Monday, May 22, 2006
NY Culinary Festival
The weekend got off to a great start. I went to my friends apartment with two Stone bombers in hand (1 IPA and 1 Arrogant Bastard) to watch the Mets play the Yankees in the first of a three game series.
My team, the Mets, were victorious in the first game, thanks to David Wright's game winning hit. Jump on the bandwagon now, bandwagon-jumping fans!
Then Saturday it was the NY Culinary Festival at Pier 94 along the Hudson River. I first heard about it through the newspaper and thought it would be an interesting thing to check out so I bought tickets for myself, Big Daddy Cal, and Tina on Saturday morning.
I got there quite late in the afternoon and met up with Big Daddy Cal outside the venue. What was strange was the fact that I printed up "tickets" then had to exhange it for another "ticket" (one of those old fashioned "admit one" things). Then and only then did they let you in. I could have just brought my own admit one ticket from an old carnival roll and walk right in. Maybe next year I'll go early, figure out what color they're using, then run over to Staples.
The inside of Pier 94 is basically a big gloomy and gray warehouse. I don't care about that so much as long as everything is easy to find and things are organized. It was a bit weird though, and maybe even a little ghetto.
The information booth at the front didn't really have much information other than a schedule of events and live music. There was no map available either but I guess it wasn't necessary being that the place is just one big room.
Your $20 ticket gets you entry to the place, plus it covers the music and demos. If you wanted to eat any food you had to pay.
HOWEVER...
...in keeping with the "exchanging your ticket for another ticket" theme you had to purchase "scrips" which you could then give to the restaurant booth people in exchange for food.
I understand the need for the scrip system is basically so the restaurants don't have to waste time handling cash and making change but all night there were people pulling out cash at the tables and then being redirected to one of the scrip booths. It was not really clear to everyone how things worked.
The place was pretty big so the crowd had plenty of space to disperse and I never felt cramped or like I was in anyone's way. That was a plus.
I wish there had also been more restaurants on hand. Some that were advertised didn't show up.
And better sound at the demo areas. If you stood in the back you couldn't hear a thing. And other times there were audio difficulties which made some of the chefs sound fuzzy.
Finally, the fact that you have to pay for each dish is a bit annoying. The $20 admission should also have given each guest maybe 5 free scrips to use on food. I could really do without the music acts. And some restaurants should lower their prices and/or offer at least 1 thing for free. Are they there to make money or to promote their restaurants so that sometime in the future we festival-goers may one day want to dine at their establishments?
As an added bonus I found 3 unused scrips in my bag this morning. That's $3 in funny money that I cannot use for anything.
Other than that I had a great time, and ate a lot. For about 6 hours. Tina showed up later after getting out of work and by that time Big Daddy Cal and I were stuffed. Also I ran into Robyn, who has one of the best food blogs in the entire universe. Her pictures are also a lot better than mine. I will have to listen to her and get a separate food blog but I haven't come up with a catchy name yet.
For the beer readers, they had Bass Ale and Stella Artois. I had one of each but neither one counts toward the goal.
Check out some pics!
Cheeses from Artisanal
Crappy pic of a bison slider from Aspen
The bison slider from Aspen was one of the highlights. The meat was tender and juicy and all the toppings were in perfect balance.
Big plate of chocolate "salami"
I don't remember where the chocolate salami was from. Its basically pieces of bread with chocolate bread baked around it and it looks like salami, hence the name.
Chakra roll from Gobo
Sunday I went into Manhattan to do some shopping then I grabbed lunch at Wollensky's Grill since I was in the mood for a burger and they have a pretty good one.
Behold the monstrosity!
As I was leaving the restaurant, John Cleese (of Monty Python) was coming in to ask where the nearest bookshop was. He's a tall dude and even politely held the door open for me as I was leaving. Then I saw him politely blow off an autograph seeker on the street. Ehh... I don't care much about meeting celebrities unless they've really touched my life in some way, which is rare.
So tonight I'm going to a concert then tomorrow night I will go beering, I promise! Remember I'm ahead by 17 days!
My team, the Mets, were victorious in the first game, thanks to David Wright's game winning hit. Jump on the bandwagon now, bandwagon-jumping fans!
Then Saturday it was the NY Culinary Festival at Pier 94 along the Hudson River. I first heard about it through the newspaper and thought it would be an interesting thing to check out so I bought tickets for myself, Big Daddy Cal, and Tina on Saturday morning.
I got there quite late in the afternoon and met up with Big Daddy Cal outside the venue. What was strange was the fact that I printed up "tickets" then had to exhange it for another "ticket" (one of those old fashioned "admit one" things). Then and only then did they let you in. I could have just brought my own admit one ticket from an old carnival roll and walk right in. Maybe next year I'll go early, figure out what color they're using, then run over to Staples.
