NYC Food and Wine Festival- Grand Tasting

Wohoo! I made it again this year! I was able to score a last minute ticket and made it into Saturday’s sold out Grand Tasting! I was so excited. It was a beautiful day on the waterfront and Mr. T had to work all day so what a better way for me to spend it alone!

I seriously tried each and every item offered but there were way too many to talk about each one. Instead I’ll give a quick run down of just a few.



Braised Short Rib of Beef from Molyvos. This was excellent. The braising of the rib made this meat incredibly tender and the warm semolina on the bottom was a welcome and pleasant surprise.



Hand-Cut Steak Tartare with Romesco and Spanish Boquerones from 10 Downing. I was a little nervous about the anchovy flavor but it wasn’t strong at all. The steak was simply moist and perfect. The French would be impressed.



Kaffir Lime Crab Salad with Truffle Ponzu and Ikura Cavier from Cityhouse. Definite points for presentation and for using Ponzu which I love. I thought the flavors were all spot on and I went back for seconds of these.



Scallop from Wall and Water. I don’t even have the full description of this offering because it was simply awful. The scallop was overcooked and had become a dry gummy mess. It was so tough I couldn’t even cut into it with a fork and had to try and pick up the entire thing for a bite. Not very appetizing for sure.



Hiramasa from Marc Forgione. The man himself was there handing out his dish. I had just watched the latest episode of the Next Iron Chef so I was a little star struck at first. Luckily the dish was just as good he looked! The hiramasa was velvety smooth with bright acidity from the sauce.



This dish was a butter poached lobster with short rib, mashed potato and god knows what else. This was from the Prince Edward Island tourism booth. I was walking by and this large Canadian man literally shoved this item in my face. It was such an forceful move I was a little stunned. I spent a lot of time growing up in Canada! When did they become so aggressive! The dish was a mess. There was no concept- just a bunch of different items thrown in a bowl.



Pork Butt Sandwich from Tipsy Parson. The pork was super moist but I didn’t love the oversized bun. The top was just too big and bready for the amount of fillings in the sandwich.



King Crab, Mango and Avocado Salad from the Capital Grille Wall Street. I really enjoyed this dish. King Crab is always delicious and this kind was especially buttery.



The winner of the night- Pork Belly from Sosa Consulting Group. I picked this dish up and was amazed by how rich and juicy the meat was without those big globs of fat you find on most pork belly. As I went back for my second round I realized who exactly was making the dish- Angelo Sosa from Top Chef! I absolutely loved him on the show and now he had made the best dish! I was psyched. So psyched I went extra cheesy and got my picture taken with him. I blame all the wine on that one.

And I seriously could. Once again the amount of wine, beer and cocktails pouring freely was glorious. Palm, Blue Moon and Negro Modelo were in charge of the beer. There were well over 20 wineries including two of my favs La Crema and Ravenswood. And I can’t even begin to say how much liquor was there! I had more mini cocktails than one should have probably ever!

So that’s it. I got to go again this year and it was a blast. I love the NYC Food and Wine Festival. I wish it could happen every weekend!