For the past 16 years, the New York City Wine and Food Festival has been a highly anticipated four-day annual culinary experience for food and wine lovers. With over 80 events across the city, foodies can get an up close and personal look into their favorite chefs and Food Network personalities. The NYCWFF is presented by Capital One and hosted by God’s Love We Deliver, a nutrition counseling and meal delivery organization for New Yorkers living with serious illness. The NYCWFF has raised in excess of $14.8 million to date.
Over the course of four days, foodies are invited to partake in many events such as cocktail parties, intimate dinners, and master classes. All of these are on my bucket list. My husband Matty and I attended the Grand Tasting which took place on Pier 76 on the West Side Highway. This is an all day event featuring various cooking demonstrations by celebrity chefs such as Geoffrey Zakarian, Alex Guarnaschelli, and Robert Irvine to name a few. It’s cool watching them prepare a dish in a semi-intimate setting. In between the demos, attendees like ourselves pass from booth to booth sampling sweet and savory delectables specifically prepared to showcase their particular business.
What I do not understand is that this Grand Tasting is outdoors and is a rain or shine event. Pier 76 is part of the Hudson River Park, a recreational and educational area on the waterfront for all New Yorkers to enjoy. There is a steel overhead structure under which the NYCWFF takes place. The entire roof is open which is puzzling. It reminds me of the pergolas which do not offer any protection from the sun or rain. In my ever so humble opinion, these structures are useless. I’m trying to provide a visual of this event and our afternoon of darting from booth to awning to tent to stay dry, all while trying to chat it up with the various vendors and sample food and drink. Needless to say, we did not get the full experience, but I’ll tell you what we did enjoy.
The best bite of the day for us was perfectly cooked hangar steak topped with pistachio pesto. There are definite benefits for having a Capital One credit card and this event is one of them. Aside from early access to the festival and discounts for many of the events, there was a Capital One tented lounge with comfy seating for members only and this was where they were serving this delicious beef bite. If Capital One sounds familiar, they are the “what’s in your wallet” people. It seems to me this is the credit card of choice these days for folks who enjoy all things entertainment, travel, events, etc. Years ago, it was the American Express Gold Card that offered priority deals for things like presale access on Broadway shows.
By far, the best sweet treat we tasted were mini donuts by BlissBomb. Pastry chef, Tarran, packs so much flavor into these baked not fried perfectly sized donuts. I enjoyed the blueberry corn and Matty had the stormy night. Wow they were bursting with flavor. Visually stunning but incredibly fresh and delicious. BlissBomb does not have a retail location, but their donuts can be ordered by the dozen and picked up at 335 West 38th Street in NYC. Chef Tarran is happy to suggest flavors and colors for custom and corporate orders. They also deliver in the city and ship nationwide.
I’m much more a wine and occasional beer girl but the guys in the Barbados Tourism Marketing booth enticed me into trying their cocktail. I’m so glad they did because the Pina Punch made with Plantation Rum and prepared by mixologist Alex Chandler was the perfect accompaniment to Chef Trevon Stoute’s tri-citrus prawn ceviche. Matty and I could have hung out in the Barbados tent all day.
Other highlights included Stella cheese as they were celebrating their 100th anniversary and prepared Parmesan edible cups filled with bruschetta which were very nice. There is a useful cheese calculator on their website to help with determining the amount of cheese needed to serve at a party.
Nupur Arora from Queens Curry Kitchen created delightful pani puri shots. A seasonal take on an Indian street food, these deep fried and puffed wheat balls were filled with spiced potatoes, chickpeas and a cranberry tamarind, ginger, mojito concoction which was served as a one bite shot. Super light and crispy, and like most Indian food I’ve tasted, wonderful flavors of cilantro, mango, roasted cumin come through. These pani puri shots have a fun and festive flair to them, perfect for a Christmas party.
Once again, had it not been raining, we would have been able to experience a lot more than we did. There’s only so much we could do with an umbrella in one hand, navigating the swag bag in the other all while holding a beverage and then trying to balance food on a plate needed to be eaten with a fork. Are you getting the visual? Matty and I are already looking forward to going back next year and perhaps participating in more events such as the intimate dinners in addition to the Grand Tasting.
In my ever so humble opinion, the NYCWFF is an impressive and eagerly anticipated event for epicureans which should be celebrated indoors.
Thanks for the commentary, it sounds like an awesome fun event despite the weather. I didn’t realise I was hungry until I read your vivid descriptions of some of the bites offered. 🙂
I’m adding these places to my “want to go list!”