NYC Wine & Food Festival!

Bacon and the Blues

This past weekend was the Food Network's NYC Wine & Food Festival benefiting the Food Bank for NYC and Share Our Strength. It was Thursday through Friday, with tons of events all over the city. People bought tickets months in advance (I heard the Burger Bash sold out in early January!). Ticket prices varied depending on the event.

Just a few weeks ago my friend told me about the volunteer opportunities. He had gone last year. So we signed up and gave our available times and they assigned us to events. Thursday night we were assigned to an event called Bacon and the Blues Hosted by Todd English. It was at a new hotel called the Andaz at 41st & 5th Ave. The hotel was pretty nice. All the hotel staff ladies carried small laptops and dressed in all black and all had a matching crossbody satchel to carry their things. The laptops were used for checking people in and out because they didn't have a traditional "front desk."

The event seemed to be pretty nice, from what I could see. It was $75 so it was one of the cheaper/smaller events. Only about 5 or 6 restaurants were participating. Each restaurant presented 1 or 2 small items which involved bacon. One room had a live band and an open bar. Another room was a bar just serving Coors Light (I think). The event seemed very well coordinated...but the volunteer staff was not. It was very chaotic and confusing, with our team leaders feeling pretty clueless too. My friend and I got picked to take tickets out front and there was a lot of confusion over where we were to stand, if we could have a table (the answer was no, the hotel doesn't even have a real front desk after all!), and whether we were to cross check people's names with their tickets. Part of the confusion was because we didn't know who was really in charge. Was it Food Network people? Or Food Bank staff? Or Thrillist, a small men's entertainment magazine sponsoring the event? Very confusing and chaotic.

While taking tickets, I ran into someone from UCLA I hadn't seen in over 10 years!!

Later on, we were able to sample some of the foods (but no drinks) and then there wasn't much else to do. There were more volunteers than needed. Some of the other volunteers were posted at different parts of the hallway to direct people to the elevator or the bathroom (which was totally not necessary). No pics because we were told we weren't allowed to take any (a ton of press were there though! I wished I was one of them!).

On a side note, I told my friend that there were a lot of good looking people at the event and he said he didn't agree. Later, I realized, no, it's not that they are good looking, it's more that they are well-groomed and impeccably dressed. Up to that point, I hadn't been anywhere in NYC where I saw so many of one type of people in one concentrated area. (I spend most of my time hanging out in the 'hood or on the subway!)

Blue Moon Burger Bash 2010!


Friday night we were assigned to the Burger Bash (which I guess is a recurring tradition at this festival). It was at the Tobacco Warehouse in Brooklyn. Not actually a warehouse anymore. Not even a real building anymore. Just the old brick remains of walls (no roof). I guess it's a place people can rent out for weddings. This was a huge event. 2,000 tickets were sold (and it was sold out!). There was a huge tent pitched for the main part of the event. There were about 30 volunteers who showed up. Besides this event, I basically did nothing all day because I woke up at 11 a.m. and then I had to head out at 3:00 p.m. because it takes me an hour to get to Brooklyn.

Again, no pictures allowed, but I snuck some with my camera phone. Unfortunately I didn't get any good shots with my "dumb" phone (which used to be smart two years ago but somehow is no longer). This one girl, a college student, took a picture of the ice sculpture by a sweets/cupcakes place (I forgot the name) and I asked her to text it to my email but I never got it. :( She must've typed in the wrong addy.

Coca-cola, as you can see from my little pic, was a major sponsor.
Also NY Times was there with this really cool digital photo booth. Once you took a picture it was instantly printed and also sent to a slideshow being broadcast on two large screens at the booth. The photos were in B&W and had this soft, newspaper-looking effect. Click here to find me in the gallery! (hint, I'm in two different pics)


Like the previous event, there were more volunteers than needed. I guess they wanted to make sure they had enough help and to account for no-shows. There were plenty of staff at the event - people specifically hired to do set up and to wait tables, etc, so it's not like we had to do that. At first I just stood around trying to look useful. I answered three questions (Where's the bathroom? Where's the Coke counter? Where's the Shake Stand booth?). Later I was pulled to put wrist bands on latecomers with tickets. I also handed out some fliers.

This was a pretty good event and if I had $225 to spend, one day, I'd go. A ton of restaurants were there, all serving some type of burger. Most of them also featured some kind of side item. Burgers were either quartered or they were sliders. Rachael Ray, Bobby Flay, Ted Allen, Gail Simmons, and other food people I didn't recognize or recognized but couldn't name (because I honestly hardly ever watch the Food Network) were there. Mayor Bloomberg was there too.

At the end of the event people were staggering out the door, totally plastered. It's a good thing you don't have to drive in NYC.

We weren't supposed to eat any of the burgers (and definitely not allowed to drink any alcohol, which was a bummer because Blue Moon taps were flowing at every corner), but some of the chefs were pushing them on us. Try it! Have some! Please! Before the guests arrived I had a quarter of a burger from Lure Fishbar (it was good but a bit too rare for me) and a slider from Morton's Steakhouse (yes they make burgers!). It was good. Throughout the event I noticed other volunteers eating (I saw one drinking a beer! gasp!) but I no longer felt like eating. My friend got one from The Dutch (a restaurant that hasn't even opened yet!) and it came with a small cup of maple stout float (which I gladly consumed for him).

At the end of the night there were plenty of leftovers so I snagged two burgers "to go" and ate one on my way out. It was a lobster burger but I forgot from where.

My other one (also forgot from where) became Sunday brunch:



I deconstructed it and reheated it separately and then put it back together. There were greens, caramelized red onions, slices of strawberries, and bacon on a brioche bun. :) With a fried egg, a cupcake from the place with the ice sculpture (a bit mashed getting it home), some fruit, coffee, and juice, and I've got brunch!