The hike leading up to the media entrance was significant, but the festival itself made it ALL worth it; plus we can't complain about a little extra cardio before the feast we were about to encounter!
The enormity of this festival was mind-boggling!
73 Vendors in total, with 40% of them based in Brooklyn!
27 Breweries
Over 150 wines from Importer, Winemakers, Sommeliers were available by the taste or glass.
2 Stages, 18 live shows including Led Zepplin, The Roots, and Preservation Hall Jazz Band playing New Orleans-style jazz!
The festival was organized into 9 different curated "Experiences":
1. The Sweet Circus
Big Gay Ice Cream, Baked, James, Katzie Guy-Hamilton of NY Central, Wooly's Ice, Momofuku Milk Bar, La New Yorkina, Melt Bakery
2. The Hamburger Experience
The Burger Joint, Brindle Room, DuMont Burger, & Spotted Pig
3. Tony's Corner
(Restaurants Selected by Anthony Bourdain)
Num Pang Sandwich Shop, Souvlaki GR, Crif Dogs, M. Wells, & Calexico
4. Haus League (Restaurants selected by Eddie Huang of BaoHaus)
Maharlika, Kasadela, Red Hook's El Olomega Pupusas, Kutsher's Tribeca, & Baohaus
Red Hook's Pupusas were fantastic! The pupusa itself was super moist and sweet!
5. The Pizza Experience
Co., Joe's Pizza, Roberta's, & South Brooklyn Pizza
6. UrBARN with Just Food
Dickson's Farmstand Meats, Seersucker, & Craft.
*Seminars with Just Food's Exec. Director Jacquie Berger, Chef Adam Kaye of Blue Hill Stone Farm & Chef Dan Kluger of ABC Kitchen
7. Hamageddon (Devoted to all things Ham)
Dinosaur Bar-B-Que, Landhaus, Georgia's Eastside BBQ, & Porchetta
Surprisingly, I didn't make my way to the BBQ section :0(
8. The Coffee Experience
Coffee Expert Humberto Ricardo of Third Rail Coffee Shop
Counter Culture, Stumptown and Intelligentsia
9. The Marketplace
Russ & Daughters, Sullivan Street Bakery, Millefeuille Bakery Cafe, Gatherer's Granola, The Big Banana, Free Bread, Dickson's Farmstand Meats, Liddabit Sweets Juice Press, People's Pops, Komucha Brooklyn, Monther-in-Law's Kimchi, Saxelby Cheesmongers, Sugarbuilt Cookies, & Eat Me Sweetly
The Other Experiences:
The enormity of this festival was mind-boggling!
73 Vendors in total, with 40% of them based in Brooklyn!
27 Breweries
Over 150 wines from Importer, Winemakers, Sommeliers were available by the taste or glass.
2 Stages, 18 live shows including Led Zepplin, The Roots, and Preservation Hall Jazz Band playing New Orleans-style jazz!
 |
| Sweet Ride! |
The festival was organized into 9 different curated "Experiences":
1. The Sweet Circus
 |
| Big Gay Ice Cream created a Ginger Curry milk shake that was to die for! A rich, creamy, spiced, hand-churned milk shake! |
Interview with Eric & Alex (Festival Attendees)
Interview with Pam & Chris (Festival Attendees)
2. The Hamburger Experience
The Burger Joint, Brindle Room, DuMont Burger, & Spotted Pig
 |
| DuMont's sliders were made to order on an open grill! Delicious! |
3. Tony's Corner
(Restaurants Selected by Anthony Bourdain)
Num Pang Sandwich Shop, Souvlaki GR, Crif Dogs, M. Wells, & Calexico
 |
| Num Pang's Pulled Pork Sandwich & Grilled Corn The pork was tender and seasoned well and a bit of sriracha just added to the flavors. The grilled corn was sweet! I washed this down with a blood orange lemonade! Yum! |
4. Haus League (Restaurants selected by Eddie Huang of BaoHaus)
Maharlika, Kasadela, Red Hook's El Olomega Pupusas, Kutsher's Tribeca, & Baohaus
Red Hook's Pupusas were fantastic! The pupusa itself was super moist and sweet!
 |
| Kasadela's Tebasaki wings were PHENOMENAL! Crisp on the outside, moist on the inside, tossed in wonderful seasonings and prepped on an open grill! |
5. The Pizza Experience
Co., Joe's Pizza, Roberta's, & South Brooklyn Pizza
6. UrBARN with Just Food
 |
| Dickson's Farmstand Meats Sloppy Joe Slider. |
Dickson's Farmstand Meats, Seersucker, & Craft.
