The Rib King BBQ festival was held on Memorial Day weekend on Saturday, May 27.
It was another food event curated by Food Karma and Jimmy Carbone that have also hosted other foodie events such as Pig Island, Brisket King and Bowl of ‘Zole.
The event was held at Industry City at 220 36th Street in the Sunset Park neighborhood of Brooklyn. Industry City is a complex of warehouses on the Brooklyn waterfront that have been repurpose into retail and commercial spaces.
With many eateries, a brewery, a sake brewery and a distillery, there were many opportunities to have something to eat and drink and on this sunny holiday weekend. The complex was packed with all sorts of people including families milling around and enjoying the day.
There was no way better to spend the unofficial start of Summer than by strolling amongst the pitmasters with the smoke of cooking ribs in the air.
The New York City Wine & Food Festival (NYCWFF) was held on October 13-16. Now in its fifteenth year, it’s a four-day festival of wine and spirit tastings, parties, dinners and culinary demonstrations to raise money for God’s We Deliver charity.
On Saturday afternoon, I attended the Ultimate Pizza Party. This event was held at Forino restaurant located at Pier 6 in Brooklyn Heights, Brooklyn.
The Pizza Party had several local pizza restaurants and Pizzaioli baking their signature versions of pizza. Cocktails were served on the rooftop level which had an outstanding view of lower Manhattan.
Some of the pizzerias at the event;
Forcella La Pizza di Napoli
Di Fara Pizza
Motorino
Rosie Pizza Bar
Sweetbriar
Speedy Romeo
Upland
Macoletta
Table 87
On Sunday afternoon, I attended Oysterbash. This event was held at the Biergarden at The Standard hotel in the Meatpacking district of lower Manhattan.
It was a walk-around event with a copious selection of raw, baked and fried oysters from local restaurants and seafood purveyors. Of course, wine, beer and cocktails were served to accompany all those oysters.
On April 21st I attended the 9th edition of Brisket King NYC. It was another food event presented by Jimmy Carbone and Food Karma Project which are responsible for many fun foodie events including Pig Island, Pozole & Mezcal and CiderFeast.
The event was held at Pig Beach, a BBQ restaurant located at 480 Union Street in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn with an outdoor patio overlooking the beautiful Gowanus canal.
This BBQ event focused not surprisingly, on Brisket which is one of the least tender cuts of beef. That means low and slow is the way to go.
All the pitmasters had their own proprietary spice rub that they used on their Brisket. A couple of interesting outliers were a “Jewish Style” brisket stew and a brisket sandwich made with donuts instead of bread. Surprisingly it worked well since the sweetness of the donuts paired well with the rich fattiness of the brisket.
On this chilly Spring afternoon, storm clouds looked like they might pour down rain on the outdoor event but the BBQ gods smiled down upon us and the event went on rain free with plenty of people enjoying food, drink and good company.
The 11th annual Pig Island Festival was held on Saturday, September 12th. It was presented by Food Karma which hosts several foodie events throughout the year.
Pig Island is an annual BBQ pork festival which pitted over 20 Chefs, Pitmasters and Vendors in a competition using locally sourced pork to create the best pork dish of the day.
This year the event change location from it’s long time spot in Red Hook Brooklyn to the Snug Harbor Cultural Center located at 1000 Richmond Terrace Road in Staten Island which is a 10 minute bus ride from the ferry terminal.
The Snug Harbor Cultural Center is an 83 acre parkland. The home of a 19th century charitable rest home for sailors, it’s been converted to a park open to the public and contains museums, an arts center, an urban farm and several gardens.
It was a “socially distant picnic” where there was more than enough open space at the event to comply with the social distancing mandates with more than enough room to walk around while sampling the food and drink, lay down a blanket and enjoy the beautiful late Summer day.
For the adults there was beer from Flagship Brewery and Kills Boro Brewing Co., ciders from Austin East Ciders and Romilly Cider and whiskey from Knob Creek and Laphroiag.
On Saturday afternoon February 29th, Jimmy Carbone’s Food Karma Projects, a producer of food and craft beverage events, held the first ever Bowl of ‘Zole pozole festival. The event was held at Bibi restaurant at 110 Kent Avenue in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
The event brought together 10 chefs who cooked their versions of Pozole for people to sample and to accompany all that were 50 different Mezcal from 20+ producers.
Pozole is a traditional Mexican soup (stew), associated with special occasions, festivals and family. Traditionally made with pork and hominy, it comes in three versions, blanco (white), rojo (red), and verde (green). It’s Mexican comfort food, something that grandma would cook for you.
