Long Island City Culture Chronicle: Favorites from the Taste of LIC 2011

Still life at Gantry Park. Taste of LIC 2011, Long Island City. — photo by JetBlue

By Benjamin Peryer

It’s the most aggressive, competitive, and painstaking challenge LIC chefs have faced the past six years since The Chocolate Factory’s premiere event: Iron Chef: LIC Edition.

Alright, not exactly. It’s the annual event, perhaps the biggest in our neighborhood, that feels like a block party with your most talented friends—Alex Schindler of LIC Market, Giuseppe Falco of Pachanga Patterson, Hugue Dufour of M. Wells, just to name a few—and some of the most delicious food in New York City.

It’s the Taste of LIC!

Ticket: check. Taste of LIC Passport, a guide through the massive white tent at Gantry State Park: check. An empty stomach and a desperate thirst for a cold beer: check and check. I was ready for this, one of my favorite nights in LIC.

First stop (after a quick hello to the friendliest bartender on Vernon, Deena, and mouthful of ElAySi’s macaroni and cheese with apple wood smoked bacon … I couldn’t help myself): Alobar, the “quintessential neighborhood hangout,” as its Website boasts, due to open on Vernon Boulevard in four to six weeks. And listen, if the mouthwatering pulled pork situation they were serving up at Tuesday night’s event is any indication of what’s to come, we’re in good hands with owners Lisa Kalik and Jeff Blath.

On to see what LIC Market’s chef Alex Schindler had prepared for the event. A chilled melon soup with mint infused cream and dried mission fig that was more refreshing then anything Brooklyn Brewery could have handed me a couple tables down, and a red onion and chicken liver mousse on a crostini prepared by Alex and his hip sous-chefs. (The guy can really pull out a liver dish, from Chicken Liver Hash on the brunch menu to Liver and Eggs on the dinner menu.)

Lining up at the Taste of LIC 2011. — photo by Foodista

Next on my hit list was Pachanga Patterson. I love Giuseppe Falco’s concept for this place: family-style Mexican created with potpourri of ingredients—Asian, American, Italian, Mexican—inspired by the dishes cooks whip up for the staff once the last customer checks out. Their showing at Taste of LIC was a strong one. How could I ever thank Giuseppe for serving me that tasty Vietnamese-marinated pork shoulder taco with pickled onions and habanero pineapple sauce? Just how?

After the near-religious experience with that pork taco, I turned my ears to the crowd. “Psst … M. Wells.” “What’s happening at M. Wells?” My mission was clear. Find M. Wells chef Hugue Dufour immediately.

Then, there he was. The darling of Long Island City. The only thing in the tent standing between me and my Québécois feast would be a flailing limb by a member of the Juliana F. May dance troupe doing an interpretive dance I could only describe as “violent hungriness.” I met the table and Chef Hugue with great valor and excitement to see what he was making: grilled hot dogs with white bean chili and cabbage, topped with a cheese and foie gras sauce. (The foie gras was added to the cheese half-way through the event as a trick to stretch the dish as, to no surprise, guests were flying through it.) It was the perfect summertime offering that sparked my plan to toss lawn chairs on the roof of M. Wells and cookout till September.

The scene at The Chocolate Factory’s Taste of LIC – photos by Benjamin Peryer

After my tour of the savory, including WunderBar’s bratwurst/kielbasa/wienerwurst (one of the three) and Queens Greenmarket’s pulled asparagus salad, it was time to move on to the sweet. I finally got my hands on one of Little Oven’s French macaroon, enjoyed sampling of gelato from Manducatis Rustica, and popped a cinnamon puff or two from Sweetleaf.

There’s nothing quite like it; seeing neighborhood and nearby residents and come together to benefit The Chocolate Factory, local chefs and businesses teaming up to create such a stellar happening. Even fLorEsta got in on the action by providing floral arrangements for some of the tables. No aggression, no competition—although, I wasn’t there when Little Oven was down to its last macaroon.

• Taste of LIC [website]

Taste of LIC Video produced by Gianna Cerbone & Anthony Argento. Photos by Jesse Winter of Ten10 Studios.