by Laura B. Weiss
Who cares if there’s a half hour wait for barbecue or pint-sized cheesecakes? You’ve gotta love Smorgasburg for the scene, the food and the gorgeous views of the skyline. Extra bonus: if you’re not a Brooklynite and coming from Manhattan, take the ferry back from Williamsburg to Midtown. On a gorgeous day, the ride matches the food.
Photos by Laura B. Weiss
Paco Torreblanca puts olive oil to use in lieu of butter. Photo: StarChefs.com.
How sweet it is. The winner of the The 3rd Annual StarChefs.com International Pastry Competition taking place now in New York will walk away with a $5,000 cash prize. But first, the 20 chefs vying for top honors in the annual pastry contest have to get through two elimination rounds in order to make it to the finals Oct. 2.
A host of pastry luminaries have been tapped to judge the flour faceoff. “Top Chef Just Desserts” star Johnny Iuzzini will lead a team that includes Alex Stupak, Jeffrey Steingarten, Elizabeth Falkner, Stephane Treand, and Michael Laiskonis.
I’ll be live-tweeting the final round Oct. 2, which pits two pastry chefs against each other. Follow me at @Foodandthings.
Pre-competition, September 29: Pastry training and prep for Round 1.
Round 1, September 30: Pre-dessert competition–20 chefs compete for 10 spots to advance to Round 2.
Round 2, October 1: Plated dessert competition–10 chefs compete for three finalist spots and prizes and advance to the final round.
Round 3, October 2: Finalists create three corresponding desserts, each showcasing a different technique–1 pastry chef wins the grand prize.
Photo: Hamilton Conservation Authority via Flickr.
Yes, I know, summer’s over. So what am I doing talking about ice cream? I should be talking about pumpkins. Or maybe turkeys.
Well, ice cream’s one of those treats that people love 24/7, 365 days a year. So even though it’s almost Halloween, I’m doing two events in the coming weeks where I’m talking about ice cream history and reading from my book Ice Cream: A Global History.
The first is in San Francisco Oct. 9 at Omnivore Books on Food. The second, part of the reading series Drink.Think, is in New York, where I’ll be part of a group reading about drinks, mostly alcoholic—except I’m reading about the sweet and innocent cream soda. (See below for details.)
Here’s the info. Hope to see you there!
Omnivore Books of Food, San Francisco
Oct 9, 2012
6pm-7pm
3885 Cesar Chavez Street San Francisco, CA
415 282 4712
Drink: Think, New York, New York
October 16, 2012
The bar will be open starting at 6pm – the reading starts at 7pm
Obra Negra, below Casa Mezcal
86 Orchard Street
212 777 2600
Bar tray, 1900–1930. The New-York Historical Society, Gift of Bella C. Landauer. Photo: NYHS
By Laura B. Weiss
Calling all brewmeisters and beer fiends. You can sample beer and see exhibits chronicling the sudsy brew’s storied New York history at Brew Here, the New York Historical Society‘s summer exhibit, opening May 25, 2012. It’ll go all summer long, until September 2.
The exhibit will walk you through beer’s long and colorful history in New York, from the 17th century to the present. Apparently, New York’s brewing history is largely unknown. That’s kind of strange considering all the beer making going on these days.
So if you have a thirst for beer—not just drinking it, but knowing something about its local roots—mosey on over to the NYHS. Here’s some of what you’ll learn and get to view:
You’ll get thirsty after all that brewski learning. Not to worry. There’s a beer hall attached to the exhibit featuring a selection of New York City and State artisanal beers. The beer hall hours are: Tuesday-Thursday and Saturdays: 2pm–6pm, Fridays: 2pm–8pm, Sundays: 2pm–5pm
Want more beer mind food and a host of tastings? Here are some other events that will take place throughout the summer.
For tickets to these programs, please call the New-York Historical Society’s call center at (212) 485-9268 or visit http://www.nyhistory.org/programs.
BEER APPRECIATION NIGHT: THE HISTORY AND RENAISSANCE OF AMERICAN BREWING
Tuesday, July 10, 6:30 PM
Program & Beer Tasting combined ticket $49 (Members $37)
Program only $24 (members $12)
Location: Robert H. Smith Auditorium at the New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West
BEER TASTINGS:
Individual Tasting Program $35 (Members $20). Six Pack Special Discount (purchase by telephone or in person only): purchase tickets to six separate tastings for only $150 (members $100). You must be 21 years old or older to enjoy our tastings.
Wednesday July 4, 2:00 pm & 4:00 pm
Saturday, July 7, 2:00 & 4:00 PM
Program $35 (Members $20). You must be 21 or older to enjoy our tasting program.
Location: Robert H. Smith Gallery South at the New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West
CAPTAIN LAWRENCE BREWING COMPANY
Saturday, July 7, 2:00 & 4:00 PM
Program $35 (Members $20). You must be 21 or older to enjoy our tasting program.
Location: Robert H. Smith Gallery South at the New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West
Saturday, July 14, 2:00 & 4:00 PM
Program $35 (Members $20). You must be 21 or older to enjoy our tasting program.
Location: Robert H. Smith Gallery South at the New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West
Saturday, July 21, 2:00 & 4:00 PM
Program $35 (Members $20). You must be 21 or older to enjoy our tasting program.
Location: Robert H. Smith Gallery South at the New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West
Saturday, July 28, 2:00 & 4:00 PM
Program $35 (Members $20). You must be 21 or older to enjoy our tasting program.
Location: Robert H. Smith Gallery South at the New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West
caramel malt and Cascade Hops; and Apricot Wheat Ale, an easy-drinking wheat beer is light in color and body with a hint of apricot.
by Laura B. Weiss
What’s better than bacon? Well, if you’re a diehard bacon freak, four days of bacon immersion sounds like a pretty fat-ulous way to spend an early summer weekend.
At this bacon bacchanalia, dubbed Bacon Camp by Zingerman’s, the Ann Arbor food purveyor who is behind the event, you can be sure you’ll eat lots and lots and lots of bacon.
The pig-out will run from May 31 to June 2 and includes an all-day bacon talk-a-thon June 2nd. At that gathering, you’ll get to hear some of the country’s top bacon luminaries hold forth on perhaps the piggiest of pork.There will be bacon educators (hmm, what’s that?), bacon historians and of course bacon makers and producers, including Alan Benton, of Benton’s Country Hams.
It’ll be “a weekend of bacon-focused expositions and feeds that make sense of our national love affair with all things smoky and piggy and good,” says John T. Edge, the food writer and head of the Southern Foodways Alliance, which will get the proceeds from the event.
In addition to the all-day June 2nd Bacon Camp, you can go whole hog at a bacon and BBQ dinner June 1st. There’s also a bacon street fair June 3rd that will be held at the Ann Arbor Farmer’s Market.
Are you sizzling with anticipation?
Here’s the tentative lineup for the Bacon Camp to be held at Zingerman’s Roadhouse, Ann Arbor, MI.
Emile de Felice – owner of Caw Caw Creek Farms, South Carolina – the ins and outs of sustainable hog farming
Allan Benton – founder and owner, Benton’s Country Hams – the tradition of pork curing in the Appalachians
Audrey Petty – author and poet – bacon and African American foodways
Geoff Emberling – PhD archeologist and museum curator – hog raising in the Middle East before Mohammed
Ji Hye Kim – founder of San Street – a brief survey of bacon cooking and eating in Asia
Ari Weinzweig – co-founding partner of Zingerman’s and author of Zingerman’s Guide to Better Bacon – a look at bacon history in Hungary
For tickets and more information, click here.