NYC Wine & Food Festival 2011: Burger Bash!

Hey there ... I have a busy day and woke up a bit late from a burger coma! LOL I ended up fitting in 5 burgers, 3 milk shakes, 2 orders of tots, 1 Pepsi & 2 waters. I'm sluggish teeheehee ... Ok here are some highlights ...I ran into the some of the Scotto's again! That's Marion, John and then next to him is Marty Markowitz. Marty is the Brooklyn Borough President. He is pretty cool, every time I see him on the news, he brings great personality and represents the vibe of Brooklyn so well. He works really hard. He also called me when I moved to Brooklyn to make sure I was registered to vote in this area. Gotta love it!! Ok, then there's Rosanna and City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn. Christine is just such an advocate for the people here in NYC, looking forward to a possible mayoral run ... people are talking! Ok, I had their burger and had to get out of the way! It was busy and the blur in the next photo shows how fast her team was working to feed the crowd...
Then I headed towards another area and kept hearing about some "White Castle-like" burger. I totally am into that (don't judge me, it's a once or twice a year thing and I savor it!) So, I got in line and the first thing I saw was ...
TOTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OMG SWEET POTATO TOTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OMG SEE THE SALT???!!!!!!!!!
And then they DRIZZZLED SAUCE?!?!?!?! JALAPENO HONEY SAUCE?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!? Who are these people?!?!?
Oh. Bill's Bar & Burger. Note to self, track down and make an RSVP soon. Here's a pic of the full offering, White Castle-like burger included...
I don't know if this is a compliment or not, but it did taste reminiscent of a burger from that fast food chain. Obviously, it was on a different level, but gee ... pretty darn good. I really want to eat here now. Soon. I went back for tots halfway through the night lol.
It was only after I walked away that I took my first bite of the burger and took notice of his genius. It was soooooo good. Just perfect. Then, because they were just so hot and crispy and soft inside and salted to perfection with just the right amount of sauce drizzled ... let's give some love to the tot makers ....
Yaaaaay!!!! Thanks for hustling tots all night!!!! Everyone was talking about them! Then, I headed over to see blue eyes himself ...
Bobby Flay!!! Again, it was Crunchified which made it bonafide and tasti-fied, totally not a word, but neither is "crunchified" and it works ;-), There was slaw involved and it was juicy! I made some rounds and had a burger I ate so fast it didn't get a close up picture and it was so crowded. There was a ton of white sesame seeds on the bun, it was cut in quarters and everything was so pillowy!! Here's a pic of the man serving that up...Then I moved under the tent only to find a HUGE circular display for Duff! Take a look ...
First person I saw was Geoff with a G, that's how I address him, he's so nice!! They were serving 5 shakes and pie to go with. I said to Duff, "This is crazy!!!" and he said "Yeah, I do more than cake!!!" Love it!! Here we are with silly Geoff looking in, I think it's the first ever photo bombing by someone that was supposed to be in the picture in the first place lol!!! Too funny!! Look at Geoff!!
That was a bacon-topped maple shake I'm holding. Then, he brought me a churro shake ...
It was good and crunchy! There was also a mint julep shake and then this shake I fell in love with ...
It was deceptively strong!!! Gooooooo team Duff and Geoff!!! This is a look at the main tent ...
It started to rain and everyone did their best to crowd in, some people either feeling the effects of the wine and drink ;-), or not afraid of the rain, hung out side. No biggie, the night was almost over when the rain kicked in high gear. I headed home and that's the best thing about the NYCWFF. People always ask me to compare this one to the one in Miami and I think they are apples and oranges and both spectacular for different reasons. The best thing about the one in NYC though, is I get to go home to this ...
I was trying to read the paper, sometimes it happens at the end of the day. Cheddar wasn't havin' it.

Ok, here's a link to more pictures from the events. I'm at the Grand Tasting Village tomorrow for a cooking demo!! Mine starts at 5:30pm and a ticket gets you all the tasting and sipping you can handle. Click here for a schedule of cooking demonstrations tomorrow and to buy tickets!!

