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!!