The Food Film Festival 2018
Last week, The Food Film Festival returned to New York City for its 12th straight year! The four day Festival featured a series of events where food and film lovers got to Taste What They See on the Screen...right in their seats! The festival offers a unique experience where guests get to actually taste the foods they see on the screen right in the comfort of their own seats. It was a dream come true for food and film lovers alike. That's always followed by an official Festival After-Party with more food, drinks and fun, served up by chefs and restaurants from New York City and beyond.
The four-day festival which ran from Oct 24th to the 28th and showcased independent films accompanied by different dishes featured in said films. This year, the Festival kicked off with the World Premiere of Anthony Bourdain Parts Unknown / Lower East Side presented by CNN Original Series.
The episode follows Bourdain on a personal journey through this formerly bohemian New York City neighborhood, as he meets, shares meals and reflects with music, film and art trailblazers including Richard Hell, Deborah HARRY and Chris Stein, Lydia Lunch, Fab 5 Freddy, Danny Fields, Amos Poe, Jim Jarmusch, Kembra Pfahler, John Lurie, Clayton Patterson and Harley Flanagan, whose collective cultural impact in the 1970's and '80's has sustained through the decades. 100% of proceeds from opening night will be donated to the Bronx Letters Foundation, a charity that was supported by Anthony Bourdain.
Thursday night, Guests were treated to an exclusive Eat & Greet with Saxon + Parole Chefs Brad Farmerie and Chef Nicole Gajadhar. Beer, wine, cocktails, films and tastes were all part of the exceptional experience.
Friday night celebrated many dishes of New York City's cuisine in Edible Adventures #16: Stories of New York. An eclectic mix of foods and films made here in New York City were presented to the patrons.
Saturday's festivities featured the magic of cooking meat over fire at Fire and Smoke: Texas BBQ and Beyond, bringing together Black's BBQ from Texas, Izzy's Smokehouse from Brooklyn and more. On scene, were the pit-masters responsible for bringing Central Texas Style BBQ to new spaces and chefs who can harness smokey goodness of fire-roasted meats. Presented were also the world famous brisket from renowned Kent and Barrett Black of The Original Black's BBQ in Austin, Texas.
Finally, the Festival closed on Sunday with All You Need is Brunch!
It has been another amazing year for The Food Film Festival, and they could not have done it without the help of so many - and just to name a few - In The Raw, Bloomberg Philanthropies, CNN Original Series, Schweid & Sons, Mann's, NY Distilling Co., Night Kitchen, and their non-profit beneficiary, The Billion Oyster Project.
Photos courtesy of The Food Film Festival
Food Film Festival NYC
The Food Film Festival does not do enough justice in describing what this is all about. It's an experience!
How many times have you watched a film (for me, it's almost anything on Food Network) and saw something that looked incredibly tasty and wished you could sample it? The idea of the Food Film Festival was born from that very craving.
The Food film Festival marked its 10th anniversary this weekend at AMC Empire 25. The festival offers a unique experience where guests get to actually taste the foods they see on the screen right in the comfort of their own seats. It was a dream come true for food and film lovers alike. Since 2007, the festival has been showcasing films that use food and beverages as thematic elements. What makes this event so special is the fact that guests are able to sample the items that they see on the screen.
The four-day festival which ran from Oct 20th to the 24th showcased independent films accompanied by different dishes featured in said films.
Opening night (Best of a Decade!) revisits the best films from the fest's ten years and offers treats from Amanda Cohen’s Dirt Candy, The Brooklyn Star, Max & Mina’s Ice Cream and more.
On the second night (Taste of Louisiana), the theme was celebrated Cajun cooking with Volcano Bread from Laugarvatn Fontana Spa, Pickles from Leibowitz Pickle Works, Pizza from Denino’s Pizza, BBQ Shrimp Boule by Chef Jude Tauzin, Spring Rolls by Jeannie Ongkeo, and Peach Cobbler with Vanilla Ice Cream by Chef Jenny McCoy. The highlight of this night was definitely the alligator dish from City Pork Brassiere.
On the third night (Food Porn Party), the festival’s rousing Food Porn Party returns, with extreme eats from Meyers Bageri, Top Pot Donuts, Breads Bakery, Night Kitchen and many more, to accompany films that are essentially beautiful shots of food — aka food porn. The famous Chonut was a must try, and the night ended with a strip show – appropriately named food burlesque.
And closing night (Eat Japan!) was all about the Land of the Rising Sun with an amazing selections of food from Patisserie Tomoko, chef Karl Palma’s Takoyaki, Japanese iced coffee, mochi and last but not least, ramen.
In addition to drinks and the numerous courses served during the films, each night included an after party with even more food based on the night’s theme. One thing's for sure, this will be the tastiest film fest you've ever attended.
All Food Festival events benefit important non-profit organizations, such as the Food Bank For New York City, The Billion Oyster Project, The Good Food Project and GrowFood Carolina.
These unique kinds of events is what makes us so fortunate to be living in a place like New York. I thought it was such a fun experience and can't wait to see what they'll bring us next year!
Photos courtesy of The Food Film Festival.