Grub Street Food Festival ::UPDATES!::

6 Dec

I was SO excited when I heard that Grub Street (the food section of New York Magazine) was going to be holding a food festival when some of my favorite people were in town to visit.  I immediately picked this as our first destination.  Some fantastic restaurants that I had wanted to try were going to be all in one place.  I was SO excited!

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And then we got there… It was being held in a very small, fenced off area and it was packed TO THE GILLS.  I’m not sure if it’s because I’m short, but I HATE being in a place where I can’t see past a huge group of people.  ESPECIALLY when I want food!  You couldn’t see where lines began or ended nor what each place was offering.  I would have GLADLY waited on line for many of these places, however, it was so damn packed that it was uncomfortable and frustrating.  I was ready to throw in the towel, but the team calmed me down and came up with a plan of attack.  We would all find one place with interesting stuff, get it, and meet back towards the front to share our spoils.  Ready… Set… GO!

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The first place that caught my eye was selling chocolate chip pretzel cookies. So I got one of those and it was unique and delicious.  Surprisingly soft.  Unfortunately, I never got enough room to take a picture of where it came from.

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UPDATE: In a fortuitous turn of events, I happened upon a stand for this very company when I went to the Columbus Circle Holiday Market this past weekend.  So now I know… Sigmund Pretzelshop make fine pretzel cookies!

I also decided to try the cheddar truffle pretzel while I was there this weekend.  It was good, but could have been more truffly. 🙂

I REALLY wanted some risotto balls that were being cooked near the front, however, they obviously didn’t anticipate the amount of people and said it would be at least 10-15 minutes before new ones were out.  I diligently waited since it was near our waiting spot, however, when they finally came out there were only about 6 to buy… so I didn’t get one.

I still had a bit more time, so I found a place near our meeting spot with a shortish line called The Smile that was serving grilled cheese sandwiches.  It was good, but a bit too generic.  Not exactly what I would serve to people to convince them to come in to try a meal.

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Mike proudly came back with a short rib sandwich.  It was VERY tasty! Wish I knew where it came from…

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Our friend Sarah came back with an empanada.  I couldn’t eat it, but I hear it was good.

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Our friend Mark, however, came back with the winner… Fried Pumpkin Pie.  GENIUS!  Everything about this was sensational!  If I knew where this came from, I’d get this again in a heartbeat.

UPDATE 2!  Thank you Lillian for sending me this link that talks about what to eat at the festival.  Here I learned that the fried pumpkin pies came from Melt Bakery.  (By perusing their site, I found out that they have classes!  I also found out that they DELIVER! And they are most famous for their ice cream sandwiches.  Goodbye diet… HELLO Melt Bakery!)

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A funny side-note, however… Bethenny Frankel (best known for being on the Real Housewives of New York), was filming her new(ish) show at the festival when we arrived.  Mike even gave her a fond “How You Doin?”  She had a full crew with her, and I’m surprised she was there with all of the people.  But it was a fun local celeb siting.

It pains me at how frustratingly crowded this was.   The small, gated area made it quite miserable.  I hope that they will do this again, only do it in a larger area that isn’t so confined.  I probably would have spent a good deal of money trying the various places, happily waited on line, and returned to my favorites for full meals later on.  What a loss.  BUMMER!

Next time Grub Street Food Festival… Next time!

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