Let's Eat!
Below is the plan for convention meals
(at the hotel and elsewhere).
Subject to change, of course.
Wednesday
Hotel guests may enjoy breakfast at Three01, at your own cost.
Lunch is on your own at the hotel, or an any of the many nearby restaurants. Wednesday bus tour folks will find lunch in Center City.
The Vendor Gala offers a cash bar, iced tea and lemonade, hotel-prepared treats including popcorn and soft pretzels, and fun snacks at each vendor's station.
After enjoying the munchies, dinner is on your own at T. Burke's Gastro Pub in the hotel, or take a hotel shuttle to the incredible King of Prussia shopping mall with its many restaurants and food courts. There are also a few restaurants a short walk from the hotel.
Thursday
The Thursday breakfast buffet includes fruit and yogurt, assorted pastries (including gluten-free) with toppings, scrambled eggs, bacon, and turkey sausages, along with juices, coffee and tea.
Hosta show judges and clerks can fortify themselves for their hard work with coffee and a pastry before (or during) judging.
The hearty lunch buffet is a slider sampler, with stations serving up a selection of salads and beef burgers with caramelized onions, turkey burgers with cranberry topping, and black bean veggie patties with slaw.
We'll take a break for dessert before the final presentation of the day, or perhaps these treats will be served on the buses to Longwood.
Dinner is on your own, either at Longwood (café or Biergarten) for those taking the trip, or wherever those remaining at the hotel choose.
Friday
Friday's breakfast buffet is similar to Thursday's, swapping in different pastries and ham and Canadian bacon for the meats.
Friday's boxed lunch will be picked up from the buses. A vegetarian option will be offered (select this on the registration form). Following AHS's hallowed traditions, the tour garden hosts will offer some light treats.
To prepare (lubricate) you for the auction, the cash bar will be open after we return from the afternoon meetings and presentations.
Dinner, during a break in the auction, offers A Taste of South Philly, with a Caesar salad, tomato Florentine soup (vegetarian), and stations serving Philly cheesesteaks (wit or witout), chicken breast sandwiches with portobello mushroom and sundried tomato topping, and a vegetarian tri-colored penne with a vodka or marinara sauce.
Dessert, after the auction concludes, is our 50th Birthday Cake. Don't forget to pack your favorite AHS Convention togs for this fun celebration.
Saturday
Enjoy a sumptuous breakfast buffet as before.
Lunches "on the road again..." And different gardens means different treats.
There will be a cash bar before dinner, and a special toast in the ballroom for everyone to start the Anniversary evening.
Dinner includes a choice of salads (preset on the tables), mushroom bisque featuring local-grown mushrooms, followed by main dish choices:
-
Braised short ribs with vegetables
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Salmon with Garlic Caper Butter Sauce
-
Crab Cake with Lemon Dijon Beurre Blanc
-
Grilled Vegetable Tower on top of Quinoa
And finally, a dessert choice between a decadent flourless chocolate torte and the Chef Michael's carrot cake!
If you're not stuffed each night, the hospitality lobby will have treats from local hosta society members, and beverages (with a cash kitty).
A word about dietary restrictions
If you have dietary restrictions, we will make every attempt to provide you suitable meals. It is essential that you note this on your registration form. We will assit you in the arrangements, and will let you know how the hotel will handle these requests.
In general gluten-sensitive options are either available or offered as options. The chef uses no flour in thickening sauces, for example, but highly sensitive individuals must be responsible for confirming the suitability of any dish to his or her needs.
Note that those DoubleTree chocolate chip cookies (offered at check-in) do contain nuts, but a nut-free option is available on request.