I just had one of the yummiest weekends in New York City so far.
This Saturday Andrea, Ashley and I traveled all the way across town to the New York City Wine and Food Festival’s Grand Tasting at Hudson River Park’s Pier 57. This event was sponsored by KitchenAid and ShopRite with 100% of the net-proceeds benefiting the Food Bank for New York City and the Share Our Strength nonprofit working to end childhood hunger in the United States.
Pier 57 was filled to the max. There were hundreds of food and drink stalls lining the edges and center of the building, with two main stages right when you walked in. Famous chefs, winemakers, and celebrity foodies presented continuously throughout the day, allowing us all to take a break from gorging ourselves at the food tables. Depending on the chef they would either be showing us a new recipe, telling us their favorite party food secrets, or just enjoying talking to such a large crowd of food loving New Yorkers.
My favorite moment in the day was watching Paula Deen present. She didn’t actually cook anything until the last five minutes, but hearing her talk about food and her life now was hysterical. She brought her tiny dog and spent a good five minutes trying to get him to roll over for a piece of turkey. He was not having it. She finally gave up and proceeded to show us how to make some truly lethal looking fried dumplings, all while making fun of her husband who was there with her. She was a lot of fun to watch and has a great personality for keeping a crowd entertained.
All in all I highly recommend this event to students coming to NYC next fall. It will be in early October! If you like eating and drinking delicious food, wine and liquors (not to mention celebrity sightings!) than this event is for you. The most delicious things of the day were a slow cooked pot roast, the beet and Gorgonzola ravioli, the amazing array of cheeses and olive oils, and a mixed drink I had with apple cider and Bulldog gin. And those were just a few of the hundreds of booths!
I’m getting hungry again just thinking about it.
-Lauren