Upon further reflection, this post should probably be renamed my weekend ENGULFED in food. I attended the Midtown Lunch 5th Birthday Party on Saturday, then the Big Apple Barbecue Festival on Sunday. Vegetarians be forewarned, I probably ate two pigs and a small cow this weekend. Who am I kidding…vegetarians don't read my blog.
I can't really compare these two events because they were on different levels, but if you forced me to pick which one was more enjoyable, I'd say the Midtown Lunch shindig. A personal preference perhaps, simply because I am not a fan of big crowds. General admission might have been 55 bucks, but it was organized, not crowded, the variety of food was great, and that admission fee includes all you can eat AND drink, so believe me you get your money's worth. I had so much food I had to come home and take a nap.
The Big Apple Barbecue Festival is cool too because all of the city's best BBQ comes together in one place and admission is free, BUT food and drink isn't, not to mention the lines for some of the food can get ridiculous. Here's a tip for next year's festival: they sell FastPasses, which I 110% recommend purchasing – they get you on a shorter line aka get you to your food a lot faster.
I can't go through everything I ate because there aren't enough hours in the day. But I will tell you my favorites from each.
Midtown Lunch
Ma Peche's beef and pork belly banh mi sandwich made specially for the occasion. Savory, spicy, crunchy, and delicious. This sandwich was complex but every component played an important role. Did I have seconds? I think you know the answer to that.
Tri Tip Grill's Baby Buck Sliders. NOT to be confused with baby BACK sliders. House-smoked, thin sliced tri tip steak on a potato roll with a little jus, horseradish and/or bbq sauce…I don't think you understand. This is the polar opposite of the Ma Peche sandwich because of it's simplicity, but the flavor was so good it didn't need any other accoutrements.
Cer Te's Lobster Sausage with truffled potato salad was new to me, but I was pleasantly surprised. The lobster sandwich trend is spreading like wildfire already..
Wafels and Dinges (pronounced like "ding-uhs") is just consistently awesome. As my cubemate friend Gil knows, I have a problem with excess bread in every situation except this one…wafel, spekuloos spread, whipped cream. Donezo.
Ginger and White Peach slushie from Kelvin Slush – all natural, sweet and (duh) slushie!
Potato Chip Chocolate Dip cone from Miss Softee and The Rolling Cones. Vanilla and chocolate soft serve twist, dipped in chocolate coating and rolled in crushed potato chips. Oh and I got to crush a fresh bag of potato chips for my cone! Talk about salty/sweet ice cream heaven.
Big Apple BBQ
Brisket from Hill Country was tender and their BBQ sauce is one of my faves. They also give you a pretty hefty portion for $8.
Blueberry Crisp and Blondie a la Mode from the Blue Smoke Bake Shop for $4 each. The line for this one (even on the Fast Pass line) was crazy, but it moved pretty fast and soon enough I was spooning little pieces of crumbly, sweet perfection into my mouth.
I WANT THAT TRI TIP SLIDER IN MY MOUF. That thing was so damn good. Thanks again for inviting me to come!
“It is no use saying, ‘We are managing our best.’ You have got to do well in managing what is necessary.”