American Wine & Food Festival: OK, simmer down. That's enough.

Yes, The Knife lost her damn mind this weekend, what with the food orgy and the liveblogging. My apologies for what must have seemed like Twitter with ADD -- things would have been better if I could have taken photos. (The problem? Cell phones have outboxes, too. Clear them!)

Anyway, here's a highlight reel; I'll add more photos as they come available. (The image above comes from the Flickr account of the always lovely Caroline On Crack.)

* Glenmorangie rep Rick Edwards described the Nectar D'Or (see  bottle at top right) as having "the flavors of coconut pastry, lemon meringue and Honey Nut Cheerios." And he's right.

* Top Chef Tom Colicchio was utterly attitude free as he sliced flawless flatiron steak to top a farro risotto with chestnut puree, mascarpone and Parmesan. 

* My favorite wine of the night: Havens Wine Cellars' Bourriquot, a blend of Cabernet Franc and Merlot. I didn't come close to trying all the wines on offer (and anyone who did wouldn't be able to remember them), but this reminded me why Havens seemed like a discovery when I visited Napa last fall.

* Nobu will open in the old L'Orangierie space in January. Nobu Matsuhisa said so.

* Just when you thought buratta couldn't get any more ubiquitous/unctuous, Paula Lambert's Mozzarella Cheese Co. will make burrino, a buratta enriched with mascarpone with sweet cream butter in the middle, to be sold in Williams-Sonoma's Christmas catalog. 

* The West Coast may have the weather, but the East Coast has Jasper White's Summer Shack. Shellfish chowder, fried belly clams and coleslaw; I could live on it.

For more coverage, check out Caroline's behind-the-scenes take.