COEUR D’ALENE, Idaho – Coeur d’Alene’s first mac and cheese festival offered plenty of delicious options for cheese lovers. Inside the Coeur d’Alene Resort 14 vendors set up shop and served 1,900 people a four-ounce taste of their own twist on the classic comfort food.
“We served 15 gallons of mac and cheese so far,” said Chad Foust, manager of Sweet Lou’s.
More than 1,000 tickets sold out online before the event and 300 day-of tickets sold out in fifteen minutes before the festival started at noon. Each restaurant competed for the Golden Noodle and People’s Choice Awards. Taste testers voted for their favorite creative and unusual recipe.
The festival offered a mac and cheese and beer package for $25. The package included six mac and cheese tastings along with six, six-ounce beer tastings from local breweries. Extra tasting tickets for both mac and cheese and beer were offered on site throughout the event.
“We used eight pounds of butter, 12 pounds of cheese, and 25 pounds of pasta. We didn’t hold out,” said a cook for MoonDollars Bistro.