Last weekend was the 2010 edition of SF Chefs and the Buzz was there. Here are 10 of our observations, from lamb-overload to a record-spinning Top Chef:

Let’s Get This Party Started

Hell-bent to open with a bang and not a whimper, the weekend festivities got underway with not just a ho-hum ribbon cutting but also with a sabering ceremony where a bottle of champagne was sliced open with a knife. The drinking pretty much never stopped after that.

Hog Wild

Between Friday’s opening-night “Hog in the Fog” party and the Grand Tasting Tent nibbles, there was more pork belly bandied around than at a congressional back-room dealing. When asked what he thought of bacon ice cream, Gary Danko (who just returned from a stint at the University of Gelato in Bologna, Italy) deadpanned, “I like my bacon…with bacon.”

On the Lamb

Mary had more than a little lamb at Saturday evening’s fundraiser, which was sponsored by the California Lamb Producers. We know the whole “single ingredient” thing is a fun challenge for chefs (see Friday night’s similarly hog-focused event), but frankly, we were more than a little lambed-out halfway through circling the tent. Highlight bites: Flour + Water’s lamb and apricot ravioli, Dosa’s South Indian spicy kofta and Hoss Zare’s Persian-style lamb meatball (a miniature version of his popular weekly special at Zaré at Fly Trap).

Cocktail Nation

Cocktails stole the show at the Saturday and Sunday Grand Tasting Tent. Sure, ticket-holders were given a wine glass upon entry, but we promptly ditched ours and enjoyed instead the many fantastic cocktails from the city’s finest mixologists (in plastic cups, natch). Standouts: the Bon Vivant’s cranberry concoction with cranberry foam and Jackie Peterson’s salerno punch. Mixology demos also proved to be some of the most popular events of the week.

Cooking Demos

Cooking classes in the Grand Tent and across the street at Williams-Sonoma were a great way to get escape the crowds and get more up close and personal with some of the celebrated chefs. A highlight: TV personality Joanne Weir and Gary Danko preparing three contemporary dishes from an old 1900s raspberry shrub recipe originally printed in the New York Times.

Iron Chef Showdown

Delfina and Spruce duked it out on Saturday over an Iron Chef–style smackdown featuring squid, sardines and other local seafood, with Team Stoll emerging as the victor. On Sunday morning, the “As Seen on TV” competition saw Jennifer Biesty (Top Chef) and Chris Cosentino (Iron Chef) level opponents Tyler Florence (Tyler’s Ultimate) and Elizabeth Falkner (Top Chef Masters).

Michael Bauer

So much for anonymity. The San Francisco Chronicle’s most revered/reviled critic Michael Bauer was in the house all week with nary a disguise in site. For the truly curious, who don’t already know what he looks like, Eater SF has posted photos. If you must, we trust you can find them yourself.

Is the Left Coast The Best Coast?

Not since the Brooklyn Dodgers moved to Los Angeles have we see more rivalry between New York and California than the current obsession on which city is the finest – the Big Apple or SF. Some of New York City’s top restaurateurs and chefs, including David Burke, Drew Nieporent and Daniel Humm, joined Lawrence Jossel (Nopa), Mourad Lahlou (Aziza) and Douglas Keane (Cyrus) at the Westin St. Francis for a spirited debate on the differences between the two food towns. The biggest difference, explained Nieporent is that “in NYC, it’s the mood not the food.” Burke went on to explain that while San Francisco diners are obsessed with the provenance and perfection of ingredients, his typical customers go out to be recognized and make deals – they want you to give them the bread and butter and serve them wine. They “don’t care about the f$@#ing carrot.” One point that came across loud and clear was that San Francisco is a tough town to run a restaurant in, let alone a fine dining one. It costs more to run a business here, yet diners want to pay less. That’s a recipe for disaster on any coast.

Locavore

With all our obsession with locally sourced food, the city’s top chefs still revere quality over proximity when it comes to ingredients. On one of the morning panel’s, Mourad Lahlou explained, “It’s my responsibility to the customer to give them the best. If there is a better fish coming from Japan, I will use it. I’m not going to use some sh*t cheese from Sonoma just to keep it local.” Nopa’s Jossel agreed, despite his restaurant’s farm-fresh mantra, and admitted hewing to a rigid locavorism is a hypocrisy. He serves wines from Italy, France and Greece and admits he hasn’t found a suitable regional substitution for Parmesan cheese. And, yet, chefs can’t help reflect the realities and terroir of where they cook. Lahlou expounds, “It’s impossible for me to cook food that tastes like what I ate in Marrakesh. Cumin in San Francisco doesn’t taste like cumin in Morocco.”

Hubert Keller

Some say he was robbed on Top Chef Masters, but Hubert Keller proved that he can mix more than egg whites at the after-party on Sunday night where he guest DJed for his very-worn out industry colleagues.

– Meesha Halm