Le Fooding
Posted by bellastraniera - 26/09/09 at 12:09 pm Marie Fromage and I headed out to Long Island City last night for Le Fooding, billed as a celebration of food and drink featuring six great chefs each night (three French, three American) and benefiting Action Against Hunger. Started in Paris in 2000, Le Fooding landed in NYC for the first time this year and still has some kinks to work out.
The long line at the door was the first bad sign and made us draw comparisons to the well-organized City Harvest benefit we attended last year, where a team of event workers always kept the crowd flowing. Inside P.S. 1 for Le Fooding, between the fabulous displays of food, like this one above, there were lines, lines, and more lines, curling into spirals so long that when one guest was asked what food item he was waiting for, he joked, “I don’t know. My friends just texted me and told me to meet them in line.”
David Chang excelled under pressure as usual, personally dishing out Bo Ssam at top speed – tender little bites of shredded pork topped with pureed kimchi and wrapped in a fresh baby lettuce leaf.
Unlike at other booths, Momofuku also had signage so you knew what you were eating – eureka!
Wylie Dufresne also worked in front of the crowd, saucing grilled chicken necks. I’ve always been able to relate to Wylie Dufresne, because he and I have the same hair. If I were to do absolutely nothing to my hair but wash and comb it, it would look exactly like Wylie Dufresne’s.
Marie Fromage and I were skeptical about this choice of meat. Though it gets points for exoticism, this cut, usually used for stock because it’s so bony and hard to eat, is also nearly free at most butcher shops.
It was quite chilly – the entire event takes place outside, so dress warmly if you are going tonight! Le Fooding projected beautiful art displays from the restaurants on the concrete walls of P.S. 1.
Sean Rembold of Diner cooked up this corn on the cob by deep frying it – yowza. Doused in a smoked-paprika scallop sauce inflected with garlic chives, this otherwise yummy dish suffered from one detraction – the clashing taste of mint scattered on the top. Mint and seafood are two tastes that do not taste good together.
Most of the food was hot (thankfully) and prepared outside on huge Broil King grills. Even the sauces were prepared outside, using the grill as an impromptu stovetop. Home chefs should note this technique for hot summer nights when they can’t bear to be in the kitchen.
One of the most “gourmet” offerings on hand – and therefore the one with one of the longest lines – were William Leudeuil of Ze Kitchen Galerie’s elaborately plated, delectable short ribs in a teriyaki pineapple glaze, served with a zingy, lemony side of eggplant.
Across the way, another booth, name unknown because there was no signage, served up a nice spin on chicken soup, made with tapioca beads and tinged with spicy, comforting allspice. The grilled bread popped inside the cups was the perfect accompaniment.
Guests hung out under huge tents made of a material that looked like goat pelts. They were hair tents. Marie Fromage and I gave up on the La Bernardine wine at this point, because they were charging $12 for a three-ounce pour of red. No joke.
A huge wedge of Emmental cheese made an appearance at the end at Cheeses of France.
The final analysis? Le Fooding was definitely a celebration of food, but unfortunately, it was also a hassle. The organizers would have benefited everyone involved by having a higher ratio of food stations to guests. As it was, the set up put too much pressure on six chefs striving to feed hundreds of guests – even if their creations were mostly laudable.
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bellastraniera
a.k.a. Marcy Swingle - obsessed with food and fashion.
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