Last night was pretty much a high holy day for Cleveland foodies: the Cleveland Magazine Silver Spoon Awards Party to benefit the Arthritis Foundation. There is so much to eat, drink, and see at this event that you have to be strategic about your choices (and you’re still going to go home completely overwhelmed, in a good way).

Here’s what we found that was spot-on at this year’s event:

• The venue! The Silver Spoon Awards Party returned to the Crawford Auto Aviation Collection for the second year. This location provides  interesting cars, airplanes, and Cleveland memorabilia to take in while you eat, plus a chance to take a break from all the food indulgence to ride the Euclid Beach Park Grand Carousel.

• The VIP Lounge, provided by Sysco! My two favorites were the lobster sliders from Pier W and the delicious cocktails being prepared by Porco Lounge and Tiki Room.

• Speaking of sliders, those were a popular choice for a lot of the participating restaurants, so kudos to those who changed them up, like Pier W above or Betty’s Bomb Ass Burgers. Betty’s provided a beef slider with cheddar, glazed onions, and a brioche crouton instead of a bun. Loved the taste and loved not getting filled up by a lot of bread!

• Keeping things bite-sized! If you’re lucky enough to be a Silver Spoon Awards nominee or winner, you’re making amazing food. So, I want to try it. Keeping portions bite-sized allows me to try even more places! Like the mini duck confit Wellingtons from L’Albatros, which were nibbles of duck deliciousness.

• Although, my Silver Spoon Awards Party companion might disagree. Matthew dug in to a full-sized pork confit taco (we apparently can’t resist confit) from Barrio and enjoyed every bite!

• Keeping things interesting! Trentina‘s veal tartare was both delicious and visually pleasing (plus it also wins in the bite-sized category).

• Bringing together a lot of elements well! Adega‘s Serrano ham croquettes were served with Bechamel sauce and wine-soaked figs. A bite that included everything on the plate was practically perfect!

• Sweetening the deal! As we know, I’m a girl who needs her dessert. The cookie sandwiches from Melt Bar and Grilled (lemon poppyseed for me, chocolate for him) were a sweet end to a delcious evening!

Looking back on all that food, I’m thinking maybe the VIP bags need to include a juice cleanse! But it was worth every bite to spend the evening with the best of the best on the Cleveland food scene!

***Disclosure: I was asked to help promote the Silver Spoon Awards Party. In exchange, I received 2 complimentary VIP tickets. As always, all opinions are 100% my own.***