This past weekend, I had the really fun opportunity to cover the NYC Food Film Festival. I had written about the festival previously, and I was really looking forward to viewing some great food-related films, and enjoying an accompanying menu. Plus, the venue was right in TriBeCa, one of my favorite neighborhoods! I attended two events – the first was the saucily named Food Porn* Party …
With a name like that, I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect, but I was pleasantly surprised – a good number of high quality, foodelicious close-ups, set to enticing music and some great storylines!
We were encouraged to vote for our favorites:
And of course we had luscious food to accompany our film screenings – here is an octopus dish to go along with the film “Amor Pulpo”:
And an extremely generous serving of lobster to go with “Dinner for Two”:
This was a sampling of headcheese and blood sausage to go with a short film about how these delicacies are made – they were delicious!
This “turtle burger” accompanied the film of the same name. I was a bit skeptical at first, as I’m a fan of turtles but not necessarily in burger form. The short film hilariously described the meticulous method to prepare said burger:
Turkey patty, wrapped in turkey bacon (basket weave, no less), with hot dogs for head and appendages. Though a bit unusual, this was DELICIOUS!
On Sunday, I attended another event – Farm to Film to Table. As a new CSA member, I was especially interested in learning more about small farms, local food, and family run food businesses. Before the screening, we were treated to some great produce – here we have a root vegetable and tomato salad:
Edible “dirt”:
I don’t remember exactly what this was called, but it was gooooood:
We also sampled mini apples stuffed with thick-cut bacon – yum!
Chipotle, one of the sponsors of the film festival, was on hand to deliver some hot hot hot chili!
Once again, the funky red/purple lighting while great for party ambiance, renders my food pictures a little strange – but the chili was good.
After doing a quick perusal of the culinary offerings outside, an announcement was made that the film screenings were about to begin! As we took our seats, we were presented with the menu for the screenings – I was especially excited about the cookies and milk from Ronnybrook farms, which produces some of the best milk I’ve ever tasted:
There were various wines, beers and non-alcoholic drinks to choose from during the screenings. Being the lightweight I am, I chose this lime soda called Spritz-O – I had never heard of it before, but it was super good!
The Festival Director and Co-Creator welcomed the crowd:
and we got started!
Once again, there was food service that accompanied each film shown – I’m all about total immersion, so this was really fun! As an example, this lovely white bean and tomato soup was served during the film “How to Prepare for a Mid-Winter Soup Frenzy”:
My favorite film of the evening was “The Big Table” – “an intimate look at Ronnybrook Farms, a dairy run by a multi-generational family.” Ronnybrook is a regular at my favorite farmer’s market and their milk is simply amazing. They also produce butter, yogurt, yogurt drinks, ice cream – I’ve tried them all, and they are as excellent as the milk. If you ever encounter a Ronnybrook product, I would highly highly recommend. The film touched upon the challenges that small dairy farmers face today, as well as the multi-generational Osofsky family, that started and runs the farm. After the film, the family was called up to the front, where they received a wonderful ovation:
And here is the fabulous milk and cookies that accompanied the film:
I also thoroughly enjoyed the film “Truck Farm” – described as “The wild world of urban agriculture as told through the journey of a 1986 Dodge pickup that has been transformed into a rolling garden.” It was so interesting to see how the owner of the truck farm (pictured below) researched the best way to put this novel way of farming into place, using a rooftop irrigation system.
After the screenings, I headed back out to the party area for – what else – more food! I was especially interested to see what Ronnybrook was offering and was pretty amused to see it was called “The Dom Perignon of Dairy” (though I agree with that assessment!):
How fun! Ronnybrook had an ice cream sundae bar set up. Featuring their super premium Ginger Creme Brulee ice cream, the sundae also included a mini pancake, a palmier, and various toppings of your choice:
I decided to go with the caramel and hot fudge sauces, and the results were mouthwatering!
As you can see, the event was packed and the joint was jumping, with no signs of slowing down:
As I left, I was surprised with a fun treat – the truck farm that was so lovingly featured in the film (duh) “Truck Farm” was parked outside! It was pretty cool to see a fully functional farm packed into the bed of a truck – if that’s not efficient NYC living, I’m not sure what is.
The Food Film Festival was a educational, delicious, and well-executed event. If you’re ever in Chicago or NYC when it’s taking place, definitely check it out! I’m already looking forward to next year’s festival!
