We had an opportunity to attend NYC Wine & Food Festival, Backyard BBQ event ($175/person). It was at the rooftop of Pier 92, and held on Sunday evening. It was their 10th anniversary, so I heard it was extra festive this year. When we got there, it was already busy with lots of people, and delicious aroma floating everywhere. NYCWFF is a grand 4-day festival, with many events going on every day, total of over 100 events! They have cooking classes, seminars, parties, intimate dinners with celebrity chefs, and so much more. And the best part is that these events benefit Food Bank For New York City and the No Kid Hungry® campaign.
Backyard BBQ event was hosted by Andrew Zimmern and Pat LaFrieda, I was excited to possibly seeing and meeting some celebrity chefs… This one was the perfect event for foodies who loves wine and BBQ, like me! We got to taste some delicious food prepared by some of the country’s most awarded pitmasters. It was on October 15th, 2017, a bit grey sky and a chilly evening.
The first thing we grabbed was Real Sangria by Cruz Garcia. They had red and white Sangria, and we tried both of them. They were really tasty, flavorful and you can drink it as is, or add your own fruits in them. They were quite sweet though…maybe a bit too sweet for me. We paired the sangria with a pizza from Skinny Pines. They had Smoked Brisket Pizza made with picked hot peppers, shredded mozzarella, red onion and corn. Sounded great and yes, tasted really nice too. I liked the thin and crispy crust, and the sweetness from the brisket and corn. It had a hint of spicy kick to it from the hot pepper. Great way to start off the event!
Then, we got something more meaty, Pig Beach Ribwich from Pig Beach. It came with pickles and picked red onions on a potato roll. Let me tell you, it was delicious! So meaty, tangy, tender, and yes, party in my mouth! The sweet ribs went great with the sour pickles, cuddled by soft potato buns…my goodness we were so happy we were at this event.
We saw this huge pig on a display too… I am not sure if they were cutting the meat for sampling, we didn’t see much of any action.
Next up was Black Iron Burger. They provided half-buger, with all-natural patty, cheese, topped with their popular “Stout Caramelized Grilled Onions.” It was pretty tasty, the meat was cooked with pink in the middle, keeping the patty juicy and moist. Buns were fluffy, and their Aioli Fries were very addicting…!
After that, we were ready for a small dessert. Luckily, Cake Life had their tent right next to Black Iron Burger. They had lots of cute little desserts, called Dark Chocolate Dulce de Leche Truffle Bar. It has a chocolate cookie base, holding salted dulce de leche and decadent dark chocolate truffle ganache layers on top. Look how adorable it is! Since it is made with dark chocolate, it was not overly sweet. The sweetness of dulce de leche and bitterness from the dark chocolate was match made in heaven. Creamy and velvety, melt in your mouth. The cookie base was great too, hard and strong enough to be a base, but moist and soft enough to bite into it without any difficulty. I really enjoyed this little guy.
At this point, I was already getting a bit full…I know, what a shame! But that didn’t stop us from enjoying this fun foodie event. We had to try few more tasty samples. We stopped over at Samsung hosted little oasis. They had a nice set up with sofas and ottomans, along with live demonstration from a chef Paul Donnelly, which was awesome!
Chef Donnelly was making Sesame Shrimp Toast “Jerk Style” which was super tasty! We actually had the creation before we watched him make them… He was very nice and friendly, explained the ingredients that goes into it, what the steps are, and how they come out at the end.
All the raw ingredients are mixed together and put on a small piece of bread, topped with panko, then finished off in the oven. I am not sure how much this item it has to do with “BBQ” but regardless, it was awesome.
You can see the Before and After of this creation. I must say, the Before ones don’t really look appetizing, but then the After ones were so great! It had wonderful delicious aroma that drew us in to this space, and it was a nice little relaxing time on the comfy sofa as well.
They were also offering Epica Chardonnay, which went really nicely with this dish. Great pairing on their part. We of course grabbed a cup and tasted our Sesame Shrimp Toast.