Ok, hope you are enjoying the weekend!!

Sobe Wine and Food Festival: Burger Bash Slide Show

Hey! So last we spoke I was at the pool here blogging away with a bottle of bloody mary mix as my companion. I got up to head up to my room and get ready for the Burger Bash and ran in to the burger man himself ...Bobby Flay and that's my girl Aarti! She was just coming from the beach with her husband. We all chatted briefly then Bobby had to head off to make I think he said "five hundred fifty thousand" burgers lol ... Bobby is hilarious I can't wait to see him as a judge on his new show America's Next Great Restaurant.

Ok, here are some pics from the night ...

That's Burger Bash is held in that huge tent and every packs in like a night club, it's packed!
Rachel Ray is the host and architect of the evening and Lee Schrager got up on stage to make some welcoming remarks as well. The band really made the night great. They covered songs from Kool and the Gang to Ke$ha and it was allllll good! Here's Bobby Flay's burger ...made with his signature Crunchafied chips and a nice slather of goat cheese. It was pretty tasty!! Then, I headed over to Spike Mendelsohn's booth only to find him in a Hamburglar outfit ... this dude is crazy!Spike is really a cool guy, he always has some kind of gimmick involved, good thing his burger is slammin'!!! This time around he offered his Coletti Smokehouse Burger, here's the namesake of the burger, Mike Coletti ...
That BBQ sauce was something serious. I want a jar right now for a night I get lazy and don't make my own. I stepped away from Spike's burger spot and bumped into Robert Irvine hanging out at Michael Symon's offering ...

Robert and I chatted for a quick second, then I got to business by stepping to the man and asking him for everything he had to offer, in turn I got a burger I ended up calling "meat on meat on meat, a meaty burger" ...

Look, I don't know what to focus on with this burger, but let's start with the with fried salami. I saw about a jillion little crisps sitting on a wire rack in his staging area and immediately got excited. Then he layered on a really good shacha sauce, provolone cheese, pickled onions and there was fresh basil involved ... very tasty! He won the big prize and I'm not surprised I walked away and thought to myself, geez, he plays dirty ... all that MEAT! That just ain't right! Crazy!! Check out who I ran into on the way out of the tent ...

Duff Goldman hosts tomorrow night's Best Thing I Ever Ate on the Beach event. I also have a booth there and I can't wait to share with you the best thing I've ever had at the beach! Stick around for that and if you are here, I also have a cooking demonstration tomorrow, Saturday in the grand tasting village at 3:15. Come on by and hang out!! Here are the culinary students that prepared all my ingredients today for the event tomorrow ...

Alright! I'm heading out again tonight, hope you had a good week, if you are here and you see me, stop me and say hi!!

SoBe it! 2010 - Burger Bash!

Hi there! This will be less verbose, but hopefully an exercise in quality not quantity :-). I got to Miami yesterday to enjoy my second visit to the SoBe Wine and Food Festival. I've been a bit busy in the last few days and have stuff to share, but this is more pressing ... so without further drivel ...

Look at Bobby Flay reppin his burger! We were on the same flight headed down and were both just happy to make it out of NYC before the snow hit. When we landed I got plenty of pictures of what the snow did at home while in flight ... it looks bad. But never mind that ... look at Bobby!