The inside of Pier 94 is basically a big gloomy and gray warehouse. I don't care about that so much as long as everything is easy to find and things are organized. It was a bit weird though, and maybe even a little ghetto.
The information booth at the front didn't really have much information other than a schedule of events and live music. There was no map available either but I guess it wasn't necessary being that the place is just one big room.
Your $20 ticket gets you entry to the place, plus it covers the music and demos. If you wanted to eat any food you had to pay.
HOWEVER...
...in keeping with the "exchanging your ticket for another ticket" theme you had to purchase "scrips" which you could then give to the restaurant booth people in exchange for food.
I understand the need for the scrip system is basically so the restaurants don't have to waste time handling cash and making change but all night there were people pulling out cash at the tables and then being redirected to one of the scrip booths. It was not really clear to everyone how things worked.
The place was pretty big so the crowd had plenty of space to disperse and I never felt cramped or like I was in anyone's way. That was a plus.
I wish there had also been more restaurants on hand. Some that were advertised didn't show up.
And better sound at the demo areas. If you stood in the back you couldn't hear a thing. And other times there were audio difficulties which made some of the chefs sound fuzzy.
Finally, the fact that you have to pay for each dish is a bit annoying. The $20 admission should also have given each guest maybe 5 free scrips to use on food. I could really do without the music acts. And some restaurants should lower their prices and/or offer at least 1 thing for free. Are they there to make money or to promote their restaurants so that sometime in the future we festival-goers may one day want to dine at their establishments?
As an added bonus I found 3 unused scrips in my bag this morning. That's $3 in funny money that I cannot use for anything.
Other than that I had a great time, and ate a lot. For about 6 hours. Tina showed up later after getting out of work and by that time Big Daddy Cal and I were stuffed. Also I ran into Robyn, who has one of the best food blogs in the entire universe. Her pictures are also a lot better than mine. I will have to listen to her and get a separate food blog but I haven't come up with a catchy name yet.
For the beer readers, they had Bass Ale and Stella Artois. I had one of each but neither one counts toward the goal.
Check out some pics!
Cheeses from Artisanal
Crappy pic of a bison slider from Aspen
The bison slider from Aspen was one of the highlights. The meat was tender and juicy and all the toppings were in perfect balance.
Big plate of chocolate "salami"
I don't remember where the chocolate salami was from. Its basically pieces of bread with chocolate bread baked around it and it looks like salami, hence the name.
Chakra roll from Gobo
Sunday I went into Manhattan to do some shopping then I grabbed lunch at Wollensky's Grill since I was in the mood for a burger and they have a pretty good one.
Behold the monstrosity!
As I was leaving the restaurant, John Cleese (of Monty Python) was coming in to ask where the nearest bookshop was. He's a tall dude and even politely held the door open for me as I was leaving. Then I saw him politely blow off an autograph seeker on the street. Ehh... I don't care much about meeting celebrities unless they've really touched my life in some way, which is rare.
So tonight I'm going to a concert then tomorrow night I will go beering, I promise! Remember I'm ahead by 17 days!
# posted by Nick @ 2:18 PM 
Comments:
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This has nothing to do with this particular post, but here's something you might enjoy:
http://beeradvocate.com/top_beers/
Beer advocate has compiled a list of the top beers in the world based on thousands and thousands of user reviews. It's little ridiculous to say that this IPA is definitively better than that Imperial Stout, but it's still an amusing list.
Be sure to scroll to the bottom and read the (very geeky) formula they used to calculate the list. And then make sure you read the FAQs afterwards.
http://beeradvocate.com/top_beers/
Beer advocate has compiled a list of the top beers in the world based on thousands and thousands of user reviews. It's little ridiculous to say that this IPA is definitively better than that Imperial Stout, but it's still an amusing list.
Be sure to scroll to the bottom and read the (very geeky) formula they used to calculate the list. And then make sure you read the FAQs afterwards.
# posted by 
: 6:34 PM
: 6:34 PM
Ah yes, I saw that list. Always an interesting read to see how the world is voting. Ratebeer.com has a good list too. What throws it off sometimes is that some beers on the list are impossible to find depending on where you are in the country. And I'd imagine the high rating a beer like Westvleteren Abt 12 has is partially due to how rare it is.
Also I know how you feel about comparing beers of different styles. Each style has its own merits and its more meaningful to me to see rankings within styles.
Also I know how you feel about comparing beers of different styles. Each style has its own merits and its more meaningful to me to see rankings within styles.
Chocolate salami = Tintol, the portuguese place. I didn't get a chance to try their sausages and was sad. THe salami was just okay.
Sid: Ah... thanks for that. I forgot where it was from. I agree, it wasn't anything great. Cool name for a dessert though.
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