New York Wine and Food Festival
This past Saturday I was lucky enough to attend a Grand Tasting Event at the New York Wine & Food Festival. If you haven't heard much about this festival in previous years, it's because this was the first year of the festival in New York. Previously it was in Miami. All the net proceeds go towards helping Food Bank NYC and the Share Our Strength foundation. It's good fun for a good cause. And I would have written about this earlier as a good blogger should, but I caught a disease. That disease is called Fantasy Basketball. You might not have known about this but it sucks away your free time and totally consumes you. I know this is not a fake illness because Jonathan told me it's true. He's a doctor and he's staying at a Holiday Inn Express right now. So I'll brave the symptoms of Fantasy basketball (sweaty palms, extreme anxiousness towards the start of the NBA season), and tell you about all the New York Wine & Food Festival.
There's nothing I like more, than walking into a food tent at 11 in the morning and see a Makers Mark counter with free drinks. Really, Saturday mornings are no longer for cartoons, they're for getting crunked. I didn't drink any though because my stomach was not feeling so hot that morning. The best part were these wine glasses that you got as you walked into the event. They first gave you a lanyard to put around your neck, and it comes specially equipped with a wine glass holder. So basically half the people there (me included) walked around with a wine glass dangling from their neck. Imagine the most dangerous bib of all time. Some dude walked into someone else and bloop, his wine glass shattered. Most people seemed ok with their wine glasses though and there was plenty of wine to be had.
Many chefs were on hand to oversee their food samples. Marc Murphy from Landmarc, Dave Martin of Top chef fame, Cesare Casella who used to head up Maremma, and Alex Ureña from Pamplona were all on hand. Also saw a few other chefs like Ben Pollinger and Anita Lo. And the only reason I knew what they looked like was because their names are on their chefs' jackets. Pretty useful, those name tags...
Almost every sample at the Grand Tasting was enjoyable. Hill County offered a mini BBQ sandwich that stood out because it was sizeable compared to the other samples offered. Sample size really doesn't matter that much in an event like this because you could go back for seconds and thirds. It was still refreshing to see a tasty offering that was a good size. The orecchiette from Landmarc was also good; al dente pasta with a light cheese sauce. One dish that really appealed to me was langostine har gau with Peking duck and duck broth. That was from Jonathan Wright from The Setai in South Beach.
It was really nice to see a big event attended by so many people. I wonder how much money get raised for the food bank and other organizations that benefit from events like these. You hear about them often, about these food events where a community organization gets the benefit. Of course the corporate sponsors make it all possible thanks to tax-deductible donations (seriously, let's not kid ourselves on why they happen). It's great that you have events where people get something out of it, and at the same time non-profit organizations reap the benefits.
Of course, not all events or conventions are created equal. You think Amex is jumping at the chance to sponsor ComicCon or the Anime festival? It's great to sponsor events where people are willing to buy AllClad pans for $100, but it's another when you have a convention hall full of people who sew together Doraemon costumes at home. And I don't even know what kind of community organizations ComicCon or AnimeFest might help, maybe teenage suicide hotlines or something.
By now this entry makes no sense... but back to the subject of raising awareness about hunger. It's just weird to attend an event with free food and know that it's supposed to raise money to feed people. You know? Don't get me wrong, I love free food but one has to wonder if there's more. You figure with all the food bloggers around the country and the world, that we could make a bigger dent. Maybe something like this already exists and someone can point me in the right direction... I think it would be cool if there was like a food bloggers call to arms... where we have like a global reduce hunger week or something like that. And every food blogger can commit to just one hour of community service towards a soup kitchen or something of the sort. Just think about how many food bloggers there are out there... just looking at Tastespotting and you get dizzy by the array of blogs. We're always eating and consuming, and we give back by eating and consuming?
Consider all of this as temporary wondering-out-loud. Tomorrow I'll go back to eating cheetoes and playing fantasy basketball and wondering why Jamario Moon doesn't grow three inches and grab 20 more boards a game.
haha. I wish I could have been there.
BTW: i think the comic legal defense fund is the charity most often supported at comic cons (which are rarely as altruistic as this F & W festival)
http://www.cbldf.org/
Jonathan
October 13, 2008 7:56 pm
no one told me about makers mark at 11am or i would have been there. if i'm going to get drunk anyway, i might as well get drunk for free.
2) brownie and I are having an altruistic weekend this weekend coming. volunteering at the vendys and then the cupcakes take the cake bake sale. i'm making s'mores cuppycakes!!
Blondie
October 13, 2008 8:18 pm
i am VERY jealous you got to go to that!! i live in pittsburgh, so i couldn't get there. all the food looks delectable!
joanna
October 13, 2008 11:30 pm
Do you have a picture of lanyard with the wine glass holder? I have a hard time picturing what it would look like.
Anne
October 13, 2008 11:43 pm
Jonathan,
Yes, I think if you were there to urge me on, I could have eaten more. Maybe the key is to bring antacids on these things...
Blondie,
Ooooh there's a bake sale?
Joanna,
Thanks, i'm glad you like the pictures!
Anne,
I added some pictures to the haiku post and you can see the ridiculousness...
Danny
October 14, 2008 10:11 am
I'm still struggling through my post. There's so much to say and so many photos to slog through! BTW, a small correction: this is not the same event as the one held in South Beach. It's by the same people and same concept, but this does not replace the one in South Beach - they will now hold both every year, February for South Beach and I guess October for NYC.
As for the excessive food vs. the cause it's benefiting, well, isn't that just about right? The World Hunger Summit was kicked off earlier this year or late last year with the world leaders meeting over a 20 course meal. Talk about excessive.
And last, there are actually a couple of charities that address the hunger issue - Food Bank of NY frequently holds events to raise money for itself - and in December, there's usually a food blogger event where people offer items as raffle prizes and bloggers buy raffles for the items. I forget the name right now, but when it pops up in December, I'll be sure to email you about it :)
PS I volunteered at St. Xavier's soup kitchen in the city a few times over the summer. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to help, though they're usually short on people in the summer since they get a lot of high school volunteers during the school year.
Yvo
October 14, 2008 10:22 am
Cesare Casella was listed in this free, cocktail reception...thought people might be interested.
Holiday Cocktail Reception at the Italian Culinary Academy
Thursday, December 18, 2008
What: Enjoy cocktails and Italian treats with Cesare Casella, Dean of Italian Culinary Studies and Chef-Instructors at the Italian Culinary Academy who will give prospective students first-hand insight into the Italian Culinary Experience, the innovative professional cooking program taught in New York City and Parma, Italy.
When: Thursday, December 18
6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Where: The Italian Culinary Academy at The International Culinary Center
462 Broadway at Grand
RSVP: Free. Open to Prospective Students and the Media.
rsvp@italianculinaryacademy.com
For press inquiries or RSVP’s please contact Wendy Knight at Knight Communications, wk@wendyknight.com or 347-924-2812.
###
About the Italian Culinary Academy
The Italian Culinary Academy (The ICA), founded in 2007 as a sister school to the world-renowned French Culinary Institute, offers the country’s most rigorous education in authentic Italian cuisine. The ICA’s programs, all of which are informed by its time-tested, hands-on Total ImmersionSM method of instruction, include an extensive roster of classes for serious amateurs seeking quality, intensive education in a condensed period of time. The school is located at The International Culinary Center in New York City. For more information, please visit www.ItalianCulinaryAcademy.com.
FoodGirl
December 15, 2008 2:06 pm