He already looks sun-kissed doesn't he? His burgers were Crunchified (meaning they had chips on them ... and that's his word, not mine. I'd throw a "tm" on it, but I can't find the symbol on my computer lol). He also had a yummy BBQ sauce on it and coleslaw. When he gave me a preview on the flight, I knew it'd be my first burger at Burger Bash ... I also felt Spike Mendelsohn's winning days may be over. Spike's won two years in a row ... I tasted his burger last night. It was gooood, but even better was his cotton candy shake ....
I had two! You push the cotton candy down and the best way I can explain the texture is ... do you ever get an iced coffee or an iced tea? Ever have too much sugar in the bottom and enjoy sipping that layer with your straw and crunching? Well, that's how it was for the cotton candy shake, but even better was the texture of the shake, it was soooo smooth. Go Spike! He didn't win though ... Iron Chef Michael Symon brought it home for the team! Sorry, no pictures of that burger because most of the night I was hangin' out with Viva Towels! Here's my booth where I gave out not burgers, but my Baklava Cups.
That's Rebecca with me. She's a student at FIU and if you didn't know the festival is a charity event, so at the end of working here she gets a grant for school. Pretty neat. A few minutes after I met Rebecca, I met her dean and promptly try to barter for straight A's in exchange for some baklava and Viva Towels. Every one was just total smiles last night. Here's my Memphis family ...

It's the Neely's crew!!! It's our 1 year anniversary lol, we first met and hung out last year at this very event and since then we've had so much fun together. That's Tony Jr., myself, Tony Neely (Pat's bro), Pat Neely and my girrrrrrl Gina. They are such great supporters and feel so much more like family than co-workers. They were on their way in to the Burger Bash and made time to stop by before going beef crazy. I took a quick walk outside the immediate area of my booth and ran into two crazy characters ...

That's John Besh and Aaron Sanchez ... two willlld and craazy guys! Totally showing my age with that SNL reference teeheehee. I just recently worked with Aaron Sanchez in right here in Miami on an upcoming episode of Chefs Vs. City. It airs soon and I'll give you a heads up when I get the air date. John Besh is just one of those chefs you like to run into ... never stuffy and always smiles. Then, I turned around and someone that I totally LOVE ... actually came by to tell me he watches Cooking for Real ...
That's Chef Pepin, he's has a product line and I've watched him on Univision and although I don't speak Spanish, I watch to learn the language and of course I'm going to watch when food is involved. Other than that ... I've just seen this happy chef around and I love a good smile. What a nice way to meet someone I watch, finding out that they watch too. Speaking of, do you remember me posting about my last visit here and running into a Pollo Tropical for the first time? Well, looks like they read the blog just like you and one of the executives came by to say hi last night at the Burger Bash. Very nice surprise ... you never know who's watching ... or reading. ;-) Ok, that's all I have today and I still ended up typing too much, eh? If you are in Miami, I'll be on NBC today from 11-12noon to showcase my Caribbean Chicken Wings I'm making for this weekend's crowds at the Grand Tasting tents. If you are here, please comment if you'd like to meet up for a drink this weekend! Until then, check out Aaron McCargo's tweets and Jacob's tweets if you want to keep up with what's going on down here!

The Dimwit Twit ... or tweet, whatevs (My Rachael Ray Return)

Hey there! So, as mentioned in my last post I got a second invitation to be on Rachael Ray's show last week! Do you know what goes into being on a show like hers? I'll give you the run-down ... aka my Dimwit Twit ... or tweet, whatevs

1) Weds 4/9/09 - On my birthday, my assistant (she's really my bff that asked if she could help de-stress all my scheduling and stuff when it got crazy last year. I really should talk about her more ... she has a full-time career wrangling a-list recording artists and more and she just slid me right into her program, very nice and effective.) Anyway, she gets an email from the p.r. department at Food Network asking me first if I'm available (yes) and then telling me the planned theme of the show (secret). Because I was busy that day (celebrating my 34th!), my girl, knowing my schedule and of course that I would never say no to Rachael Ray, confirmed me ... but I didn't know yet. No biggie, she knows when I need to know stuff. 

