'Roo food

I'm still recovering from Bonnaroo. It's fun, but for an old goat like me, it's a lot of work to be out in the sun and mostly on your feet for 8-12 hours a day for three days straight. I'm lucky I have a desk job.

So, the food. Sure, there was some good music there, too but other, better writers have written reviews, so I'll tell you about the food.

First, arepas. Not only were these guys back this year (Toby's Arepas from South Florida, I think), but they had multiple stands. Good call, y'all. I didn't have to stand in line for 20 minutes to get my fill. So I had five of them over the course of three days. Yes, five. Usually the first thing I ate...and the last thing I ate. Soooo good.

I did branch out and eat other things, though. A lot of other things. It seemed to me that there were actually more food choices this year than the last two years, so I didn't even have to eat one slice of pizza or eat one single burrito.

One vendor was selling sweet potato fries (battered, so they were different from what I'm used to getting from Bobbie's Dairy Dip) and samosas, so after my first arepa, I settled in for a pile of fries and an apple samosa (while listening to Fiery Furnaces). Later in the evening, we had a vegetable samosa and a tofu samosa. All were delicious. The samosas were more like turnovers stuffed with filling and were served with a slightly spicy salsa-like sauce. I loved them, but "deep fried" is one of my favorite phrases and not something too often associated with vegetarian food.

On day two, I sent the Significant Omnivore off for snacks to eat while waiting on Ben Folds to perform. He came back with (very expensive) Ben & Jerry's treats. I think we could have bought three pints for what he paid, but that's the price of convenience. And they were good, but a bit overpackaged, I think. Anyhoo, dinner time rolled around and we headed back in the direction of the samosas, but rounded the corner (past the vendor selling all sorts of sea-bound critters) over to the quesadilla place. I ordered a (vegan) Sesame Gingerdilla, which was red cabbage, carrots and a few other taut veggies stir-fried with sesame oil and ginger and shoved in a tortilla. The SO opted for the Feta Metadilla, which was feta cheese, artichoke hearts, sundried tomatoes, mushrooms, sauteed onions, and olives in a spinach tortilla. Both were delicious and really hit the spot. I didn't think I really liked red cabbage, but it worked well with the sesame and ginger and the crunch in the "quesadilla" was a nice change of pace. I can make these at home!

We thought we'd be out of luck for a late night sweet snack before settling in to see Pearl Jam because the crowd was so thick , we were forced to the back, but we stumbled upon a stand that I could smell before I could see: candied roasted pecans and walnuts. Perfect.

By the third day (and after three arepas in two days), you'd think I would've had my fill, but I started off with yet another arepa. Really, they are that good. It was just my snack until we could decide on lunch. It was a hot day, so we yet again wandered over to that wonderful oasis of veg-friendly foods and went to the wrap place this time. I got a (vegan again--yay!) wrap with hummus, tomatoes (because I'm brave), lettuce, and cucumbers, while the SO opted for the portobello wrap. It was a little heavy on the sauteed onions and a little too warm considering the weather, but he enjoyed it. It had a great savory flavor. We ate our wraps while listening to Robert Randolph wrap up and sitting in a prime patch of shade under one of the handful of trees.

While sitting under the tree looking toward the stage where Solomon Burke was about to play, I spied the crepe vendor. I'd managed to resist the crepes for two days, but not on Sunday. So I headed over and got myself a fruit crepe (strawberries, blueberries and bananas with a little chocolate; hold the pineapple and whipped cream). The crepes were pre-made and laid out on a round griddle to be heated and the toppings were placed on top. They were pretty generous with the toppings, but at $8, the crepe was the most expensive food item we got and well, wasn't really quite worth it. But I had to do it. Going to Bonnaroo is like going on vacation; you just gotta indulge.

Which is why I had one last arepa on my way over from Robert Plant and Allison Krauss to Death Cab for Cutie that evening.