Mezcal is an alcoholic spirit from Mexico made from the agave plant. It is similar to tequila and while technically all tequila are mezcal, not all mezcal are tequila. Tequila must use a single varietal of agave (blue agave) and be made in the state of Jalisco, while Mezcal can be made using up to 28 different varieties of agave and mostly produced around the city of Oaxaca put produced in other States as well. With tequila the agave heads are baked in above ground ovens while in Mezcal the agave is cooked in the traditional method in pits dug into the ground. Cooking in those in-ground pits is what gives the Mezcal its smoky flavor profile. The permitted use of many types of agave and wider geographic production area results in a greater variety of styles of the spirit than in tequila. Many are still made in the traditional method at small production family run operations which means that with the exception of a small handful of labels, many of the brands are not widely distributed and were not familiar to me.
I have to admit that this was the first time I had a comprehensive tasting of Pozole as it’s an under the radar Mexican food choice. They are traditionally made with pork but there were versions made with chicken and seafood as well. I was able to sample the different versions of the stew and it was the perfect food choice to have on a chilly Winter Saturday afternoon.
Some of the Pozole I sampled:
La Esquina chef Gonzalo Rivera: Vuelve a la Vida Pozole, Maine lobster, mussels, clams, organic hominy, fennel, toasted sesame, & chile de arbol oil, smoky hoja santa broth.
Balvanera chef Fernando Navas: Pozole rojo with radishes, avocado and fresh oregano.
Bacado chef Ivy Stark: Pozole rojo with braised short rib.
Hotel Indigo chef Chai Trivedi Kitsch: Rojo, matzo ball Pozole.
Mesa Coyoacan chef Ivan Garcia: Shredded pork, hominy, guajillo, ancho chile broth, radish, oregano.
Toloache chef Julian Medina: Pozole verde, heirloom hominy, green curry, coconut milk broth, thai basi, lemongrass, salsa macha, been sprouts.
While Mezcal can be made from several types of agave, the “workhorse” is the Espadin varietal and many of the spirits on hand were made from that type of agave. I tried to sample as many made from agave other than Espadin.
The 12th annual Food Network New York City Food & Wine Festival was held October 10-13.
It was a four day event that featured television chefs, culinary personalities, wine and spirits with over 100 events that included dinners, hands on culinary classes and late night parties. The festival raises money for the Food Bank of New York City and for the No Kid Hungry organization.
On Saturday afternoon I attended a couple of those events and was a day of meat.
I began the day by attending the Steak and Whiskey pairing held at STK Downtown restaurant located at 26 Little West 12th street in the Meatpacking district of Manhattan. It was a sit down affair that featured four different whiskey paired with four different types of beef.
Basil Hayden’s High Rye Bourbon paired with Lil Burgers made with a propriety blend of beef, onions, special sauce, tomato and cheddar.
Suntory Whisky Toki paired with Filet Mignon and signature STK sauce.
Bowmore 12 year Single Malt paired with New York Strip steak au poivre.
Knob Creek Rye paired with boneless beef Rib Eye with truffle butter.
Right after that event and a quick stroll down the block took me to the Octoberfest event hosted by TV Chef Andrew Zimmern. It was held at The Standard High Line Biergarden which is located at the southern terminus of the High Line walk at 41 Little West 12th Street.
In was a walk-around event and befitting an Octoberfest, there were many pork-centric dishes served including Zimmern’s famous wieners. Specialty cocktails, steins of Sam Adam’s beer, Pinot Noir and Riesling from Germany, and free- flowing Jägermeister were on hand to help wash it all down with.
In the last week of September, I attended a couple of Autumn themed events.
On Saturday September 28th I attended the 8th annual Long Island Pour the Core hard cider festival which was held at Heckscher State Park in East Islip Long Island. That’s about a 45 minute drive East from the Queens border. This is one stop on the Pour the Core tour that included Philadelphia and Brooklyn. This was an outdoor event and it was a beautiful, sunny Autumn afternoon.
Over 100 hard ciders were poured from across the country with many from New York State. Other countries such as England, Ireland, Sweden and Spain were represented as well. There were many of the well know big brands such as Angry Orchid, Magners, and Doc’s to name a few but there were many small producers represented as well.
Many styles of cider were on hand in various degrees of dry to sweet. Many were infused with fruit flavors and it seemed that rosé ciders are very popular this year.
