note, vendors: Service with a smile is always a good thing. Plus, bacon makes everything better. The Harmon children, aka mac and cheese fanatics – especially Shawn, who was ready for more mac and cheese at dinnertime – said the bacon mac had very good flavor, and both of them would order it as a full-on meal.

“It was very good – definitely my favorite of the festival,” Anya Harmon said. “It was yummy! I’ll have more, please,” Shawn Harmon added.

Another standout for this triumvirate was Honey Eatery & Social Club’s BBQ mac, and the warm and ample seating in the basement venue was an appreciated plus, as well as was the conversation with the chef. For the record: The tasting sizes were fairly substantial, and we each sampled about five vendors’ offerings.

The Coeur d’Alene mac and cheese and beer vendors were headquartered at the Coeur d’Alene Shops, but a number of competitors were set up along Sherman Avenue in their respective businesses or host locations. Other observations from the jam-packed event on Jan. 16:

· The overall variety and presentations of mac and cheese from the competitors were impressive and tasty and also included Beverly’s TNT smoked brisket mac stack; Dockside’s Philly mac and cheese steak; Drummin’ Up BBQ’s sun-dried tomato mac; Olive’s Pastries’ bacon apple mac; and more.

· The lines for the mac and cheese vendors and beer inside Coeur d’Alene Shops and along Sherman Avenue were long at times, but they moved fairly quickly – and attendees were in good spirits on dairy and barley overload.

· One stinky moment: After waiting in a line snaking through Angel Gallery for what would become the award-winning surf and turf mac and cheese, our trio and quite a few disappointed others were told that the samples were gone. This was three hours into the five-hour event. Letting folks know before standing in a long line would’ve been nice.

· Ending on a positive note, the commemorative glasses shaped like a beer can and complimentary photo booth were fun ways to remember the super cheesy event and reminders to return next year.

“I am so full right now. I am in a mac and cheese coma and ready for a nap,” one flannel-and-cowboy-boots-clad attendee said while leaving the Mac & Cheese Festival.