It was not big, but a perfect appetizer size. The toast was super crunchy, the shrimp was plump and soft, packed with flavor. The panko added a nice crunch, but sesame really gave the most noticeable crunchy texture. And, loved the aioli on top, it completed the dish. It was so good we had more than one of this baby…
After some R&R, we headed back out to the tents filled with more yummy foods. We saw one tent with a long line, sign of a good food. One gentleman walking by told us that the wait was totally worth it because it was so good. So, we got in line, and it moved quite fast. It was grilled Tomahawk Steaks by Bowery Meat Company. It was a pretty big size on the grill, but then what we got was a very small slice… It was certainly delicious, tender and juicy. But it was such a small portion to fully appreciate it…
While we jumped on another long line, I went to get us some drinks. Four Roses Whiskey was set up nearby, offering tasty cocktails. The man who was pouring the drinks were really awesome! He was knowledgeable, and super fun!
He had two cocktails, Four Roses Cooler and Kentucky Mule. We tried one of each. Four Roses Cooler is made with Four Roses Bourbon, honey syrup, lemon juice, grapefruit juice, and aromatic bitters. Kentucky Mule was made with Four Roses Bourbon, fresh lime juice, and ginger beer. They were both really tasty! I like them both a lot. Strong, nice sweetness to them, and refreshing.
After we enjoyed the Four Roses cocktails, we were ready for some more meats! It was a tasty concoction made by Butcher Bar. They had a Meat Candy sandwich, which is double-smoked beef burnt ends. It also had Grandma’s Coleslaw.
Since we like spicy flavor, we got him to add spicy sauce on top. My goodness this was amazing! Super flavorful meats, smokey and juicy, tender and melt in your mouth. Grandma’s Coleslaw was amazing too, super fresh and crunchy, not overpowering but working great with the flavor of the meat. Not too spicy but just the right amount of kick to it. It was really delicious!
Now, we are ready for another sweets. We found Schmackary’s who was offering cookies and ice creams. That sounded good to us, so we got on the line.
They had few kinds of cookies, like Chocolate Chip, Fun-Fetti and Red Velvet. I grabbed a Peanut Gallery Cookie, which was very peanut buttery. You could get a scoop of vanilla ice cream, get another cookie of either the same flavor or a different flavor make it into an ice cream sandwich. But, I was getting so full at this point, I couldn’t eat two cookies… So, I made mine into an open-face sandwich…well, sort of. More like a cookie with inc cream on top. They had some toppings that you could put on top by the side. I chose fruit loops, and it was pretty darn good.
Then we found a car on a display, but Alfa Romeo. They were offering hot chocolate and macarons. I know it was not quite Summer yet, but since it was a chilly evening, hot chocolate sounded pretty good.
It was not a regular hot chocolate, it had lemon zest that was put on top right in front of you from a fresh lemon! It was really thick, sweet, and soothing to my soul… I didn’t get to try the macaron, but hot chocolate was enough sugar (not mention other sweets that I have already consumed this evening).
We saw something else that looked unusual in the Backyard BBQ event…a wood log cabin! It was sponsored by Loacker, and they were offering their wafers and also free 3D photos. Their Loacker mascot was walking around, and he was…I am not sure if he was cute or creepy, or maybe both??? And here is the free photo looks like, just one frame off the 3D. I know it looks funny, us looking like we are ready to go skiing in clothes that is not so right for skiing…!!! LOL.
Now, one thing I could say about this Loacker guy is that he can dance! Another Loacker staff and this yellow guy was showing some impressive (?) moves.
We decided to check out one last spot before we ended the night. Dough! They have Hibiscus, Pumpking, Dulce de Leche and few other flavors, and they all looked soooo good. I was so completely stuffed that I couldn’t eat anything anymore, so we took the doughnuts home.
Before we left, we went to the stage towards the back to see who won the best BBQ award. At the entry, we were given a small wooden tokens, and we are supposed to give it to the place we thought provided the best food. Andrew Zimmerman announced the winner, and the excitement was to the roof! I wish if I could’ve taken a photo with him, but he seemed like he was completely NOT interested in mingling with his fans. He took a couple of photos with some aggressive fans, and they he walked away at the speed of light… Oh well.
It was a really fun event, we ate until we could not have another bite. It is a pricey event, but it is for a good cause, and you get all the food and drinks that you can stuff yourself with. I bet we didn’t event get quarter of the total offerings… Next time, I think we will share all the samples, so that we can try more food from other vendors! It is an annual event, so if you are a foodie who loves wine and food, you know what to look out for next year around October!
NYCWFF 2017: Backyard BBQ – Pier 92 Rooftop, 711 12th Ave, New York, NY 10019