Bastille Day 2013!

Doesn’t it feel like summer is whizzing past on super speed? August is just around the corner and I feel like the season is just getting going. Regardless of time, one of the highlights of my summer is always the FIAF Bastille Day celebration on East 60th Street! I’ve been fortunate enough to be able to attend the festivities every summer I’ve lived in New York.

Unlike other street fairs (of which there are many in this city) FIAF’s Bastille Day celebration is strictly French. My regular company (my friends Kyle and Patrique from my study abroad in Paris) were absent from the festival this year, but my mom finally made it down from Albany to join in the fun! 

This year I was able to see the festivities from a new perspective. I can easily see and enjoy that all the food, treats, books and other goodies being sold at the booths lining the streets have a French influence in a genuine capacity. A few of my friends walked the event and didn’t necessarily see how French it was. When I see Le Souk restaurant I know that Moroccan food is French food because it is a francophone country, that the long lines for crepes are justified, in a way, because no – you can’t get a walk-up crepe in New York like you can in Paris. The essence of the entire event screams France to me and it is what I love the most about it. Even though I don’t leave the streets of New York, or even the Upper East Side to get to it, I am transported by scents, the sight of tons of macarons and canelés, and by the in-and-out sounds of French conversations in my ears. To have all of this at once is rare and special to me.

Flavors and Childhood Memories with Eric Ripert and Christina Tosi at FIAF

This past Wednesday night I had the pleasure of attending yet another wonderful food-focused event at the French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF). “Sweet, Sour, Savory –  Fabulous Flavors” was a discussion with the one and only Chef Eric Ripert (of Le Bernardin in New York City) and Christina Tosi (of Momofuku Milkbar in New York City) moderated by Bon Appetit’s executive editor (and co-author of Chef Ripert’s book On the Line) Christine Muhlke. Flavor was the focus and as it does for so many of us, the conversation lead largely back to the taste beginnings of Chef Ripert’s and Chef Tosi’s childhood.

 © Junenoire Mitchell  

Christine Muhlke got the evening going by asking about the chefs’ earliest taste memories, as she posed it: “What’s your madeleine?” Both the chef’s remember mother/grandmother prepared sweets. Chef Tosi recalled raw oatmeal cookie dough, corn bake and other baked goods filled with butter. Chef Ripert mused about his grandmother’s elusive apple tart. It was about a 12” tart that he said he would gobble down a few times a week. Even when he was little he could smell the stages of the apple tart’s doneness; when it was starting to bake in the oven, when it was time to take it out and most importantly the moment when it had cooled enough to eat.

When asked about favorite treats both thought to favorite candies first. For Chef Tosi it was Whatchamacallits and Reese’s Cups. She told us what a picky eater she was and how much she finds that fact to contribute to her food experiences as an adult. When she was 18 or so she remembers having a BLT and tasting a raw tomato for the first time and how impacting it was. She ate a lot of junk food when she was young like candy, ice cream and sour cream and onion potato chips. Chef Ripert’s upbringing up in France and Andorra meant he didn’t eat junk food because as he says it just didn’t exist. What he loved was sneaking squares from a bar of dark chocolate on the weekends and taking cookies that had been hidden in the kitchen. On the way home from school, the snack time for French schoolchildren, he would enjoy meringues from the pâtisserie. There were also licorice candies they called Batman candy because they were black and white.

Just Food Conference 2012 & The Good Food Jobs Fair

Last March I had the pleasure of attending the Just Food CSA Conference as a volunteer. I scheduled my volunteer shift for early check-in so I would be able to attend the rest of the day's events. I learned so many things that I think about or practice daily. Michaela Hayes lead a great canning workshop featuring Ball products and how to preserve the bounty from CSA shares and the farmer's market. There was a delicious meal for lunch where I spoke with egg producers who have their farms not too far from where I grew up. After lunch I learned about The Greenhorns and all the amazing young farmers out there and what they are doing. The main discussion let everyone in on how the economy is really effecting farmers. And finally the Expo was an fun way to talk to producers and artisans with exciting products and ideas. At the Expo I learned about Animal Welfare Approved and heard more from Winter Sun Farms CSA (an awesome frozen, local produce CSA). All in all, a enlightening and significant experience. 

With that said, it is time to talk about the 2012 Just Food Conference 2012: Eat • Work • Grow the Movement! 

When: Friday February 24th & Saturday February 25th

Time: Friday: 8am -7pm, Saturday 8am - 6pm

Where: Food & Finance High School 

(525 West 50th Street, New York, NY)

Full Information on the Just Food Website.

Buy Tickets here.

This year's conference will be even more awesome than last year. The first reason for this is because one of my favorite companies is involved in a spectacular way-- Friday night of the conference (February 24th) Good Food Jobs presents the Good Food Jobs Fair! 

The Good Food Jobs Fair will be February 24th from 5:30pm - 7:00pm at the Food & Finance High School (525 West 50th Street, New York, NY). This is a perfect opportunity to meet with up and coming businesses as well as established ones- think artisans, creative agricultural organizations and more. Taylor and Dorothy of Good Food Jobs expect 40 awesome businesses at the fair. Come to meet, mingle, network and find your dream job! It is a wonderful new addition to the Just Food Conference!

Buy your ticket to the Good Food Jobs Fair here.

If you wish to have a table as a business/organization apply here.