*Seminars with Just Food's Exec. Director Jacquie Berger, Chef Adam Kaye of Blue Hill Stone Farm & Chef Dan Kluger of ABC Kitchen
 |
| The Dirty Duck Dog was good. It was topped with lemon zest-laced sauerkraut and black garlic drizzle. |
 |
| This tart was pretty, but severely bland. The lemonade was a bit tart, but refreshing considering the heat! I still posed pretty with the pair ;0) |
7. Hamageddon (Devoted to all things Ham)
Dinosaur Bar-B-Que, Landhaus, Georgia's Eastside BBQ, & Porchetta
Surprisingly, I didn't make my way to the BBQ section :0(
8. The Coffee Experience
Coffee Expert Humberto Ricardo of Third Rail Coffee Shop
Counter Culture, Stumptown and Intelligentsia
9. The Marketplace
Russ & Daughters, Sullivan Street Bakery, Millefeuille Bakery Cafe, Gatherer's Granola, The Big Banana, Free Bread, Dickson's Farmstand Meats, Liddabit Sweets Juice Press, People's Pops, Komucha Brooklyn, Monther-in-Law's Kimchi, Saxelby Cheesmongers, Sugarbuilt Cookies, & Eat Me Sweetly
The Other Experiences:
 | ||
| Colicchio & Sons' pork belly taco was so rich and absolutely delicious! The spicy watermelon juice really hit the spot. |
 |
| Colicchio & Sons' spicy watermelon juice went well with the Pork Belly tacos! |
 |
| Do or Dine's Foie gras and jelly filled doughnuts! Great concept but poorly executed. The foie gras was super salty vs. being rich & succulent as one would expect. |
 |
| Coolio's Soul Roll! |
 |
| The Soul Roll was awesome! My lucky friends ran into Coolio at The Marketplace and he says he insisted on the filling (spicy beef and cheese) being more spicy, but to no avail. I agree Coolio, but this dish was pretty fantastic without the extra kick. It was served with your choice of peach or pineapple BBQ sauce! They offered a raw Ginger iced tea which really helped with digestion at that point in the day! |
 |
| As if a Foie gras grilled cheese sandwich wasn't interesting enough, M. Wells slapped on some horsemeat bologna! This sandwich was one of the top three highlights of the festival for me! M. Wells staff said they wanted to do a basashi (horsemeat tartare), but the NY Health Department shut that idea down quickly! :0( |
 |
| MAJOR!!!!!! The Foie gras was perfectly seared! |
 |
| Me and Ellen (NYC-based Make-up Artist extraordinaire: www.ellenbmakeup.com ) taking a much needed BREAK! |
 |
| Crawfish Monica...rich, creamy, Cajun sauce over rotini pasta with generous bits of crawfish (which are in season and sweet!). They offered Sweet Tea with this dish of course! This dish also made my top 3 list! |
 |
| Frankie's Sweet Italian sausage with roasted peppers and onions over a creamy polenta! |
 |
| Ellen, enjoying Frankie's dish! |
 |
| The Not-So-Undercover NYPD! LOL |
 |
| Me & my bestie since we were 12 & 13! |
This was handsdown THE Greatest food festival in the Northeastern United States (Sorry Phantom Gourmet) and it was the first annual! Superfly really knows how to throw an event! I am definitely keeping this on my list of must-do EVERY year!
 |
| The look of contentment! 6 hours later! |
Other restaurant participants' pics:
 |
| Dirty mouth??? Orbit's gum handed out moist towels for attendees and free gum! |
