A West Coast Crab Feed (or Feast)?

"Do you want me to buy you a ticket to the crab feed?"

"Sure," I said, thinking all the while that my housemate was messing up the name of what I expected was a crab "feast." Well, apparently I'm the idiot and out here on the west coast they call these big crab pickin' affairs "feeds" rather than feasts. I didn't know it at the time, but this would not be the only difference between east and west coast crab-eating.

The event, the 20th Annual Yountville Kiwanis Club Crab Feed, was held last night in Yountville's beautiful, brand-new community center. An obviously

popular event, all 350 tickets sold out in advance.

Once inside, there were plenty of additional opportunities to spend money (this was a fundraiser, after all). The best bargain was a $10 wine glass, which you could then use to taste wine from a few local wineries that set up tables inside the room. My favorite wine of the evening was a cabernet franc from Cornerstone Cellars. Hope & Grace also had a big and rich malbec (a varietal rarely bottled on its own in Napa) that looked like India ink coming out of the bottle.

After about an hour of wine tasting, the wineries packed up their wares and we were instructed by the MC of the evening, who was sporting some sort of ritual crab feed head

covering, to head to our tables.

Let's cover my two favorite parts first. Bouchon Bakery's epi baguette. I love this stuff. I devour it whenever I eat at Bouchon. I know, I know, so far I've liked pretty much everything associated with Thomas Keller. It's going to become a running theme...deal with it. My other favorite part: ice cream sandwiches for dessert. These weren't some gourmet Napa Valley interpretation of ice cream sandwiches, just plain ol' Blue Bunny ice cream sandwiches...and they were amazing.

So, I am by no means a crab pickin' veteran, but last year, thanks to a friend, I began to fully appreciate the deliciousness that is fresh picked crab. And, after a year of regularly visiting my fiancee in Norfolk/Virginia Beach and enjoying some great Chesapeake Bay crabs generously seasoned with Old Bay, I had high expectations for this Napa Valley crab feed.

Frankly, the Dungeness Crabs fell a little flat. First off, they were served pretty cold. This may have been the result of having to feed 350 people, but it muted the crab's flavors. And, speaking of flavor, the crabs didn't really have a whole lot of it. They weren't nearly as sweet and rich as some of the Chesapeake Blues I'd had last summer. Plus, where was my Old Bay!? I know that some purists probably don't put anything on crabs, and when the crabs are good they don't need much help, but still I'd like the option.

I'm probably being overly critical. It was still a great event, and the crab was still relatively tasty. And, of course, there were those ice cream sandwiches.