There it was, right in front of me. It was only a bite; a small taste, really. Everyone had already taken their turn, and all eyes were on me. I snagged it off the plate, threw it down -- barely chewing -- and swallowed. Whew; done.
I gave it a 3.
That was awhile back at the Pittsburg Seafood Festival, where for about 15 years I was on the food-judging panel. A group of us would hit every -- yup, every -- food booth and rate their dishes on a scale of 1 to 5. Then each judge would gather his or her top two dishes, and the semifinals would begin.
It was always a real hoot. A great mix of folks -- from police chiefs to council members to supervisors -- made up the panel from year to year.
I'm not particularly food adventurous but enjoy a fair amount of seafood, except for that dreaded year when oysters on the half shell made it to the table. But I had to take a taste because it wouldn't have been fair to the restaurant that dared offer it. Why a 3? As I explained to the fellow judges then, it stayed down.
Once again, Pittsburg is gearing up for its big event, which brings thousands and thousands of folks to the Delta city.
Impressively, this will be the 27th festival, which will be Sept. 10 and 11 on Railroad Avenue and expand to Third Street, allowing downtown restaurants and stores to join in the fun.
Included over the two days will be plenty of food, live entertainment, the Delta's Got Talent contest finals, a children's play land, a beer and wine pavilion, a sports pavilion and more.
Despite city budget issues, the chamber has pulled it together -- gathering more community volunteers and donations from local businesses to help with the popular event.
The festival runs from 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Sept. 10 and 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Sept. 11. Advance tickets (through Sept. 10) are $7 for adults and $26 for a family pack of four. Children 5 and younger are free. Single tickets are $8 on Sept. 11. Details: 925-432-7301 or http://pittsburgchamber.org.
Contact Trine Gallegos at trineg@att.net or East County Editor Craig Lazzeretti at clazzeretti@bayareanewsgroup.com.