2) Sun 4/12/09 - I get the email forward from my girl letting me know she got the request last week and knew that I would say yes, so she confirmed. Now, reading the email I begin to stress out! It's what I do ... I stress out. Lol. The theme of the show was commonplace and I knew I could speak to it, but the stress is getting my thoughts together for the audition ... what kind of audition you say? Well, it's called a pre-interview, but to me it feels like an audition. Like if I don't say the right thing or have the clever ideas, I won't make the cut or something or I won't get a return visit. I gotta tell ya, this is pretty honest. I always just want to do my best and I get scared that I won't. Ick. Things usually turn out ok, but you can't tell me that beforehand and the funny thing is I know this and still can't chillax. Ok, so the pre-interview was set for that Friday. In a pre-interview, the segment producers talk to you about the flow of the show and ask pretty much the questions that Rachael could ask to see what your response would be. Now, to add to that, I've learned of the other guests on the panel and they are all chefs ... argh ... I'm not. So, will my responses be good enough? Sound crazy? Who knows? I was also told in the email that each host will demo a recipe and mine was a certain course. All week all I could do was day dream about that course in the meal and what I would do for that in the circumstances given for the theme of the show. Follow? Alright, so if you are in a creative field, you know what it is to have to be creative on a timer ... scary. Will my brain get in gear? Can I say the right things? Anyway, I was a bit stressed hoping I'd have it together by Friday. Good thing is I've been gardening lately and it gives me plenty of thinking time. 

3) Thurs 4/16/09 - I get an email with the conference call information for the pre-interview set for the next day! Surprise! Looks like the show theme has changed a bit, but I still need to be prepared with recipe suggestions and answers to questions I don't even know yet. Exciting and a teeny but stressful because I still am not sure my ideas are original and will stand up to the chef's answers. I start thumbing through my old recipe journals for more ideas and then I just do some quiet time. That helps me, just sitting and thinking and letting the brain relax ... If I were new-agey, I'd say I meditated. I went to sleep a bit nervous, but again, excited to get on the conference call.

4) Fri 4/17/09 - I call into the conference call number on time and greet a party that has already started. There are two producers from Rachael's show and my p.r. rep from Food Network. After the hellos, we got to work and the producer's begin by asking me general questions that I wasn't expecting ... I had to think on my toes and was very happy with what my brain spit out. Then we got to the questions I was expecting and those went well too. Really, this all felt like a conversation among friends. Rachael has a cool staff, really. We were laughing and I was doing my best to stay on topic because I can ramble, but before we knew it 40 minutes elapsed and we were at the end of the questions! They told my p.r. rep that they would get back to her after discussing my answers and let her know what my part in the show would be and what recipe they would use for the show. So now, the waiting and the second layer of stress ... did I give them something they can use? All I know is the show tapes in 5 days and I have to get ready.

5) Mon 4/20/09 - I find out from the p.r. department about which recipe they want to use. Turns out after stressing for a week about a particular course, my answer about another course was so good, they decided to use me for that! Yaaaay! So, now all I have to do is develop the recipe. All that entails is writing it and getting it perfect. Then naming it, which is tough, that too I feel is creative and hard to do on a clock. I immediately sat down after getting the email and began to work. Luckily, one part of my recipe was a part of another one if that makes any sense? So, all I had to do was the other half and bring to life the description I'd given over the phone of the recipe in my head. I had a deadline of getting it in by the next morning and I went to sleep that night feeling good because the work was done.

6) Tues 4/21/09 - I got my toes done ... a super-pedi ... and a mani. This show airs in the summer and has a similar theme so I was told to come looking summery. I thought, I think I'll wear some sandals or something, so just incase I wake up in the morning wanting to, lemme get my feet in gear. I forget about them in the winter months, lazy yes ... also cheap as well :-). I'm still nervous because this is the day they see my recipe and they have the right to kick it back and make changes. So when I can't take it any more I ask for progress and find out everything is ok, they loved the recipe and want no changes to it! Yaaaay! I go to sleep wondering what exactly I will wear and hoping everyone likes my new hair cut.

