My wife and I had a great time in North Carolina at the NATGA meeting. We thought the presentation by Laura Phelps of the American Mushroom Institute was full of great information and gave us a lot to think about. It was also very reassuring to see a university such as NC State take an interest in our industry. Here in Iowa, we have been finding it very difficult to locate someone to discuss truffles or even the study of mycorrhizas. We look forward to talking with Dr. Jeanine M. Davis and hopefully help provide more information for our up and coming industry. Everyone in the group was very friendly and fun to talk too. We sure learned a ton from everyone and wish the the best on their trufflieres.
Our first stop on our trip was over at Jack and Debbie Ponticelli's farm. It took a few passes to find his place but we finally arrived on Friday afternoon. Jack showed us in and was as friendly as family. We sat down and got right into talking about trees and truffles, I think I asked him a million questions. Jack then took s for a tour of his plantation which I then asked another million questions. Their home and the land was just a beautiful location with rolling hills and a small creek in back with a waterfall coming of a large outcropping of rocks. We went back into his house where he showed his his three truffle dogs ( the laberpoodle was my wife's favorite). Jack asked us if we would like to see a demonstration of his dogs hunting ability? Of course we said yes at which point Jack pulled out a bag of frozen truffles. The fragrance was week but there. That was also my first time I have ever held or smelled a truffle. Jack hid the truffle pretty well, I assumed the dogs would just sit by the counter where the other truffles were sitting but I was so wrong. His dogs walked the room once and then made a beeline right to where he had hid it. Needless to say, we were impressed.
After leaving Jack's farm we headed into town to get checked into the hotel. That night we ate at a little place in Winston-Salem call Noma's. The place was almost empty so we thought we arrived at a good time. The hostess asked if we had a reservation which we didn't. She then said that the only place she had for us to sit was at the window on a high top table. I looked over her shoulder at the empty restaurant and snickered and said sure, we will take the high top. The food was great and I highly recommend eating there if you are in town.
The next morning was the meeting which we were all treated to drinks at a local winery after we adjourned. Once we came back from the winery, we had the most wonderful dinner. Grooper or steak with truffle risotto and a truffle sauce that I couldn't get enough of!
The next morning we got up early with our bellies full and started our 15 hour trip back to Des Moines Iowa.
