Sunday on the plaza: Back to Basis Good Food Festival
There's just something magical about September in NYC. Perhaps it's the long days filled with sunny skies and low humidity (minus last week's double-tornado, of course), or the fact that fall is just around the corner. So instead of meeting at a restaurant for Sunday brunch, Em and I decided to buy tickets for the first annual "Back to Basis Good Food Festival," held outdoors in the Meatpacking District's Gansevoort Plaza. "Let's take advantage of Sunday's weather forecast and hit this event," Em said, "I'd much rather be outdoors than sitting in a booth somewhere." Good point.
With a slew of ticket options, Em and I each chose to purchase the $20 pack, which included four stubs (each good for one tasting). The festival featured "traditional, localized, 100% traceable food from 30 family farmers and local top chefs." Among others, some notable participants included:
*All photos from this event can be viewed on Flickr
Curious to know which restaurants' offerings I swapped my ticket-stubs for? In chronological order:
Dinosaur BBQ
Dinosaur BBQ: nothing says "I want that dude to serve me a pulled-pork sandwich" like a kick ass, hard-rock mullet.
Dinosaur BBQ: the making of a pulled-pork sammy
Dinosaur BBQ: smoky, pulled-pork topped with tangy, warm BBQ sauce - served in a billowy potato-roll
Lowcountry: "Carolina BBQ Slider" description/ingredients
Lowcountry: "Carolina BBQ Slider" composed of creamy coleslaw, thickly-sliced Kosher pickle dills and pulled-pork
Gramercy Tavern: Chef explains his preparation of hushpuppies
Gramercy Tavern: lightly-hollowed hushpuppies topped with a creamy pimento Hollandaise. While I enjoyed this tasting, I was miffed that my ticket-stub was only good for one 'puppy.
Ample Hills Creamery: my apologies that the photo I took of my "Salted Crack Caramel" ice cream cone did not come out very well. I will tell you, though, that it was delicious and of ample size - no pun intended.
Conclusion
For a mere $20, I sampled delectable creations from three different restaurants and a creamery - all four of which I had never been to prior to Sunday. Compared to my usual $30 brunch tab, this festival was quite the "bang for the buck," with the exception of Gramercy Tavern's stingy "one hushpuppy per ticket stub."
Aside from marking my calendar for next year's festival, I cannot wait to dine at Lowcountry, which is/has opening soon!
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Until we eat again,
Lindsay, The Lunch Belle