NYCWFF '10: That Sunday

While the Saturday of the New York City Wine & Food Festival was certainly exciting this year, the Sunday was what stuck out in my mind by far. Some of my favorite carts in one place at a brand new locale followed by unlimited stone crab legs and key lime pie while watching the sunset. It was a beautiful day.

My first food fest was Carts in the Parc at the new spot FoodParc. Biryani Cart, Treats Truck, Big Gay Ice Cream, even the latest Vendy Winner, King of Falafel & Shawarma was there, but true to form, I wanted to try the things I can't get regularly. I really didn't even are about the celebs that were there, though it was hosted by Andrew Zimmern!

Of the things I tried, Sweet Street Desserts from the Philly area really stood out. They came prepared with a massive selection of sweets, and you were free to choose any. I went with what they were handing out at the time, two mousses: Chocolate Caramel, and Strawberry Lemon. The Chocolate Caramel was by far the best thing I had there, it was luscious and rich, and just the right mini size. I could have eaten dozens.

Par usual, the line for Big Gay Ice Cream took forever, but at least two people I know where converted to the deliciousness that is the Salty Pimp.

It ended up being a wonderful, warm afternoon is a great location. With trucks on both sides there weren't huge line bottlenecks, and there was more than plenty of seating. And a special sneak preview of the now-open Bar Basque was the icing on the cake.

After that, I waddled over to the next food fest and one of the last of the weekend: the Sunset Stone Crab at the Gansevoort. The top of the Gansevoort isn't a place I frequent. Hell, the entire Meatpacking district isn't a place I frequent, but I deal with it for the food. For this, they brought in fresh stone crab from Miami's George's Stone Crab. Imagine tables of crab legs, that keep getting magically replenished. It was awesome.

The fixings included corn on the cob, fried green tomatoes, and hearts of palm salad, doled out buffet-style. The crab meat itself was fresh and tasted like the sea-not fishy or slimy. The meal took me back to my Florida childhood when my parents would celebrate stone crab season with pounds and pounds of fresh claws.

Dessert was unlimited plates of that creamy tart deliciousness that is key lime pie. Not too tart, not too sweet, cold with a graham cracker crust. Had I not been eating for hours, three or more slices would have been necessary.

But I had long passed the "I'm full" point to the "I need to run a marathon now" point. I'd like to thank the lovely folks from Robin Insley who helped us out with press tickets to these and many more events (as much as I wanted to, I couldn't hit all!) Another great NYCWFF, I can't wait until the next one!