7) Weds 4/22/09 - Today is the day! I got up at 6:30, threw on my outfit and headed to my girl Hadiiya Barbel's studio to get my hair done at 8:30. Then at 9:40 I hop in a car to the studios. I get there and go right into make up to get my face hooked up. It was nice seeing the same staff as last time and catching up a bit. Then after I headed to the green room to chill and wait for the other guests arrive, I realize why I saw Ken Paves and Benny Medina in the hallway ... J.Lo is in tha building!! She's so cute and I sit watching her live stream in the green room. Minutes later our segment producers come visit and go over the pace of the show we are about to tape. We find out where we will sit at the table ... I'm Joy Behar, if ya dig. Then we are reminded of what we said to them on the conference call and that we have to pretty much say the same thing on the show so no one overlaps information. Very choreographed, but they produce the show so well it looks very natural. The rest you'll have to see on television, but I left the building at 3 something and headed back home. I don't have an airdate yet, but here are some flicks ...

Duh, food first :-). Like before, the green room food was delicious. I took a flick before we all dug in. It didn't last long. I mean only on Racheal Ray's show do you get pizza with quail eggs. I haven't been on many shows, but due to my radio background I've been privvy to many green rooms and the fare served there. Rachael's staff has everyone beat. Everyone. Everything was so good. Just like I'd mentioned before, it's a panel discussion again and on the panel this time ...

Ooops ... too close up, lemme see if someone else will take the pic ... maybe one of his several p.r. reps from his publisher!? That's smarter ... 

Now you can see it's Throwdown king Bobby Flay! He's in the Whoopi seat on the panel. He's just still one of the nicest dudes and hilarious. I told him I'd make a tough face, and he did too for a sec until someone told him to smile. Btw, he is eligible for dad of the year because he told such a cute story of getting his daughter face time with the Jonas Brothers for her birthday. Pretty hip daddy if you ask me. Then another panel member is ...

That's Rocco Dispirito (aka Elisabeth Hasslebeck on the seating chart)leaving the green room area in search of some more food, really ... he said he was going back for seconds of something we ate on the show ... it was Rachael's recipe and in her words, I must co-sign and say it was yum-o. So, I have to say kudos to the man that departs light conversation in search of seconds.

Then, I met this dude for the first time ...

This is Chef Adam Perry Lang, today's Sherri Shepherd in the seating chart teeheehee. (Of course Rachael is Babs). Ok, lemme tell ya ... the book I'm holdin' ... AMAZING!!! It's in stores soon and on first look the recipes are amazing and the pictures to accompany are equally beautiful. I've done plenty of time in the South on some good ole BBQ and his book brings it all together. We talked backstage at length about different types of BBQ and I told him how proud I am that I have an upcoming episode of Cooking for Real that deals with North Carolina BBQ, which doesn't really get much play. People always debate over rub or sauce, but no one ever talks about vinegar based BBQ. I mean, we just chatted away ... cool family dude and he cooks!!! If you are a meat eater, this is a must-have cookbook ... really. Aside from meeting him, if I were in the store thumbing through books for purchase, I'd buy it. You can pre-order it here on Amazon and it's in stores May 5th. Good Father's Day or birthday gift for the protein lover in your life. Ick sounds like a commercial, but really ... there's a full chapter on lamb, several recipes for roasting a full-hog, I dunno, it just lit up the southerner in me. I'd totally buy it and feel wack now I didn't ask for two so I could give one away. Luckily ... I took this one from him and in return he invited me to his restaurant, Daisy May's BBQ. 

Now, if I had a Twitter account, I could've told you all of this in real-time, but I gotta tell ya ... I don't think I am going to begin twittering or tweeting or whatever the proper terminology is. I'm afraid it's the next generation Myspace, then Facebook ... eventually something will eclipse Twitter. I dunno, still on the fence, but I also know there is something to be said for a little privacy. I don't think anyone cares about my day to day and I know how much work I put into just blogging and replying to everyone here ... I ain't leaving this anytime soon, which means I can't take on new stuff. I can't follow the flock on this one ... thoughts?

It Was All Good Just A Week Ago ...

