If you love food and drink, then there
is only one place to be this Monday, Oct. 18 – the eighth annual
"Brooklyn Eats" food and beverage tasting festival
at the New York Marriott Brooklyn.
From 5:30 pm to 8:30 pm, the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce will
host 72 of the borough’s finest restaurants, gourmet groceries,
caterers, artisanal wine purveyors, beer brewers and beverage
distributors for a feast in the Grand Ballroom of the downtown
hotel.
"The vitality of the Brooklyn restaurant scene is evident
at the festival," said Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce President
Kenneth Adams. "There’s a great diversity of ethnic foods
from restaurants in neighborhoods all over the borough."
The participating vendors represent 20 Brooklyn neighborhoods,
and with all the fusion combinations, it’s impossible to determine
the number of different styles of cuisine that will be offered.
Adams is pleased that chefs who participated in previous festivals
are returning, and is happy that the event continues to attract
so many first-timers.
"The event has proven to be an important launch for restaurants,"
he said. "Because of the great mix of new and more established
places, diners who head to the Lundy’s station for lobster bisque
will try something new at a place they’ve never heard of, and
just like that, the restaurant’s on their radar screen."
One newcomer to the jaw-dropping smorgasbord is Peter How, chef
and owner of the year-old Banana Leaf restaurant in Bay Ridge.
"We’re thrilled to introduce our restaurant at the Brooklyn
Eats festival," How said of his Malaysian restaurant. He
will serve Banana Leaf’s signature crusty coconut shrimp with
spicy pineapple salad at "Brooklyn Eats."
Aricka Westbrooks, owner of Fort Greene’s Jive Turkey, is another
newcomer to the event.
"We’re really excited that people come from all over Brooklyn
and Manhattan for the event," said Westbrooks. In addition
to deep-fried turkey, she’ll serve turkey meatballs in an orange-apricot
glaze and puff pastry pizza with Brie and cranberry chutney.
Patty Lowry, who owns both the 12th Street Bar & Grill in
Park Slope and Five Front in Fulton Ferry-DUMBO, is returning
to the festival for the fourth time.
"We love Brooklyn Eats. [Five Front and 12th Street Bar
& Grill] chef Paul Vicino gets to show off his new dishes
for fall, and we meet lots of new people who become customers,"
said Lowry. "The feedback is great." The event is an
opportunity for a restaurant to reach 1,000 foodies in one evening.
At this year’s festival, Vicino plans to represent 12th Street
with a tomato-bread soup and Five Front with Moroccan lamb shanks
and chickpea salad.
At the event, chefs set their tables, piled high with platters,
side by side in the enormous ballroom. A diner may start nibbling
from platters of cheese and pates then move on to barbecued ribs
and cornbread, sushi and bowls of steaming pasta.
Or, start with dessert.
There are cakes as ornate as bridal gowns, finger-sized pastries
glistening with berries and crumbly cookies. Great wine is decanted;
there are designer sodas to slurp; and cups of rich coffee are
poured throughout the evening to help settle over-stimulated
stomachs and improve the endurance of ticket-holders.
If you can take your eyes off the food, you’ll spot size 4 women
licking icing off their plates or the telltale glazed eyes of
someone in a sugar coma.
The Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce will award $1,000 "Brooklyn
Eats" scholarships to three aspiring chefs. The winners
of this year’s awards are Latoya Mason, Shakia Hall and Ronney
Williams, seniors in the Hospitality Management program at New
York City College of Technology in Downtown Brooklyn. To be eligible,
the students must be at the top of their class academically and
be active in community service. The winners have created a dish
that will be served at the event.
So lift your forks and prepare to indulge.
The Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce’s "Brooklyn
Eats" food, wine and beer tasting festival will take place
at the New York Marriott Brooklyn [333 Adams St. between Tillary
and Willoughby streets, (718) 246-7000] on Oct. 18 from 5:30
pm to 8:30 pm.
Tickets ordered in advance are $85 per person for VIP admission
that begins at 5:30 pm; or $60 per person for general admission
that will allow entrance at 6:30 pm. For tickets, call (866)
468-7619 or go to www.ticketweb.com. A limited quantity of $85
tickets will be sold at the door beginning at 6:30 pm.
