nyc food film fest: day 2

11:00 am I checked into NYC’s first ever Food Truck Drive-In @ the lot underneath the Brooklyn Bridge, DUMBO.

It was a frantic scene of volunteers running around setting up tables, barking out instructions, and nervously counting down the minutes until go time (noon).

After meeting some fellow volunteers from the Food Bank NYC and helping to set up the general admission area, I was whisked away to the VIP entrance where I was ordered to hand out wristbands to all the participating food trucks.

Yippee! I had the perfect opportunity to walk up to every truck, say hello, and take a peek at the menus…I couldn’t contain my excitement as I visited each one…

The Rickshaw Dumpling Truck

The Krave (Korean Tacos from Jersey)

Jiannetto’s Pizza

The Green Truck

…that supposedly runs on vegetable oil!

Schnitzel & Things

Street Sweets

The Cooking Channel Truck

Pizza Moto (complete with a wood burning oven!)

And part of a separate area called “Brooklyn Flea” were the food vendors from the weekly Brooklyn Flea market…how clever!

Asia Dog (yum!)

McClure’s Pickles

The Milk Truck

(Not pictured: NYC Cravings, Treats Truck, Vegan Truck, Go Burger, Liddabit Sweets, Nunu Chocolates, plus a few others…)

I got to greet almost each one, tell them how great they all were and secretly warn them the health department was making the rounds…shh…

1:00 pm A slow and steady trickle of hungry foodies came through the doors, excitedly touring the grounds where the food trucks were stationed – gearing up for the long day of cooking ahead.

As the lines grew longer under the burning sun and the grills got hotter in those tiny little mobile kitchens, I was asked to head back to the festival HQ with some other volunteers to help stuff grab bags.

I was a little disappointed to be leaving all the action, but I was grateful at a chance to enjoy some AC.

So for the next few hours I sat with two other volunteers stuffing bright green Bloomberg bags with free snacks and various coupons for free burger grills, bottles of mustard and Zagat memberships – your standard foodie event schwag.

This is just a fraction of the never-ending sea of green

4:00 pm Finally we were released from stuffing bags and headed back outside.  The crowds had died down and I swooped in on one unsuspecting truck for a late lunch.

I’ve heard great things about the Schnitzel & Things truck, plus it was the winner at last year’s vendy awards so I went straight for the $4 chicken schnitzel…

It totally lived up to the hype! It was essentially a chicken cutlet sandwich with a special mayo sauce, but the chicken was pounded into flat pieces and stacked with some crunchy greens served on good ciabatta bread.

Yum!

And for dessert, I lined up for a free ice pop from People’s Pops.  My flavor – rhubarb with jasmine simple syrup.

Talk about exotic! All I really tasted was syrup…but on a hot day, the icy treat was refreshing nonetheless.

In the calm before the dinner time crowds picked up, I took the opportunity to roam around the area and admire the beautiful venue.

The Manhattan Bridge

The Brooklyn Bridge

Even though I had just eaten lunch, the lines were slowly starting to pick up again so I decided that now was the best chance to get some Korean BBQ while I could.

The Krave truck had the longest lines the entire day (and night!).  I give major cudos to the three guys cooking up a storm and feeding what must have been hundreds of people.

The full Krave menu

Kalbi sliders (succulent, spicy beef with soft bread – winner!)

Chicken taco (with cool white sauce and pickled veggies – winner! again!)

6:00 pm After the food break, I headed back to the general entrance to see if I could be of any help.  I stayed here for a good three hours helping check people into the event.

It was such fun meeting all those foodie fanatics…there were people of all kinds – young, old, local, international, curious, hungry, lost…

As if she heard my poor feet crying, the Treats Truck owner dropped off a bag of her last few chocolate chip cookies before driving off into the sunset.

9:00 pm My next station was selling drink tickets.  Placed next to the beer truck, I was relieved to get a free refreshing glass of light ale as I sat and enjoyed the film screenings (and failed miserably at math when a thirsty patron would come up to buy a drink ticket).

11:00 pm I relinquished my stand at ticket sales and headed home after a long and tiring day.

It was an amazing experience, and I’m looking forward to helping out again next year. I highly recommend you check out the food film festival 2011 – if not for the films, certainly for the food!

Signing out!

summer fridays

In the agency world, there is a wonderful concept known as the summer friday.  As it goes at JWT, we are allowed to take up to three full friday’s off to spend enjoying the sun and summer fun.

I’ve never heard of anything more brilliant.

Well, this past friday I excersized my summer friday right and took the day off…just because!

Being the diligent foodie that I am, I offered to spend my day off volunteering for the NY Food Film Festival.  Preparation for the event (starting June 23rd) was in full force, and I was eager to get involved!

Not really knowing what kind of “help” they needed, I strolled into the uber trendy DUMBO offices in Brooklyn on the sweltering hot afternoon, hoping for a reprieve of some AC and relaxed gift bagging.

Instead, I was sent off with a tote full of promotional schwag and three very important deliveries. Oh, what adventure!

First stop: South Street Seaport, Go Burger Food Truck, Mike

While I was in the area, I had instructions to spread the word about the event by putting up fliers in restaurants, eateries, and other target spots along pier 17…

Second stop: Elizabeth Street/SoHo, AvoKro Offices @ Public Restaurant

I walked in on the midday prep for dinner service, and I coyly watched the sous chefs prepping greens and sauces in their crisp, white coats.  I almost forgot myself and asked if I could jump on the line!

Only kidding.

Since I was in the neighborhood, I stopped by Cafe Habana for the famous corn…oh, and to leave behind some fliers of course!  It’s a tough job…

Third and final stop: Rockefeller Center, NBC/Feast, Ben Leventhal

After all that walking (and a nearly empty tote) I needed to refuel and refresh.  Since I was in midtown west, I knew exactly where I wanted to go…

Ma Peche Milk Bar! I snatched up a blueberry and cream cookie plus a small loaf of apple and caramelized onion cornbread as my reward for a long day of walking.

Check out this map of the distance I crossed…those little bubbles of blue are the areas I walked around trying to post fliers…

My poor feet!

And my lucky tummy…

I’ll be reporting back from the NY Food Film Fest this week as I’m volunteering at several of the events.  Yippee, free foodie fun!

Stay tuned…