Taste Talks Brooklyn – A Foodie’s Dream!

Taste Talks is a weekend long, food celebration with connoisseurs and cooks, consumers and chefs, customers and companies. Presented by Mario Batali, curated by Danny Bowien, and produced by Jenny Mills, foodies flocked to Williamsburg, Brooklyn, Friday, September 12th through Sunday, September 14th to eat, drink, and discuss the tastes they love most. Taste Talks elicits serious conversation about eats, the future of food, and the culinary arts.

This fabulous event is a project of Northside Media Group, founded by Daniel and Scott Stedman.  The Stedman brothers launched The L Magazine back in 2003 before Brooklyn was fully appreciated for its beauty, culture, and property value. Daniel says, “Brooklyn has become an international adjective meaning “what’s next” and its mission (Northside’s mission) is to define and showcase that adjective through media, digital, and large scale events.” Daniel was quite visible during event activities making sure everyone had a great time.

Event platinum sponsors included Miracle-Gro AeroGarden, and gold sponsor, Square Space.  There were a host of silver sponsors, media partners and a nonprofit partner coming together to create an amazing three day extravaganza with food, beer, tequila, discussion, and film. If you did not attend this years New York Taste Talks, plan to be in attendance next year.  Quite simply, if you’re a foodie, this is your dream come true.

Chicken & Waffles catered by Kurent Events were a hot commodity.  At 10:00 am on Saturday, enthusiasts filed into the cozy Colossal Media backyard to picnic benches for brunch.  Britt Kurent owner and founder of Kurent Events along with staff served  hearty helpings of cheezy grits with cypress grove midnight moon cheese, braised collards greens with smoked bacon, buttermilk fried chicken, and waffles with maple butter.  Britt says her dad was her culinary inspiration. Years ago, he left his day job as an attorney, to open a restaurant down South. Britt helped her dad by waitressing tables. Today, Kurent Events caters to major corporations and exclusive private parties.

From noon to 6:00 PM inside the Colossal Media’s main space, exhibitors showcased “what’s next” in food, products, and technology during the Future Food Expo.  Among the many exhibitors, Keurig, the single cup brewing system, provided hot and cold beverages for participants. They also showcased their new Keurig 2.0.  It can brew a full pot of coffee while also keeping to the standard of the single cup brew.  Do you need a job in the food and drink industry? Do you have a restaurant or beverage business and need qualified personnel? Poached Jobs was on site and on point with important information and cool tee shirts. Are you planning a party soon?  Brooklyn-based, Susty Party, was there showing off its attractive line of disposable tableware.  All of their products are responsibly made in partnership with factories who employ the visually impaired. Susty Party says, “this is how we party on and respect the Earth!”

And speaking about going green, in the middle of the Colossal space grew Miracle-Gro AeroGardens.  If you didn’t know – they’re the future of indoor gardening.  A couch, table, and chairs were strategically placed in the center of the room so attendees could experience the sweet aroma of lavender, mint, and basil.  You could admire the colorful red, yellow, and purple peppers.  You could feel fresh green grass under foot while considering your next meal.

App creator, Kevin Yu has the answer for the next meal.  The SideChef app, a valuable step-by-step cooking guide, available on iTunes, makes food preparation and experiment, fun, easy and pretty freaking cool.  The app comes with hundreds of recipes from chefs and food bloggers including Brooklyn-based food blogger, Caroline from “Pickled Plum“. Don’t fret, you can also add your own recipes as well for other app users to try. Just continue to keep grandma’s secret recipe a secret. Audio and visual cues guide you through the cooking process. You don’t have to worry about how long to cook your food or portion size.  SideChef comes fully equipped with automatic food timers, allowing you freedom to do other things and not have to worry if you’ve cooked something enough. The best part, if you change the serving size, like magic all the ingredients will adjust automatically. You can search through recipes by keywords, cuisine, diet, interest, or chef.  VP of Marketing, Megan Westerby, skillfully walked potential customers through this must have technology. SideChef is available for Iphone, Ipad and Android.

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In various neighboring locations well attended Taste Talks Conferences were held. Conferences were presented by Squarespace, American Express, and Miracle-Gro AeroGarden.  These insightful and lively discussions covered an array of topics from, “Do Resturant Reviews Matter” to “Expert Food Photography For Everyday Cooks” and from “Reporting, Writing, & Eating: How Sam Sifton Covers The Food News For The New York Times” to “Big Chefs On The Small Screen: How Food Television Lifted Chefs To Cult Status”.  Most gatherings had a diverse group of panelists with a very effective moderator.

The All-Star BBQ – Taste Talk’s piece de resistance, took place on Sunday from 1PM to 4PM and then again from 5PM to 8PM.  Along the backdrop of the East River, twenty-five celebrity chefs created delicious dishes in East River State Park. A young enthusiastic hip crowd attended an event meant to excite and stretch their taste buds.  One vendor said, “it was the most educated and polite crowd she had ever seen. A young woman who had been invited by her fiancé, said she felt like she was at an exclusive dinner party.  A mature male said, I feel like an adolescent again with sooooo many wonderful choices. When asked, “what they were eating” and “who made the most scrumptious meal”, the answers varied.  Many felt the BBQ was well organized and a cool way to sample a lot of good food.  Some wished there were more of a dessert menu though. However, there were a few memorable favorites: Nate Smith and Lee Tiernan’s “Charred Lamb Tongue & Deep-Fried Anchovy”, Daniel Dalaney’s “Texas Hot Gut Sausage”, David Santos and Jonathan Wu’s “Pig Head Salad”, Max and Eli Sussman’s “Grilled Chicken Kebab”, Brooks Headley’s “Veggie Burgers”, and Action Bronson’s “Fuck, That’s Delicious, Prochetta “Kra Prow” Tigelle”.

If you missed New York’s fabulous Tastes Talk events or if you didn’t get your fill of festivities in the Big Apple, check out the program in Chicago. From Friday, October 3rd – Mother of Pearl Dinner to Sunday, October 5th – Star Chef BBQ.  You are sure to have a memorable time.

In the words of Action Bronson,

Judith C. Lovell
Follow me on Twitter @crystalparris