Fall is harvest time in America's farmland, and, if you look closely enough, in the cities too. Brooklyn, which probably isn't the first place that comes to mind when you think "harvest," has a fall food festival of its own this weekend.
The Gowanus Harvest Festival will bring locally-grown veggies, potato sack races, pony rides and other down-home excitement to the banks of the (not-so) scenic Gowanus Canal. Of course, this is still Brooklyn, so there will be live indie rock and local microwbrews on hand as well. Obviously.
The festival, which takes place Saturday, October 11, will be held at outdoor performance space The Yard.
But the best thing about Bravo's promotion for the new season, which starts November 12, has got to be this ad, in which host Padma Lakshmi thoroughly enjoys a trip on the New York City subway system while seductively devouring a hot pretzel.
Back when Restaurant Week started in the 1980s, it was an idea anyone could get excited about: A one-week-only chance to dine at New York's top restaurants for a fraction of the price.
RW was so successful that every city in the high-end food game now has an annual restaurant week (or two or four), and the idea has gone from great deal to unbearable promotional event, with tiny menus, not-that-great prices and waiters irritated by stingy crowds.
So it only follows that someone would try to make RW cool again, and we're excited to learn the concept of sub-restaurant week is finally here. Presenting: Korean Restaurant Week.
Now through Saturday, 19 Manhattan Korean restaurants are offering a $15, three-course meal, all centered around bibimbap--the iconic Korean rice bowls topped with meat, vegetables, fried egg and assorted other goodies.
No longer shall you order a Mexican dish topped with mole sauce--a concoction of unsweetened cocoa and chilies, among other things--because it's cool to say. After a visit to the Atocpan Feria del Mole, which starts this Saturday in the Mexican town of San Pedro Atocpan, you'll be a mole expert worthy of pushing back your plate from Don Loco's and saying, "Pfft. This isn't real mole."
South of Mexico City, many people work in "mole mills" that prepare the famously complex sauce--in fact, an article in the local newspaper La Jornada estimated that 92 percent of San Pedro Atocpan's residents are involved in some way with producing or selling mole. Since most of their product is consumed in and around the Distrito Federal, it's rare for any "real" mole to trickle northward.
San Pedro Atocpan is only one of several cities laying claim to the title "birthplace of mole." (The Times awarded the title to Puebla two years ago.) After you've tasted the many varieties of mole infused with cinnamon, cilantro or raisins, check out the work of local artisans--and by then it'll be time to eat more mole.
Because all new TV shows are now reality competitions (except for these!), the Food Network is hitting the road this week in search of its newest Rachel Ray or Bobby Flay.
The channel is holding open casting calls for season five of "The Next Food Network Star." If you've ever yearned to be a Top Chef but were too lazy to go to culinary school, this one's for you. You need not be a professional chef--as long as you know your prosciutto from your pancetta and have "personality that pops."
Bring a menu and a dream to the tryouts, which start Friday in DC and roll through New York, LA, Philly, Portland and Charleston, South Carolina through October.
For most of us, tonight is just an average Monday night. But for a Chosen Few, sundown on September 28 means the start of a New Year. Rosh Hashanah also kicks off 10 days of repentance, concluding with the most significant Jewish holiday of the year, Yom Kippur, on October 9.
Jews (and non-Jewish college kids with little to no understanding of the holiday taking advantage of the extra day off school) mostly travel home to be with family during this time. Returning to your parents split-level in the suburb may not be the most glamorous form of travel, though it's certainly the most rejuvenating--and filling.
Like most holidays, families fill the days eating. So dip that challah in honey, throw the boyos in the oven, and put some meat on your bones already. L'shanah Tova!
Forget "Top Chef." If you're looking for some serious cooking contest drama, get yourself to Disney World this weekend for the semi-finals of the Bocuse d'Or.
The so-called Olympics of cooking, the Bocuse d'Or finals are held every year in Lyon, France, and for global gastrophiles, this contest carries serious weight. (Check out the over-the-top website intro--these people clearly think this is much bigger than the Olympics.)
Unfortunately, America's track record is far from golden. In the 20 years the competition has been held, Team USA has never placed in medal position--in fact, they've never come close, with their best finish a lowly sixth in 2003.
Ah, fall. Time for harvest season, leaf peeping and--for a surprisingly large number of Americans--lacing up the corsets.
For reasons that remain unclear, autumn is prime Renaissance Festival season throughout America, and now through early November, fairgrounds all across the country will be hosting jousting competitions and suffering legions of poorly done old English accents.
But RennFests aren't just for 15th-Century geeks--they're for foodies too. Express Night Out took a trip to the Maryland Renaissance Festival and reports it picks up where summer's state fairs left off:
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by BS
