For the second year, Northside Media Group’s Taste Talks brings together some of the top foodies for three days of learning, sharing and eating. The three-day food festival is hosted by Mario Batali right here in Williamsburg and curated by James Beard Award-winning chef Danny Bowien, of Mission Chinese and Mission Cantina.
I’m already having mouthwatering daydreams about the upcoming events, including “Mother of Pearl,” an Island Creek Oysters and Champagne pairing cocktail hour and sit-down dinner at Villain, and “Taste Talks All-Star BBQ,” a day of showing down on star chefs’ signature dishes at East River State Park.
The festival brings the top minds in the culinary world to talk about the future of taste. Founders see Brooklyn as the ultimate testing ground for restaurants, partly due to the range in real estate prices.
“A restaurant starts with its monthly rent, and in so many ways, that defines the things that a restaurant can and cannot do. Williamsburg is so evocative of this, as the rents have gone from cheap to very high,” said Daniel Stedman, founder of Northside Media Group.
According to Stedman, “This isn’t just a collection of great chefs – these are people in the culinary world and beyond who speak to and define the future of taste.”
Some of the confirmed chefs and influencers include:
Christina Tosi
Peter Meehan
Sam Sifton
Adam Rapoport
Sara Moulton
Alex Guarnaschelli
Justin Warner
Dale Talde
Andy Ricker
Brooks Headley
Amanda Hesser
Elettra Wiedemann
Lee Tiernan
When asked about potential food trends for 2014- Stedman’s hoping things stay local.
“I had an amazing conversation with Danny Bowien, where we were talking about what ‘local’ means, and he mentioned the amazing kimche and soy sauce that were all homemade from his mother-in-law’s farm in Korea. For thousands of years, ‘local’ would have meant fresh from your backyard. Everything was ‘local.’ So now, I’m hoping that there’s more of a trend where local means homegrown, like growing tomatoes and herbs at home with an AeroGarden or a home growing kit,” said Stedman.
For more information on Taste Talks, visit their website here.