A Jay-Z lyric is the title reference, but it was just a week ago that I got up, runny nose, stuffy head and all just to head into the city to tape another holiday special for Food Network. This was in the middle of my haze, but I was sooooooo excited to be a part of the show! The premise is like many of the holiday specials in the past with various hosts cooking with each other for a holiday dinner to be enjoyed by all. A couple of months ago I got the invitation to be a part of it. That's something I don't think I thought about in the pursuit of a cooking show, the additional shows that come with the territory. I gotta tell you, this is all still pretty neat for me and I think it will be for a long time. I only dreamt of getting to New York and working at a top radio station, so when I made it, the brand-new feeling never left me and was there until the day I left. So, this feels quite similar. like some actors say, I'm just happy to be nominated. What great company to be in. On deck was Alton Brown, The Neelys, Giada De Laurentiis, Guy Fieri, Bobby Flay and me. It was my second time meeting Alton, but I'm sure it's one of those I remember, but he didn't things ... So, I treated it like a first meeting. A couple of years ago, Bone Crusher taped a judge run on Iron Chef America and I went to watch the taping and met him then. He was very kind, funny and welcoming then and this time I thought he was cool and quiet. Very like I think you may guess, he's very observant. I watched his segment and totally enjoyed it. Good Eats is one of my fave on the network. Here he is workin' with the Neely's...


Gina and Pat are exxxxactly like they are on their shows and Pat is so sweet, he sent Gina flowers to the set. So cute. Gina is hilarious and really made the 6a.m. call-time work for me, if every one was dead I would've been dead. She was the life of the early morning hair and make-up room. The network filmed behind the scenes video, so hopefully you'll get to see that soon either on the web or during the show. You can truly see how the network is built on such unique people all with a common love of food. We all were on different schedules throughout the day and at one point we all headed to another floor in the same building to shoot a promotional commercial. My part was to grab apples or cupcakes, put them in a gift box and pass it along ... here's my perspective of the set before we begin ...


And the cupcakes allll looked good, I wanted one, but was told the sprinkles were stuck on with adhesive spray because the frosting was put on the day before .... ahhhhh nice trick. Now whether the trick is to save me from eating a poisonous cupcake or to save me from eating a perfectly fine prop ... I'll never know :-).

Speakin' of eatin', when I got in the kitchen to cook with Guy, he had something sitting on set for me to nibble on, what a nice dude ... You'll see us munchin' on it while we make 2 of his dishes. I acted as his assistant, measuring, chopping, grabbing, etc. and I can't tell you what we made, but it was yummy and smelled good from the first sizzle. Here's us chillin' in the kitchen. BTW, these are stills that were being produced while we filmed ...


Then, remember how I told ya I'd just briefly met Bobby Flay? Who knew I'd be in the kitchen with him just a few weeks later??? Even crazier ... this time around it was my 2 recipes and he was my assistant in the kitchen. When I first heard of this I was like, HUH?! WHUHH?! Like for real, first my grandma is cooking one of my recipes and then months later Bobby Flay is helping me prep two of them???? For real, this is my bizzarro life. I have to tell you, none of this is lost on me. I am constantly thankful for the work and constantly thankful for the support. I've lived a life of goals and running towards them, so this is all truly neat. I often pride myself on having the right words to say, but in my head I know I haven't figured out the right ones to tell you or anyone just how this feels. The support is much appreciated and if you're a dreamer, we have plenty in common. All I can ever say is "can you believe it?". So, can you believe I was in the kitchen with Bobby Flay? Me neither, take a look see ....


I did two side dishes, get it, Sunny's Sides? Alliteration makes some people happy teeheehee. Hope you like the recipes when it airs, they are easy, crowd pleasin', vegetarian and verrrrrry economical. Bobby liked them and I saw Giada givin' one of them "tha bizness" (eating enthusiastically) when we sat down to eat at the end.

I gotta tell ya, it was a lonnnng day. Even Gina and I laughed saying we had the earliest call times because we were the rookies, but boy was the day rewarding and busy. If I wasn't on camera, someone was shooting behind the scenes, so I really can't wait to see how all the footage is used. Here's me and Bobby after we wrapped out shoot. I said, "let's take one for my blog." and he was on board!



Take it easy and have a great Friday!!!