around town: harbour nights at loews portofino bay hotel

friday night combined just a few of my favorite things: food, wine, good company, a swanky hotel, and did i say wine? i had the pleasure of attending an event called harbour nights at the loews portofino bay  hotel near universal studios with some lovely ladies, and it was a great time.

as we entered, we were each given a wine glass and set free to run wild amongst a bunch of food and wine stations. the individually-sized plates, which included grilled flat iron steak/marsala risotto cake/mushroom ragu, olive oil & herb poached salmon, and ravioli with ricotta/spinach/brown butter sage porcini sauce and black truffle peelings (whoa) were incredible and i had no shame about scarfing down the entrees. and then...DESSERT! triple chocolate gelato and valentine's day-themed vanilla panna cotta with raspberry coulis, take me away. 

there was live music, which included a jazz band, cover band, and opera singers. it really felt like an awesome wedding, minus the drama. they even had free starbucks coffee to cap off the evening which i totally appreciated because i'm old now. of course, i went with decaf. if you're in the orlando area, or visiting, i highly recommend you attend this awesome event! check out some pictures below.