I prefer bone dry ciders and Bad Seed, Merchant’s Daughter and Descendant CiderCo. poured some very dry and crisp versions.
There were food trucks for the hungry and live music to keep everyone entertained on this beautiful Autumn afternoon.
The next day Sunday afternoon, I attended the Oystober Fest oyster party held at The Well at 272 Meserole Street in Bushwick, Brooklyn.
It was one of the many oyster related events held for the 8th annual New York oyster week from September 17-29. The events are a production of the OysterHood, a global community of oyster consumers, producers, distributers and shuckers.
The Well is a bar housed in a former brewery in a neighborhood that had many in the past and the event was held in their in the outdoor event space, the “graffiti garden”. They served a rotating selection of East and West coast oysters, freshy shucked with a choice of various hot sauces, mignonettes and citrus juices. My favorite of the day were the St. Simon, small and plump with the right mix of sweet and salty.
The 10th annual Pig Island BBQ fest was held on September 7th.
The event was held on the waterfront at Erie Basin Park in Red Hook Brooklyn. The neighborhood of Red Hook is an old industrial waterfront area that in the 1990’s Life magazine called “one of the worst neighborhoods in the United States”. That has changed as the neighborhood has been going to a resurgence. Box stores such as IKEA and Fairway have made their way into the neighborhood and many of the warehouses have been converted to galleries, artists lofts, breweries and distilleries.
The event was produced by the Food Karma Project helmed by Jimmy Carbone who along with Josh Ozersky conceived Meatopia back in 2010. That wanted a farm to table event using pigs from small farmers.
With the cancellation of the Big Apple BBQ block party this year, this event was the premier bbq event of the year in New York and “the last great bbq event of the Summer”.
I attended after a two year hiatus. The park is on the waterway with expansive views of the harbor most of the way around. It was a big outdoor bbq with people and families spreading blankets on the grass while strolling from vendor to vendor.
Since my last visit more spirit vendors were in attendance this time around. Some of the interesting ones was Irish Whiskey from Kilbeggan and Tyrconnell which had a wide range of whiskey styles that I didn’t think Irish whiskey had. There were some nice single malts from Laphroaig, Auchentoshan and Bowmore, a couple of nice rye from Ragtime Rye and Knob Creek was on hand to make a smoked to order Old Fashioned.
When general admission was let in some of the food lines grew long, it seems that there’s a hierarchy of bbq vendors and some of the lines were longer than others.
July 14th is Bastille Day, the national holiday of France. It celebrates the storming of the Bastille on July 14th, 1789 and the birth of the modern French nation.
FIAF (french institute alliance francaise) is the “country’s leading French language and cultural center” founded nearly 120 years ago to promote French arts and teach French language and is now housed in the heart of Manhattan at 22 East 6oth Street. For over twenty years they have hosted New York City’s largest public celebration of France’s national holiday.
It was a three-block long party on East 60th Street with French themed food booths, French products and a stage with continuous live music throughout the afternoon.
Of course there were a couple of wine tastings as well, a Summer in Provence tasting and a Champagne, Cocktail and Jazz party which I attended. At the party they served five very drinkable Champagne and a specialty cocktail while being serenated by Avalon, a four-piece Jazz band.
Champagnes:
Laurent-Perrier Cuvée Rosé
Pol Roger Reserve
Delamonte Brut
Besserat du Bellefon Bleu Brut
Michel Gonet Brut Reserve
Cocktail: “La Quatorze Juillet“
Made with Routin vermouth blanc, Giffard rubarbe liquour, Giffard Menthe Pastille (a pepperment flavored liquour), a couple of dashes of Angostura bitters and topped with a slice of cucumber. It was very refreshing.
Westchester Magazine held its 9th annual wine and food festival on June 4-9. It was six days of foodie events that included a Burger & Beer Blast, a Food Truck Fest a tasting tour of Italy and winemaker dinners.
It’s signature event was the Grand Tasting Village which was held on Saturday afternoon, June 8th. The village was an outdoor tented area that saw 50+ local restaurants serving food with over 200 wines and spirits to wash them down with. There was also a “connoisseurs tent”, a separate area from general admission that featured additional high end wines and food.
The event was held at the Kensico Dam Plaza in the sleepy village of Valhalla with its two block long Main Street located in Westchester. It’s about an hour train ride north from New York City.
There was plenty of food to sample with many different ethnic cuisines represented and for a consumer event, an impressive selection of domestic and international wines. It was a beautiful Spring afternoon for eating and drinking.
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