Joel Kahn will be in New York all weekend (September 29-October 2) covering events at the New York City Wine and Food Festival (NYCWFF). Follow his progress on Twitter @buquad or @joelstuffs.
I applied for press credentials for the New York City Wine and Food Festival some time this summer, fully aware that it was a long shot. However, just a couple weeks ago I got the confirmation that I would be given tickets to six NYCWFF events, as well as access to not one but two (two!) press lounges all weekend.
Before we delve into my first food-fest experience, a bit of history:
The NYCWFF was started in 2007 with one event (SWEET, which I will be going to tomorrow), and was expanded into an entire weekend of gastro-crazy festivities the following year. The South Beach Wine and Food Festival came first, and after its success, festival director Lee Schrager decided to make an even bigger festival in an even bigger food city. The festival has a plethora of corporate sponsors (as evidenced by everything in the event I went to tonight), but the key players are Food Network, Food & Wine Magazine, and Southern Wine and Spirits (where Schrager is an executive).
So after getting my bright orange folder of press info, I headed to Food Network headquarters Chelsea Market for one of the landmark festival events—Chelsea Market After Dark, hosted by Emeril. For this event, (almost) every store in Chelsea Market stayed open late (it started at 9:00 p.m.) and handed out food to paying guests. Other neighborhood restaurants and wine companies also set up tables along the hallway, peddling their products to the crowd.
As soon as I entered, a volunteer in a Bing t-shirt gave me a wristband and another handed me a wine glass. I was instructed to hold on to it the entire time so I could fill it with all the different wines of my choosing.
Inside, there were tables for Acqua Panna Water, Svedka Vodka, some wines that come in boxes, and other name-brand products. Sadly, I had just come from Rosh Hashana dinner, and was not particularly hungry (I really tried to not eat at dinner, trust me!), but I did scarf down the yellowtail and pastrami slider from Morimoto (even though I did not see the actual Morimoto there), and that was super mega tasty. I also had a cookie Jacques Torres laid on a tray himself, which was fine as far as regular cookies go. And then I set out to find Emeril, who (according to my ticket) was hosting this whole shebang!
Sadly, Emeril was in the most crowded room in the building, filled with a snaking line and thumping music. He was just signing books. What kind of host sits and signs books?! Needless to say, I was a little disappointed.
After making my rounds through the food, wine, and cocktails a couple more times, I headed out. The only freebies available for my taking were pouches of spices, which I found odd, to say the least. Why give away little pouches of spices as party favors? However now, in the cold light of morning, I realize that my pockets are not filled with cumin; clearly, the pouches were a good idea after all.
Incredible how hot it was in there last night! The Market has A.C., I have been there in the summer. It was not even hot outside last night. Did they have the heat on?
At $105 per ticket and a host that was only accessible if you purchased his book, the least they could have done was make the room comfortable.
It actually felt like a Chelsea Market strategy.
I witnessed almost every guest complaining of the heat. Alot of brow wiping, and fanning. The cooool fish market had clusters of people hanging out, igoring the odor just to get a break.
Food was awesome and drinks were tasty. Great atmosphere, enjoyed the lively Country rock band.
The book signing made it feel like a bit of a shakedown and Emeril was not there for charity. Unless he was donating the proceeds to charity, tell him go to Borders next time
The charity is a good cause and I will give them one more shot.
Next year tell them to charge another $5.00 to pay the electric bill so we can really enjoy ourselves.
Is it even possible though for you to call them out on this and jeapordize your credentials for next season……
That was each interesting too as insightful! Thanks for
sharing your views with us.