St. Louis Elites Kick Off 2013 at EdgeWild!

It’s no secret that 2013 is going to be a
year full of fun & new experiences for Yelp in St. Louis, so when I planned
this event with EdgeWild I wanted to make sure it was unforgettable. Needless
to say we accomplished that mission, and the 2013 Elite Squad kicked off the
year in the most proper way! On Friday, February 1^st, 120 Elites and
guests got together at EdgeWild for Wine Down With Yelp – a celebration full of
food, wine, beer, a warm fire, live entertainment, and a Yelp ice sculpture you
could pour shots through (what?) We did it big. Oh yes, we did.

Guests entered on a red carpet and were
greeted with balloons, a giant Yelp '13 badge, and our new intern Aaron B! They
were immediately handed (with no complaints) the signature cocktail of the
evening, the Grape-Elderflower Fizz. This puppy was loaded with Tito's vodka, St.
Germaine, Concord grape juice and a splash of blood orange, all topped with
Edgewild Sparkling and garnished with red and green grapes. Multiple types of
EdgeWild wine were available to taste, as well as O’Fallon Beer. We were all
thrilled when Andy Kohn of EdgeWild gave us a special tasting of red zin later
in the evening.  Several guests
also put on their party pants and poured Pearl vodka through the giant Yelp ice
sculpture… bottoms up!

The spread of food that was presented was absolutely
unreal. Just to give you an idea of what we enjoyed, here’s a brief rundown: the
Taste of EdgeWild (artisan sausage and cheese tray with crostini and lavash), pistachio-crusted
herb goat cheese topped with white wine quince, steak bruschetta, roasted
shiitake mushroom cakes topped with avocado-jerk salsa and fried calamari, and
chardonnay-poached salmon in an English cucumber cups with boursin-style cheese.
The amazing thing is that’s really just a small representation of what was
passed around and laid out beautifully on the table! Let us not forget that
dessert tree, either.

Everyone got a great chance to catch up with old friends and make new ones, all while jamming to live tunes by the incredible Trixie's Acoustics. That girl can rock a cover! Perhaps the coolest part of the evening was
getting to meet the owners of EdgeWild and introduce them to the Yelp St. Louis
community. I think it’s safe to say that everyone had a great time checking out
a local restaurant, and were completely blown away by the first-class treatment
we received.

Phew! All I have to say is that it's going to be hard to top this evening. To see the full spread of photos, head over to the Yelp Flickr page. Don't forget to check out all of the glowing five-star reviews, too! I can't extend my gratitude enough to the entire EdgeWild staff… you gave us an Elite event we'll remember for a very long time! Huge thanks also to Brea Photography for capturing the whole thing on camera.

Until the next one… see you on Yelp!

Aimee K, Yelp St. Louis Senior Community Manager
Aaron B, Marketing Intern