Eggland's Best: Breakfast for Dinner

Last Thursday night, I had the privilege of joining thirty or so of Boston's best food bloggers for a fantastic event hosted by the Mary Kate Paris of Kitchenbelle at Stella Restaurant in the South End.  I didn't know much about the event except that it was a who's who of local food bloggers (where I had somehow ended up on the invite list) and that the dinner was also sponsored by Eggland's Best.

We were ushered into the private dining area in the back of Stella.  Although I have eaten there several times, I had no idea that this back dining area even existed!  With bright white walls and bar counter top along with the modern fireplace, I really liked the sleek vibe to the place.

Throughout the evening we learned a lot about Eggland's Best's products and what differentiates them from other egg companies.  We were told several times that "what goes in goes out".  In other words, the quality of the egg that is produced is directly related to what feed the hens eat.  Eggland's Best chickens feed on an all natural, all vegetarian diet.  In addition, Eggland's Best has a strict quality assurance program with about 43,000 tests done a year.

We learned about all of this information while dining on some fantastic egg dishes.

To compliment our meals, most of us opted for breakfast cocktails like a Bloody Mary (which was rumored to be fantastically spicy) or a mimosa (which is what I sipped on).

To start, I dined on a fruit salad (which thankfully had no eggs in it) and Stella's Chop Salad, which included chicken, hard boiled egg, tomatoes, bacon and red onion.

For an entree, I sampled linguini carbonara with poached egg, smoked bacon and Parmesan cheese along with a duck omelet filled with duck confit, crumbled goat cheese, mushrooms and wilted baby spinach along with a baked potato.  The duck omelet was AMAZING.

There were also grilled sirloin steak with eggs that I passed on but I did indulge in some of the largest French toast I've ever seen.  Thankfully Megan of Delicious Dishings shared a piece with me.

And finally, we were onto the final course - an ooey gooey chocolate torte served with gelato and chocolate sauce.  I wanted to eat every last bite but sadly there just wasn't enough room.

Soon enough, the night came to an end.  I had a fabulous time with some wonderful food bloggers.  I especially had a great time chatting with my dining companions, Megan (Delicious Dishings) and Alicia (Clean Plate Club).

Each attendee was given a pretty cool swag bag in a reusable eco-friendly Eggland's Best bag.

And there were also some delicious cookies baked by Mary Kate herself.

I'd like to thank Mary Kate for inviting me to this fantastic event.  And also to congratulate her on her pregnancy!  She was seriously glowing all night.

And thank you to Roger Koman, Lainie Fiszer and Bart Slaugh for imparting all of your knowledge about Eggland's Best.  If you'd like to learn more, you can head over to their website.  Or if you're like me, you'll jump straight to their recipes page to find some really delicious-sounding yet simple recipes to try out.